Brenda Coley, Retired Co-Executive Director of Milwaukee Water Commons (Milwaukee, Wisconsin). Brenda is a seasoned nonprofit director, research coordinator, and project manager with an extensive career in environmental justice leadership development and organizational capacity building. Under her executive leadership, environmental justice became central to Milwaukee Water Commons’ work, helping shape a community-defined vision for Milwaukee as a model water city where all residents share in the stewardship and benefits of their waters. Brenda brought critical awareness to Milwaukee’s lead water contamination crisis and led negotiations to bring water-related jobs to communities of color. She championed MWC’s signature event, We Are Water — a celebration fusing art, music, and dance along the Lake Michigan shoreline to honor every culture’s connection, reverence, and right to water. A bridge-builder and truth-teller, Brenda has spent decades cultivating a multi-racial, anti-racist movement on behalf of shared waters, and as she steps into retirement this spring, her impact will continue to ripple through Milwaukee and far beyond.