Maile Lono-Batura Joins CASA as Director of Renewable Resources
We are very excited to share some significant news with the CASA membership! In late October, Maile Lono-Batura will be joining the CASA team, and will take on the role of Director of Renewable Resources following Greg Kester’s retirement in February 2025. In this role, she will lead implementation on strategic biosolids initiatives throughout the state, serve as CASA’s state and national “ambassador” on biosolids, manage our biosolids regulatory workgroup, and work with the CASA Team to provide information and subject matter expertise to our membership.

Please join us in welcoming Maile to her new role. With her extensive experience and relationships in the clean water sector, we’re confident she’ll be a valuable addition to the team. We look forward to CASA’s bright future and all the successes to come!

Get to Know Maile:
Maile Lono-Batura currently serves as the Director of Sustainable Biosolids Programs at the Water Environment Federation. Maile joined WEF in 2021 after serving as Executive Director of Northwest Biosolids for 22 years. Under her direction, this multi-state biosolids network leveraged over $3.9M in biosolids research, galvanized stakeholders to support biosolids recycling, and facilitated numerous outreach initiatives. Most recently she served as a central coordinator and network leader for WEF’s biosolids programs, finding synergies across organizations (within and outside the biosolids sector) to elevate impactful movements such as growing a circular economy and addressing the social stigma that surrounds what we all flush.

Maile earned her Bachelor’s in Community & Environmental Planning with an Environmental Studies Minor from the University of Washington. She received her Master’s in Nonprofit Leadership from Seattle University. Maile is a Certified Compost Facility Operator through the Washington Organic Recycling Council and a Board-Certified Environmental Scientist with the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists Board (AAEES). She was also recognized as an AAEES 40 Under 40 Rising Stars Class of 2022.

Maile Beyond the Office:
Do you have any hidden talents?
I volunteered as a Radio DJ for 12 years at a Seattle community radio station for a Hawai’i Radio program. In addition, I’ve DJ’d live events including the Hai! Japantown summer festival and the Gigantic Bicycle Festival.

If you could choose an Olympic Sport to medal in, what would it be?
Even though I am from Hawai’i, I was fortunate to spend a portion of my childhood among some of the most epic skiing in NW Montana. I later tried out snowboarding and have been doing this since my early teens. While definitely not pro, I like to imagine what it might’ve been like and can’t get enough of watching the competitions.

Name an individual in your life, that has made a lasting impression on how you choose to live.
I was lucky to live close to my grandparents in Montana for a good part of my childhood. My Grandma recently lived to 101 years old and was one of the most renaissance people I’ve ever known and also one of the most humble. She helped her Norwegian immigrant family run their 60,000 sheep ranch as a kid, minding the herd out in remote areas of the ranch on her own in a horse-drawn wagon. She worked at a gypsum plant during WW2 and would give you the coat off her back if you needed it. She also loved beer with her pizza and loved to laugh hysterically at jokes. She would say, “A life worth living is one where you can make people laugh.”

What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend?
With our weeks being stacked with school and work, more often than not, it’s to do as little as possible 🙂 However, my family has a tradition of Aloha Friday (or Saturday or Sunday) and it allows us to all come together and catch-up, eat amazing food, and play music. My husband is in a punk band and it’s fun to venture out as part of their roadie crew. If we are lucky enough to be out at our property, I love fishing and taking our family out on the boat for some tubing and wakeboarding.

 

Greg Kester Recognized at Biofest
Congratulations to Greg Kester who was recognized earlier this week by Northwest Biosolids for his many years of dedication and leadership in biosolids. We are so lucky to have you, Greg, very well deserved!

 

 

CASA Team Heads to WEFTEC
If you notice that the CASA office is unusually quiet next week, do not be alarmed! The CASA team will be in New Orleans attending WEFTEC October 7 – 9. We will be checking emails periodically and look forward to connecting you when we return to the office.