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Kelley Dearing Smith
VP, Marketing and Communications, Louisville Water Company
Kelley Dearing Smith has been committed to reminding the public of the value and necessity of a product that is often taken for granted: water. As the Vice President of Marketing and Communications, she has helped Louisville Water Company create its own brand and connect more deeply with the nearly one million people it serves in the Louisville and surrounding areas.
Dearing Smith has been helping Louisville Water tell their story since joining the company in 1999 as a communications specialist. Before that, she worked as the assistant news director for WHAS-TV. She has authored a book highlighting Louisville Water’s history and oversaw the development of the WaterWorks Museum at the company’s 1860 original pumping station. Dearing Smith is Chair of the American Water Works Association’s Public Affairs Council and frequently speaks to utilities on best practices for branding and communication.
Louisville Water was the first (and to date, the only) utility to trademark tap water, Louisville Pure Tap™, and has been committed to creating some of the best tap water in the country. Along with telling their story, Dearing Smith has been instrumental in clarifying and promoting not only the health benefits of water, but its economic importance and historical significance to the community as well.
Dearing Smith lives in Louisville with her husband and two children. She holds a B.A. in broadcast journalism from Eastern Kentucky University.
For more information about Dearing Smith and her work at Louisville Water, visit www.LouisvilleWater.com.
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Andrea Song, PE
Utilities Division Manager, City of Westminster, Colorado
Andrea serves as the Utilities Division Manager for the City of Westminster, Colorado, where she leads a team of more than 120 employees in the operation and maintenance of over $4 billion in water and wastewater infrastructure. Under her leadership, the City’s integrated “One Water” team oversees all aspects of water, wastewater, reclaimed water, stormwater, utility billing, distribution, collections, and treatment services. The division also provides in-house construction, emergency response, and maintenance engineering support.
With more than 27 years of broad-based experience in the water sector, Andrea has built a career spanning both private and public sectors. She began as an engineering design consultant, spending 11 years in the private sector before joining Denver Water— one of the largest independent water utilities in the nation—where she served for 12 years. Since 2021, she has led Westminster’s Utilities Division, serving a mid-sized, City Council-governed municipality.
Andrea holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech and a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. She is a licensed Professional Engineer and a certified Water Treatment Operator.
An active leader in the water industry, Andrea currently serves as an Association Vice President and Director for the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and is a Past Chair of the Rocky Mountain Section AWWA (RMSAWWA). She previously served six years on AWWA’s Partnership for Safe Water Steering Committee, representing the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA). She is a passionate advocate for innovation and continuous improvement in the water sector.
Outside of her professional life, Andrea enjoys traveling and exploring National Parks with her husband, Dan, and their 12-year-old daughter, Hannah. She proudly embraces her role as a dedicated soccer mom.
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