{"id":788,"date":"2019-09-05T15:49:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T19:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/water.phila.gov\/blog\/joanne-dahme-retires\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T18:45:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T23:45:05","slug":"joanne-dahme-retires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/water.phila.gov\/blog\/joanne-dahme-retires\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Work At PWD? Ask Joanne Dahme"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"big\">As the head of the Public Affairs division, Joanne Dahme became the face of the Philadelphia Water Department. She spoke for PWD at town hall meetings, rate hearings, City Council budget sessions, and neighborhood meetings big and small. Now, after 37 years, she&#39;ll make tomorrow her last day at PWD.<\/p>\n<p>We were lucky to fill her shoes with Glen Abrams\u2014a former PWD employee who left a leadership role at <a href=\"https:\/\/phsonline.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the Pa. Horticultural Society<\/a> this summer to return to the Department.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re looking forward working with Glen, and he knows better than most what a role model Joanne is\u2014and a hard act to follow!<\/p>\n<p>A uniquely talented individual, Joanne began her career as one of the <strong>first women to serve as a Water Pollution Control Plant engineer<\/strong>. And, because she wore many other hats over the years, we asked her to sit down for an on-camera interview and reflect on her decades of experience.<\/p>\n<p><strong>We were inspired by what she said, and we hope you will be too<\/strong>\u2014the water industry <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/blog\/the-avenue\/2018\/06\/29\/five-steps-to-prepare-the-next-generation-of-water-workers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">truly needs a new generation<\/a> of leaders like her.<\/p>\n<p>We want to thank Joanne for her endless contributions and for making PWD customers her No.\u00a01 priority. Her dedication to doing everything in her power to serve the city has been nothing short of superhuman.<\/p>\n<p>Still trying to figure out what you want to study or what career to pursue?<\/p>\n<p>Check out her story and what makes her so passionate about this work, and see if you aren\u2019t inspired to explore public service with PWD:<\/p>\n<h4>Joanne Dahme: Retrospective Interview<\/h4>\n<div class=\"video\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/355414187\" title=\"vimeo-player\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h4>Curious about how to work in the public water industry?<\/h4>\n<p>Learn more about <strong>jobs at the Philadelphia Water Department<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<h5><a class=\"btn btn-lg btn-primary white bold\" href=\"https:\/\/water.phila.gov\/jobs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Work With Water<\/a><\/h5>\n<style type=\"text\/css\">@media(max-width:768px){.pwd-m-hero>.hero-bg{background-position-y:65%;}}\n@media(min-width:1200px){.pwd-m-hero>.hero-bg{background-position-y:47%;}}\n@media(min-width:1500px){.pwd-m-hero>.hero-bg{background-position-y:42%;}}\n<\/style>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly four decades after she began her career at PWD as an engineer, Public Affairs General Manager Joanne Dahme is passing the baton. Watch her exit interview to see why a career in water is rewarding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"custom_css":"","custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8,20,558,52,93,104,559],"class_list":["post-788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","tag-announcement","tag-colleges-and-universities","tag-employee-spotlight","tag-jobs","tag-stem","tag-video","tag-women-of-water","wpautop"],"acf":{"suggested":null},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/phila.gov\/blog\/joanne-dahme-retires\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Why Work At PWD? 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