Dean Amhaus
President & CEO

Dean has served as the president and CEO of The Water Council since March 2010. His diverse, 40-year background in multiple sectors encapsulates a wide range of expertise in government relations, branding, fundraising, economic development and nonprofit management in Washington, D.C., and Madison, Wisconsin. Dean has also served as the president of the Spirit of Milwaukee, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing Milwaukee’s image, as well as the president of Forward Wisconsin, the state’s marketing economic development organization, and executive director of the Wisconsin Sesquicentennial Commission and Wisconsin Arts Board. Dean began his career working in Washington, D.C., for a firm that advocated for federal policy issues for the arts, humanities and people with disabilities.

Matt Howard
VP Water Stewardship at The Water Council & Director of AWS North America

Matt oversees The Water Council’s sustainability and stewardship initiatives, which include regional partnership and oversight of the Alliance for Water Stewardship’s International Water Stewardship Standard (“AWS Standard”) and System in North America. In this capacity, Matt serves as the Director for AWS North America. He has 15 years in sustainability program development and management, including five years as Milwaukee’s Sustainability Director. Matt came to Milwaukee from Washington, DC where he worked at the U.S. Department of Commerce and as a staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives. He has an MA from George Washington University and a BA from Valparaiso University. He is AWS and Lean Six Sigma accredited and serves on the WELL Water Advisory and the Wisconsin Governor’s Wetlands Study Council. He served on the U.S. EPA’s National Advisory Council on Environmental Policy and Technology from 2014-2019.