We are an Inclusive, Diverse & Equitable Company
With a history dating back to 1886, American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse U.S. publicly traded water and wastewater utility company. We employ more than 6,400 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and market-based drinking water, wastewater and other regulated and regulated-like drinking water and wastewater services to 14 million people in 24 states.
We Are #BeautifullyDifferent
At American Water, we regularly reflect on our values and our culture. We’re all different and having that diversity across our organization is what makes us a great company. We’re strong because we have different ideas, viewpoints, experiences and backgrounds. Most importantly, we embrace and expect one another to respect and value those differences.
At a recent employee town hall, the term “include yourself” was mentioned. We are committed to using our collective voices to continue to get better at building a truly inclusive work environment. That is what an inclusive organization looks like — one that is constantly striving to be better for the benefit of everyone.
weCARE: Share Our Purpose, Be Yourself & Feel Valued
Building a safe and inclusive culture requires everyone’s participation. Through 46 roundtable discussions with hundreds of employees we wanted to validate and better understand our employees’ experience.
These talks revealed a widely-shared sentiment that employees want to feel they are cared for by the company because they truly care for our customers. This feedback led to the development of our employee value proposition, focusing on five components. weCARE is what we call our internal promise to value our people and represents the tremendous role employees play in our company.
Mr. Earvin "Magic" Johnson speaks to American Water
Earvin “Magic” Johnson strongly believes ID&E is a business imperative. In 2021, Mr. Johnson joined other American Water leaders to speak about the challenges he faced while transitioning out of the NBA and becoming a successful entrepreneur and advocate for diversity. The talk represented another way American Water seeks out subject matter experts to help us build a caring culture.
Under the weCARE umbrella are programs including safety, compensation, career pathing, worklife balance, stability, respect and inclusion, and training, to name a few. We categorized these opportunities into five areas that capture what employees experience at work:
Focuses on driving inclusion, diversity, and equity, working in our
communities, and offering opportunities to build our employees’ networks internally with different teams across the company.
This is about professional and personal development opportunities, career growth, and training.
This happens through the work our employees do to support our environmental, social, and governance goals, ethics, integrity, and providing customers with superior services.
This is about achieving work-life balance, working on innovative projects and stretch assignments, and providing floating days and inclusion swap holidays so our people can take the time they prefer.
Connects to our commitment to safety and equates to good emotional and physical health that comes by way of competitive wages, recognition opportunities, and financial well-being.
CULTURE
PEOPLE
We create personal growth for our employees by attracting, developing, promoting, and retaining the best and most qualified talent. Visit
COMMUNITY
We engage, support, and create strategic partnerships within our communities with a shared purpose. Visit Our Communities section to learn more.
Our metrics for 2021
DIVERSITY
OVERALL AMERICAN WATER DIVERSITY
American Water has a strong commitment to employee inclusion, diversity and equity so that we reflect the communities we serve. The data below represents the diversity of our workforce through voluntary employee self-identification. We strive to create an environment where employees are comfortable with voluntary self-identification.
Workforce Population: 6,441*
Disability:
0
Female:
0
LGBTQ:
0
Military Spouse:
0
Military/Veterans:
0
Racially Diverse:
0
*In 2021, American Water entered into an agreement to sell its Homeowners Services business and operations in New York, which decreased our workforce size from 2020.
*Racially diverse is any declared race/ethnicity other than White. We define “diverse” as female, ethnically/racially diverse, military, veteran, military spouse, individual with a disability and LGBTQ+ who self-identify.
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES
BY GENERATION
Hover over the charts to see percentages.
Boomer
1946 - 1964
Gen X
1965 - 1980
Millennial
1981 - 1996
Gen Z
>1996
Workforce
Leader*
Executive**
*Leaders have at least one direct report. Executives include the Chief Executive Officer and one level of direct reports.
**Executives include the Chief Executive Officer and one level of direct reports.
BY TENURE
DIVERSITY METRICS: WOMEN
We recognize the benefits of increasing our female representation in the workforce and are committed to bridging the gender gap. Our recruitment and retention strategies include a holistic view of the areas that can have the greatest impact: evaluating the employee value proposition (EVP), auditing internal processes for inclusion, updating our job descriptions to be gender neutral and supporting authentic leadership to improve women’s representation in leadership roles.
WOMEN AT AMERICAN WATER
FEMALE EMPLOYEES BY ETHNICITY, RACE & CAREER LEVEL
Hover over the chart to see percentages.
White
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander
Black/African American
Hispanic/Latino
American Indian/Alaska Native
Two or More Races
Asian
Unidentified
Workforce
Leader
Executive
DIVERSITY METRICS: ETHNICITY & RACE
American Water knows that diversity across our company will create stronger teams, better ideas, innovative ways of doing our work, long-term sustainability and ultimately an organization that provides the best service to our customers. Since 2017, we have had a focused ID&E recruitment strategy with annual goals to improve diversity across the company. Our employee business resource groups also maintain a focus on attracting diverse talent to our company.
We leverage our ID&E Executive Council, a robust employee referral program and ID&E champion network to identify diverse talent during the recruitment process. We also engage with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions to increase our diverse talent candidate pool.
ALL EMPLOYEES BY ETHNICITY, RACE & CAREER LEVEL
Hover over the charts to see percentages.
White
Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander
Black/African American
Hispanic/Latino
American Indian/Alaska Native
Two or More Races
Asian
Unidentified
Workforce
Leader
Executive
HONORING OUR VETERANS
American Water remains committed and takes great pride in creating meaningful opportunities for veterans and military spouses. We are also honored to provide reliable water and wastewater services to 14 million people across the U.S., including 17 military installations.
American Water is committed to hiring military talent and supporting veteran-owned businesses, knowing first-hand that it is not only the right thing to do, but the right thing for business. We partner with various organizations for insights to best practices and opportunities to increase our diverse candidate pools. Examples of partnerships include American Corporate Partners (ACP), Military Spouse Employment Partnership (MSEP), among others. Additionally, we are honored to be recognized with several awards for our commitment to veterans and the military.
- 2022 Military Friendly® Top 10 Gold Employer, Top 10 Supplier Diversity and Top 10 Brand designations.
- For the fourth year in a row, recognized as Best For Vets: Employers by Military Times. We are also the only water and wastewater utility to be recognized with this distinction.
- 2021 VETS Indexes 3 Star Employer</span designation.
- 2021 U.S. Veterans Magazine: Best of the Best designation.
- 2020 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.
Mike Howard U.S. Marine
In 2020, our employees welcomed Senior Category Lead Mike Howard’s service dog to the building. Mike and Cooper have an incredible bond. Mike lives with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after serving in the U.S. Marines for eight years; Cooper helps give Mike the support and care he needs.
How we execute our People ID&E Strategic Plan
ENGAGING OUR WORKFORCE
ID&E Executive Council
The ID&E Executive Council of American Water serves as a recommending body and liaises with other business functions to promote inclusion, diversity and equity. Every employee of the company is respected for who they are as an individual and for our collective differences as a team.
ID&E Executive Council Leadership
Melanie Kennedy
Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer
Valoria Armstrong
Vice President, External Affairs and Chief Inclusion Officer
Rich Svindland
President, Missouri American Water
Get to know our ID&E Champions
ID&E Executive Council Members
April Aldridge
Paralegal III
Indiana American Water
Brian Barreto
Manager, External Affairs
California American Water
Nicole Boyd
ID&E Business Partner
Inclusion, Diversity & Equity
Andrea Castro
Water Quality & Environmental Compliance Lead
New Jersey American Water
Dina Cooper-Williams
Sr. Diversity Program Lead
Supply Chain
Denise Couch
Supervisor
Customer Service Organization
DeAnna Dear
GIS Technician
Military Services Group
Stephen Foxall
Sr. Financial Analyst
Finance
Bradley Harris
Specialist, External Affairs
West Virginia American Water
William Hill
Physical Security
Information Technology
Megan Holton
Employee Experience Business Partner
Human Resources
Amber Hood
Supervisor
Customer Service Organization
Andrew King
Environmental Program Lead
Operations
Roderick Sherman
Manager, Customer Accounts
Kentucky American Water
Kathleen Udasco
Sr. Manager
Business Development
Surveying Employees to Strengthen Culture
Our Employee Net Promoter Score
The Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) allows employers to measure and get a snapshot of employees’ willingness to be ambassadors for the company by advocating employment at the company. This score is determined from our annual employee survey. During 2021, 4,912 employees (70%) completed our Culture Survey.
Based on responses to the question “On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend American Water as a place to work?” employees are segmented into Promoters, Passives and Detractors. eNPS equals % promoters minus % detractors. Scores range from -100 to 100.
Employee Business Resource Groups
Our Employee Business Resource Groups (EBRG) are INCLUSIVE. We welcome all employees to participate regardless if their personal affiliation with any particular group. Allies are encouraged and those interested in expanding their knowledge are encouraged to join.
Advocates to create equity for employees with all types of disabilities (visible and invisible), caregivers and their allies to lead and excel both personally and professionally.
Creates awareness and fosters candid discussions that proudly support the LGBTQ+ community and their allies.
Promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment for Black/African American employees and their allies at all levels within the company.
The Women Empowered Champion and Ally Network, fosters an inclusive culture where female employees’ personal and professional growth contributes to the success of our company and the communities we serve
- Together We Stand members acted as American Water representatives at the National HBCU Week Career and Recruitment Fair. They shared their American Water stories with top HBCU talent.
- WE CAN hosted a companywide webcast inviting guest speaker Kimberly S. Reed, writer and Chief Transformational Officer of the Reed Development Group to discuss a gender-equal world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination .
- American Water Proud sought to inspire employees to share their pronouns using this video to build engagement.
Employee Engagement
Inclusion Day
This annual no-meeting day is designed for employees to come together to celebrate our Beautifully Different culture and to discuss and collaborate on how together we can create a work environment where everyone can be themselves.
weCARE Moments
Every meet at American Water begins with a weCARE Moment, a message demonstrating our care about employees’ physical and mental safety while promoting inclusion and wellbeing. Making effective and efficient use of company time for messages of safety and inclusion, diversity and equity (ID&E) is an important way that American Water demonstrates weCARE. This is a total commitment to a safe and inclusive culture by living our values and caring for one another.
Nikki Shah, Learning Specialist, began her career as an intern at American Water. “During that time, I was exposed to all levels of leadership to strengthen my skills and build my network.” she says. In early 2022, Nikki was offered a role in Human Resources. “I jumped at the opportunity.” Here’s more from Nikki, in her own words…
The culture here is amazing and a large part of why I accepted a position at American Water. What I especially appreciate is what the company is doing to go above and beyond to create spaces where employees are safe to be their true selves. The people that I have interacted with are kind and appreciative of the contributions I am making. It’s been a tremendously rewarding experience already.
RECRUITING METRICS
Diversity is a focus on every job requisition and candidate pool. We have partnered with several organizations (Hiring Our Heroes, Getting Hired, Hispanic/Latinx Professionals Association, Hirepurpose) to increase our diversity and pay specific focus to job opportunities that are non-traditional for diverse candidates.
MyReferral is the company’s employee referral program, providing employees the ability to share career opportunities with friends and family.
Percentage of Diverse Transfers/Promotions*
*(Female, ethnically/racially diverse, military, veteran, military spouse, individual with a disability, and LGBTQ+ who self-identify)
Percentage of Requisitions with Diverse Candidate Pool*
Self-identification: Below is a closer look at the percentage of diverse transfers, promotions and new hires by category who have self-identified.
Percentage of Diverse Transfers/Promotions*
COMMITTED TO FAIR PAY
American Water is committed to fair pay. In accordance with best practices, American Water audits both pay gaps and pay equity on an annual basis. We use the information from these audits to correct inequalities and update processes to allow for equal pay, development and advancement opportunities for all employees. The findings of these audits are reviewed annually with our Board of Directors and Executive Leadership Team, along with a plan of action to close identified gaps. Pay gaps could be caused by pay inequities or other issues, such as promoting one group of people at higher rates than another, or promoting one group of people into higher-level roles than another.
BENEFITS & WELLBEING
All employees who average 30 hours or more per week receive full-time benefits, and full-time employees pay only 15% of the total cost of medical, dental and vision. We offer our non-union employees averaging 20 to 30 hours per week medical, dental and vision coverage at 50% of the total cost.
American Water’s health and wellbeing programs aim for employees to go home in the same or better condition than when they came to work. We approach our programs holistically by offering a full spectrum of medical, prescription, dental and vision coverage, plus disability, life insurance, voluntary benefits, health and wellness programs, and much more.
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
American Water partners with diverse organizations to share information and promote I&D best practices. These organizations provide guidance on diversity hiring strategies and fostering an inclusive culture. It is vital for us to maintain these strong partnerships so that we continue to improve our culture.
A nonprofit organization engaged in national corporate career counseling for our returning veterans and active-duty military spouses.
The largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
The leading nonprofit resource for business disability inclusion worldwide.
The leading research and advisory company; provide senior leaders across the enterprise with the indispensable business insights, advice and tools they need to achieve their mission-critical priorities and build the organizations of tomorrow.
A recruitment solution dedicated to helping inclusive employers hire professional individuals and veterans with disabilities.
Sponsor of an innovative 12-week program that provides transitioning service members with professional training and hands-on experience in the civilian workforce.
An organization that provides companies with diversity-based recruiting resources, as well as job and career information for individuals and job seekers.
The premier organization working exclusively on LGBTQ+ workplace equality. Helps LGBTQ+ people thrive and create a culture of belonging for all.
A coalition comprised of business leaders, board members and academics committed to addressing the corporate leadership gender gap.
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Our Communities
In 2021, American Water announced that along with the American Water Charitable Foundation (AWCF) and New Jersey American Water, the company donated more than $1.3 million that year to community organizations benefiting the city of Camden. This continues American Water’s commitment to cultivating and maintaining meaningful and impactful relationships with Camden residents, stakeholders, and non-profit organizations.
“American Water is proud to continue supporting impactful local initiatives and programs in Camden,” said Susan Hardwick, president and CEO of American Water. “Since moving to Camden in 2018, we’ve been working to grow our partnerships with community organizations that support the residents, families and students in this great city.”
Giving Back is Part of Who We Are
The American Water Charitable Foundation (AWCF) supports employees in their own charitable endeavors. Through our Employee Volunteer and Matching Gift Program, Disaster Relief Program, Keep Communities Flowing Grant Program and our Signature Program, Building Better Communities, the Foundation is making a difference every day.
Since its inception, the Foundation has donated nearly $9 million in funding through grants and matching gifts.
In early 2022, American Water announced that it contributed $45 million to the American Water Charitable Foundation. The contribution will significantly add to the Foundation’s existing endowment, and was made possible by the proceeds from the company’s sale of American Water’s Homeowner Services Group.
Martin Luther King Jr. Remembrance Campaign
At American Water, every employee has a role in driving inclusion and diversity. In recognition and celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, employees are provided a paid day off to volunteer and participate in local service activities.-
On January 18, to compliment these efforts and inspire community giving, the Foundation gifted $18 to every employee, via their myGiving Rewards Account, to donate to an eligible charity of choice. Over 2,570 employees participated, collectively making a meaningful difference to diverse organizations across the country.
Grants by Focus Area
Remembrance Campaign Giving By The Numbers
Civil Rights & Advocacy
$20,621
Health & Human Services
$16,493
Community Support
$7,822
American Water Employee Crisis Fund
$7,363
Food Banks & Meal Programs
$4,047
Supplier Diversity
Supplier diversity is an American Water business imperative. National Supplier Diversity provides companies owned and operated by ethnic minorities, women, veterans, people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ community the opportunity to compete for our sourcing needs. The value, innovation, flexibility, and customer-focused approach of diverse businesses serve as a true value proposition to American Water.
In our business operations, American Water offers opportunities for both prime suppliers and subcontractors. The coming year will represent the fourth year of our five-year plan for growth with specific goals tied to each state.
To further strengthen our commitment to supplier diversity, American Water hosts our Supplier Diversity Summit annually. This is our signature event to connect diverse suppliers to our business stakeholders. Our prospective suppliers meet and discuss opportunities with the decision-makers to align with our procurement needs.
Every employee is empowered to identify, qualify, select, and manage the procurement process for goods and services to ensure that qualified diverse suppliers are appropriately included. We also strongly encourage our prime contractors and major suppliers to support supplier diversity.
Our Supplier Diversity aligns with American Water’s overall Inclusion, Diversity & Equity efforts and is a critical component in maintaining our standards for excellence essential to Keep Life Flowing for our customers.
Updated Metrics for 2021*
Our diverse supplier spend topped $417 million in 2021.
Supply Chain set a goal in 2021 to increase our diverse supplier spend to 18.9 percent.
2021 Diverse Supplier Goal: 18.9%
2021 Actual Diverse Supplier Spend: 19.3%
Our Diverse Suppliers
Awards & Recognition
