Matt Howard, director of the Alliance for Water Stewardship-North America (AWS-NA), a program of The Water Council, leads the North American implementation of the AWS International Water Stewardship Standard, which is a strategic framework for companies to identify and mitigate water risks within direct operations and supply chains. He is also working with The Water Council to develop other water-related sustainability and stewardship programs for North American companies. Prior to joining AWS-NA, Howard served as Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett’s sustainability director from 2010 to 2015 and spent 11 years with the U.S. Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. He published North America’s first municipal urban water systems benchmarking report, helped create the U.S. Department of Commerce’s first sustainable manufacturing initiative, and assisted the White House Council on Environmental Quality on implementing the administration’s green government directive. Howard was recently appointed the EPA administrator to the National Advisory Council on Environmental Policy and Technology. He has a B.A. and an M.A. in international economics, and is a LEED- and Lean Six Sigma-accredited professional.