TT053 – How Community Engineering Corps Serves Underserved America

In our latest episode of Tap Talk, our guest is Molly Sullivan, a Program Engineer at Community Engineering Corps (CECorps), a partnership that provides pro-bono engineering and consulting services for infrastructure projects to communities in the United States, the US Territories, and tribal lands. A significant portion of CECorps’ projects center on water and wastewater infrastructure, and Molly chats with Jennifer and Steve about their approach to helping underserved communities find and implement the solutions they need to thrive.


NOTE: This episode was recorded in October of 2024.

Topics Discussed

  • Meet Molly Sullivan | LinkedIn
  • Molly’s Water Hero: Steven Walden, Chair of the Small Systems Division of the American Water Works Association, Texas Section
  • How Molly came to non-profit engineering
  • About the Community Engineering Corps: What the goals are, who it serves, and the organizations that in the corps partnership
  • The role of each community in helping to solve their infrastructure challenges
  • How does a project get off the ground? How are the right people to work on it selected?
  • The infrastructure services beyond water and sanitation that CECorps has expanded into
  • The impact of the organization on underserved communities
  • How engineering students at universities can participate
  • How can folks get involved?
  • Follow the Community Engineering Corps:

“We like to say that the people closest to the problem are also the closest to the solution.”

Molly Sullivan

Go Further

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About the Guest

Molly Sullivan is the Program Manager for Community Engineering at the American Water Works Association, a role she has held since January 2023. AWWA is a partner organization of the Community Engineering Corps, along with Engineering Without Borders USA and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Prior to entering non-profit engineering professionally, Molly worked as a water resource engineer at Colorado companies including Hydrau-Tech, Muller Engineering, and Dewberry; and volunteered extensively for Engineers Without Borders USA.

Molly is a Certified Floodplain Manager and a Professional Engineer. She holds a BS in civil engineering from Colorado State University.