New Peer-led Initiative of Great Lakes Utilities to Strengthen Water Quality and Financial Resilience with Support from the Great Lakes Protection Fund
- Moonshot Missions
- Dec 17, 2025
- 3 min read
A peer-led network of wastewater utilities and partners from the Great Lakes region facilitated by Moonshot Missions (Moonshot) is launching a new initiative to strengthen water quality outcomes and long-term financial resilience, supported by a three-year, $1.1 million award from the Great Lakes Protection Fund (Fund).
“Leading utilities have learned that environmental outcomes can be paired with purposeful efforts to drive efficiencies, reduce costs and the potential to generate new revenues,” said George Hawkins, Founder and CEO of Moonshot. “We look forward to working side by side with utilities and other experts to develop principles of systems change that will continuously deliver these outcomes for utilities of every size and condition.”
The initiative brings together utilities of varying sizes and geographies to learn from one another while applying Utility Performance Management (UPM) — a structured, data-informed approach that helps utilities align budgeting, operations, staffing, and capital planning to achieve cleaner water at lower long-term cost.
UPM will catalyze a basin-wide shift in how wastewater utilities are managed, budgeted, and led—unlocking often-overlooked levers for improving clean water outcomes that also improve operations and generate lasting cost savings. Those savings can then be reinvested into clean water projects, creating a self-sustaining cycle of ecological and financial gains using resources utilities already have.
The new effort builds on a prior GLPF-supported project launched by Moonshot in 2022, which brought utilities together across Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan to address nutrient reduction, combined sewer overflows (CSOs), and climate-related risks. Deep listening and collaborative problem-solving with the utilities and other partners inspired the creation of a Community of Practice – Great Lakes PRESERVE – that has worked to bring small and mid-sized systems together to encourage peer learning, leadership development, and regional empowerment. PRESERVE has since become a cornerstone for knowledge-sharing and capacity-building, complemented by Moonshot’s suite of technical toolkits and modules that translate lessons into scalable best practices.
“Our team at Moonshot looks forward to engaging a wide range of stakeholders in the process to develop UPM, including regulators, trade associations, utilities of every size and demographic and other community and environmental leaders,” said Michael Mucha, Principal for Moonshot.
The team will collaborate with regional and national network organizations to embed the UPM model into conferences, peer networks, and technical assistance offerings—supporting broader adoption across the Great Lakes region and beyond. Resources to support this effort will include a UPM Knowledge Hub hosted on the PRESERVE website, a UPM Replication Playbook, and a set of case studies documenting lessons learned.
“This next phase is about ensuring that every utility—no matter its size or resource base—has the tools and confidence to drive performance improvement from within. We’re not just solving problems; we’re building a sustainable model of financial resilience, leadership, and shared success for the Great Lakes,” said Rania Bashar, Senior Program Manager, Moonshot and Project Manager for this Initiative.
Moonshot Missions
Moonshot Missions Inc. (Moonshot) is a 501c3 non-profit founded in 2018 based on the core principle that all people have a right to safe, accessible, and affordable drinking water and clean waterways. Moonshot delivers on this by working collaboratively with disadvantaged communities of any size to bridge their lack of resources. Moonshot serves as trusted peer advisors to underserved communities to assess, identify, select, and develop technically and financially sound projects that transform struggling utilities.
