At the Southwest Regional Water District, Sarah Van Frank-Affrunti is ‘clearly a leader’

In April, she participated in Miami University’s Institute for Learning and Retirement where retired citizens may sign up to learn about a vast array of subjects over a five-week period that include field trips and in class activities.

The classes are created by volunteer instructors to appeal to the interests of lifelong learners.

One of those in attendance was Norma Pennock, who retired from being a civil engineer at the SRWD nine years ago. While Pennock never worked directly with Van Frank-Affrunti, she said she’s known her family for more than 30 years.

“She is clearly a leader in her profession,” Pennock said. “I was so impressed with her, with her knowledge, with her enthusiasm, with her obvious skill ... She’s heavily involved in professional organizations that represent the drinking water industry, clearly on top of and with a full understanding of what they’ve got to accomplish in incorporating into the water district changes that are required by federal regulation.”

Meanwhile, Van Frank-Affrunti said having Pennock in the crowd was intimidating at first because she’s well regarded in the field, but overall just appreciated when Pennock would chime in to provide background on different projects.

“I [am] just really appreciative [for] the support that is consistently there in Butler County for women,” Van Frank-Affrunti said. “I recently had an opportunity to to attend Women in Local Government in Butler County and it was amazing. I was not aware of how many women are in roles of power and decision making in the county.”

One of her main goals in this position is to “build bridges with our neighbors.”

She said she wants to have better working relationships with neighboring townships and adjacent cities that provide consistent feedback about current projects in the works, if there are places with overlap and how to better serve customers.

“I don’t do this on my own, that’s for sure,” Van Frank-Affrunti said. “I have an incredible team behind me here. One of my mentors in this industry once told me that you needed to surround yourself with the best and the rest will work itself out. And thankfully, I firmly believe I have the best that surround me here, and so that’s definitely a huge part of why I’m able to do what I’m able to do ...”

Of the projects she’s accomplished so far, Van Frank-Affrunti said one she’s most proud of is the SRWD becoming a founding member of the Ohio Rural Water Association.

ORWA provides advocacy for rural communities at the state and national level. According to its website, it also provides networking opportunities among industry professionals, affordable education and technical assistance.

Van Frank-Affrunti said rural water systems are typically small with minimal workforce behind them. With that in mind, she was asked to help facilitate the start of Ohio Women of Rural Water. A committee in ORWA with a focus on empowering women in the rural water field.

“We know how important a diverse workforce is to the water industry, and so it has been an honor and an exciting process in a very short period of time to start this committee,” Van Frank-Affrunti said. “I had a lot of women in my career that have helped guide me and have mentored me in this knowing that it’s a very male dominated field, and so to be able to start to pass that on, and to feel like I’m at a point in my career whether it’s mentor or provide guidance to younger, less experienced women in this field is an honor.”