Executive Leadership Team

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Rob MacLean

President & Chief Executive Officer

Rob MacLean serves as Nexus Water Group’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to the merger between SouthWest Water Company and Corix’s water and wastewater businesses, Rob had served as President and CEO of SouthWest Water since 2018. Rob’s career has spanned over 25 years in the water industry, and he has served as a volunteer leader for various regional and national organizations.

Rob has served as Chairman of the National Association of Water Companies, where he served as a board member for many years. Rob also co-chaired the National Utilities Diversity Council. While Rob resided in California, he proudly served on the board of directors of the California Chamber of Commerce as co-chair of the Chamber’s Water Committee and a member of the Executive Committee.  Rob has also been an active and strong supporter of the California Water Association. Additionally, Rob is a Silver Drop Award recipient for his long-standing participation in the American Water Works Association.

Rob earned his master’s degree in applied science in civil engineering from Polytechnique University in Montreal and his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from McGill University in Montreal. In 2014, he attended the Stanford Executive Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is a licensed professional engineer.

Richard Rich

Chief Operating Officer

Richard Rich is the Chief Operating Officer for Nexus Water Group. He has more than 20 years of experience in the regulated water and wastewater industry.

As COO, Richard is responsible for driving strategic prioritization and operational excellence for all business units, serving 1.3 million people. Nexus Water Group’s core values are providing exceptional customer care, being environmental stewards by providing safe drinking water and wastewater services, maintaining a culture of safety with continuous improvement, and employee success through professional development.

Richard began his career in the water industry in 2000 with Southwest Water Company. Richard has learned the water/wastewater operations inside and out, holding key positions of ascending responsibility spanning a broad range of responsibility over Field Operations, Customer Care, Finance, Regulatory Affairs, and General Administration.

Richard is a graduate of the University of New Mexico and earned his MBA from University of Southern California. He holds leadership roles on several industry committees.

Alison Zimlich

Chief Financial Officer

Alison Zimlich serves as Chief Financial Officer and initially held the role when she joined SouthWest Water Company in May 2021. In this role, she leads a team responsible for planning, managing and controlling the company’s financial activities, including its capital raising, investor relations and ESG reporting. She is a key contributor to the company’s growth and strategic initiatives.

Alison brings more than 25 years of experience in the power and utilities sector to her role. Before joining Nexus Water Group, she served as Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of GridLiance, a regulated electric transmission company founded in partnership with Blackstone Energy Partners. Alison led the integration of GridLiance into NextEra Energy during Blackstone’s successful exit in March 2021. Prior to GridLiance, she was the Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer of Panda Power Funds, a private equity firm with $6 billion in power generation assets.

She began her career in the utility industry at The AES Corporation. During her 17-year tenure, Alison served in a variety of finance and business development roles before rising to the rank of Chief Financial Officer of the company’s $2 billion North America Generation division. She was also previously employed as a tax consultant at EY.

Alison earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Texas State University and a master’s degree in taxation from The American University in Washington, D.C. She also holds a certificate in senior executive leadership from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. Alison is a certified public accountant and a chartered global management accountant.

Jim Devine

Chief Enterprise Services Officer

Jim serves as Chief Enterprise Services Officer for Nexus Water Group which consists of Information Technology, the Customer Experience contact center, Meter-to-Cash Operations, Procure-to-Pay services and centers of expertise (CoE), Internal Communications, External Communications CoE, Business Transformation CoE & Enterprise Services PMO (ePMO), and Fleet Services. Jim’s responsibilities include optimizing enterprise services effectiveness, developing solutions through collaboration and continuous improvement, to ensure the shared enterprise services, processes and systems meet the needs of the organization.

After moving to Chicago, Jim joined Utilities, Inc. (Corix Regulated Utility US) in Human Resources in April 2010, and became Vice President, Shared Services for Corix Regulated Utility US in February 2014. He was appointed Chief Shared Services Officer for the Corix Group of Companies in May 2018, and he continues to hold the position within Nexus Water Group.

Jim has 28 years of experience in business leadership in the water/wastewater utilities and commercial building services industries. Prior to joining Corix, he advanced from Director of Human Resources to Director of Operations and later President of a privately owned Midwest commercial building services and distribution organization and was a member Building Service Contractors Association International. He has also been a member and leader in many industry and professional associations and is currently on the Board of Directors for the National Utility Diversity Council (NUDC) and a member of the Board of Directors and Governance Committee Chair for Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps. Jim served on the Michigan Council of SHRM, President of the Greater Lansing Society of HR Management and was named 2010 mid-Michigan HR Professional of the Year. Jim has a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration (BA) from Eli Broad school of business at Michigan State University, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Phoenix, and in 2003 became certified as Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR).

Shawn Elicegui

Chief Legal Officer

As Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, Shawn is responsible for all governance, coordination, and management of Nexus Water Group’s risk management strategy.

Prior to Nexus, Shawn was the founder and managing member of SR 431 Consulting LLC and Elicegui PLLC, where he provided strategic advice and counsel to regulated utilities and other energy industry stakeholders. He previously served on the Board of Directors of NV Energy, Inc., an electric utility with annual revenues of approximately $3 billion. There he held various positions including Senior Vice President of Regulation and Strategic Planning and Senior Vice President of Business Planning, Regulatory and Legislative Strategy. He then joined Corix in 2019.

Shawn holds a BA in International Affairs, Political Science from the University of Nevada, Reno and earned his Juris Doctor (JD) degree from the University of California, Davis – School of Law.

Joanne Elliott

Chief Human Resources Officer

A human resource professional with over 25 years of experience, Joanne serves as CHRO at Nexus Water Group. She was initially appointed to the role within SouthWest Water Company in 2022, and previously served as Director, Human Resources in January 2019. Her expertise includes strategic planning, talent management, organization and management development, and human resource information systems. Joanne oversees organizational planning and development, employee relations, training, compensation, talent acquisition, workers’ compensation, benefits administration, and human resources systems for the company and its subsidiaries.

Throughout her career, Joanne has worked in various industries including aerospace, financial, retail, and manufacturing companies, managing both multi-state and multi-national matrix employees. Prior to joining SouthWest Water, she served as Vice President of Human Resources for Continental DataGraphics, a subsidiary of the Boeing Company. During her tenure, she oversaw 1,600 employees in the U.S., U.K., and India and worked within the executive leadership team to transform the organization through utilization of human capital and emerging technologies. She developed and implemented performance review programs to improve retention and drive to a common company culture. She improved the human resources systems supporting business objectives through integrated compensation management, performance management, goal setting and learning and development solutions. In her earlier positions, she served as a human resources leader with Lehman Brothers and Indymac Bank. She developed and deployed progressive and valued services that supported competitive business environments. In addition, she implemented multiple process improvement initiatives and performance management and leadership development programs.

Joanne earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, Human Resources from California State University, Long Beach. She is a Senior Certified Professional with the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM-SCP).

Don Sudduth

Chief Growth Officer

As Executive Vice-President & Chief Growth Officer, Don is responsible for leading growth across all US and Canadian service areas for Nexus Water Group in both regulated and quasi-regulated utility markets.

Don has 27 years’ experience in regulated and non-regulated utility businesses. Don joined Nexus Water Group subsidiary, Utilities, Inc., in January 2006 and has served in several executive leadership roles in operations and business development over his 18 years with the organization. He most recently served as EVP and COO of Corix Energy & Contract Utilities prior to being appointed EVP & Chief Growth Officer of Corix Infrastructure in January 2021 where he was responsible for growth of regulated and quasi-regulated utilities across the US and Canada.

Don holds an Executive MBA from Crummer Graduate School, Rollins College; a Bachelor of Science in Engineering & Technology from Purdue University; and has certifications as an ISO 9000 Lead Auditor and in the Six Sigma approach to business efficiency processes. His professional affiliations include American Waterworks Association, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), National Association of Water Companies (NAWC) and various charitable organizations.

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