ABOUT CURRENT
Our Story
SINCE OUR FOUNDING IN 2016, CURRENT HAS PUT WATER INNOVATION FRONT AND CENTER AS AN ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND SOLUTION TO A DEEPENING CLIMATE CRISIS.
We’ve helped raised over $58M dollars to support water innovation and economic development; launched 11 technology pilots; supported 40+ water tech startups and companies; and educated more than 40,000 people through our events and convenings.
Chicago is our sweet, freshwater home, but our partnerships stretch across Illinois, the Great Lakes region, and the world.
“Everywhere you turn right now, there’s a drought. China’s got a massive drought. Europe’s got a massive drought. The West has a massive drought. And Chicago has an abundance of water. That has a value when you’re thinking long term.”
— Rahm Emanuel, former mayor of Chicago
Our Strategy
Simply put, our strategy is to convene the right players, not for talk, but for action. Together, we win funding for water innovation work and then quarterback the execution.
Companies and communities on the forefront of preventing water crises will win. Our job is to ensure that the Great Lakes region becomes a global leader in protecting our abundant, but finite, fresh water resources from both pollution and misuse.
Key
Strategic
Wins
We are leading Great Lakes ReNEW, one of 10 awardees nationwide in a first-ever National Science Foundation competition for up to $160 million in funding.
We won funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce for Upstream Illinois, the nation’s first circular blue economy strategy.
We also secured funding for a water tech accelerator from the U.S. Department of Commerce. It will launch in 2025.
Our Partners
Our Team
Alaina Harkness
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Nina Dudnik
Chief Commercial Officer
Kalindi Parikh
Strategy Director
Brian Spangle
Operations Director
Dr. Melissa Pierce
Technical Program Director
Marisa Lewis
Workforce Development Director
Alexis Levato
Senior Grant Compliance Manager
Luke Aylward
Admin & Operations Manager
Haylee Gemeiner
Communications Manager
Jonathan Goodell
Commercialization & Partnerships Manager
Hannah Henderson
Program Manager
Tyler Stephen
Technical Program Manager
Dale Landmann
Community Sampling Coordinator
David Rico
Community Sampling Coordinator
Max Nutter
Community Sampling Coordinator
Venkat Atluri
Board Chairman – Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company
Richard Assmus
Board Secretary – Partner, Mayer Brown LLP
Brian Baker
President & CEO, Sentry Equipment
MarySue Barrett
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
Randy Conner
Ex Officio – Commissioner, Chicago Department of Water Management
Michael Fassnacht
President & Chief Growth Officer, ClayCo
Dr. Joanna Groden
Vice Chancellor for Research, University of Illinois Chicago
Paul K. Kearns
Director, U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory
Dr. Steven Kloos
Partner, Burnt Island Ventures
Andy Martin
Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Technical Services & Innovation Center, Greeley and Hansen
Dr. Susan Martinis
Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Dr. Nadya Mason
Dean, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering
Brian Perkovich
Ex Officio – Executive Director, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
Dr. Eric Perreault
Vice President for Research, Northwestern University
Thru Shivakumar
Board Treasurer - CEO, cohesionIB
Dr. Jay Walsh
Interim Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation, University of Illinois
Sunny Elebua
Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer, Exelon
Dr. Steven Kloos
John Robinson
Dr. Lindsay Birt
Mark Bertler
Michael Reardon
Dr. Terry Mah
Dr. May Wu
Todd Fein
Chris Sosnowski
Dr. Dev Gavaskar
Dr. Rafael Simon
Pierre Côté, Ph.D.
Dr. Kam Law
Programs
Great Lakes RENEW NSF I-Corps Water Innovation Program
Current and the NSF I-Corps Hub: Great Lakes Region are partnering together on a water specific cohort for the I-Corps JUMPSTART Program.
Please review the complete Program Overview, which includes a program description, selection criteria, and expectations outlined below before completing this application.
he I-Corps Program is time-intensive, as is the application process itself. Applicants should be confident in their ability to fully commit to the program before applying. The schedule for the program will be five virtual classes on 9/27, 10/13, 10/27, 11/10, and 11/17 from 10 AM to 12 PM Central Standard Time on Zoom.
Applications are due by September 19th. If you have any questions, please contact: ndudnik@currentwater.org and jgoodell@currentwater.org
RFPS
Accounting & Fractional CFO Services
Current seeks proposals from qualified financial professionals or firms to provide full-service accounting and fractional CFO support.
Key priorities include: payroll cost allocations, grant invoicing and reporting, monthly/quarterly financial reports, monthly and year-end closings, bookkeeping oversight, financial consulting, process improvement, and oversight of federal contracts.
Submission details
Proposals (PDF format preferred) must be emailed to Brian Spangle (bspangle@currentwater.org) by Friday, September 26, 2025, 11:59 PM CST.
Info session:
Join us for an information session on Thursday, September 18 at 1 PM CST. We’ll walk through Current’s accounting RFP and answer questions to support proposal development. Register here.