Management Team

Suzanne R. Coffey is the Chief Executive Officer for the Great Lake Authority (GLWA).

Suzanne R. Coffey became the Chief Executive Officer for GLWA on June 23, 2022. 

Before being named Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Coffey served for nearly a year in the role of Interim Chief Executive Officer. Prior to that, she was the Chief Planning Officer for GLWA, a position she held since August 24, 2015.

As Chief Planning Officer, Ms. Coffey championed GLWA's efforts to bolster the Authority's asset management capacities, capital improvement program execution and lead long-term planning efforts including the Wastewater Master Plan.

Ms. Coffey initially became familiar with GLWA through her role as a manager in the Oakland County's Water Resources Commissioner's office, where she worked for 12 years and was an integral part of the DWSD-GLWA transition efforts.

Under the leadership of Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash, Ms. Coffey was responsible for supervising engineers, field staff members, administrative and technical support personnel and supporting operations and maintenance of wastewater interceptor systems, local municipal wastewater conveyance systems, drains and lake level control structures, as well as oversight of staff members who perform construction project management and construction inspection.

Ms. Coffey is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Michigan. She graduated Cum Laude from Lawrence Technological University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering and was named Young Engineer of the Year by the Northern Chapter of the Michigan Society of Professional Engineers.

Mr. Wolfson is the Chief Administrative and Compliance Officer and Interim General Counsel for GLWA.  In this role, Mr. Wolfson supports GLWA’s Organizational Development, Information Technology, General Counsel, Special Projects, Enterprise Risk Management, and Security and Integrity Teams. With more than 35 years of local government experience, he also provides leadership support to the entire utility in the absence of its CEO.  Prior to assuming his current position, Mr. Wolfson served as Chief Administrative and Compliance Officer and General Counsel for both GLWA and DWSD. Mr. Wolfson joined the DWSD as the utility’s first General Counsel in June 2012 and added the position of Chief Operating and Compliance Officer in August, 2013. Mr. Wolfson previously served as a member of the City of Detroit’s Law Department working as the legal liaison to the Detroit City Council, as well as to several key regional initiatives such as the casino and stadium development projects. Upon leaving the City of Detroit, Mr. Wolfson moved to Wayne County’s Department of Corporation Counsel and was appointed Deputy Corporation Counsel by County Executive Edward McNamara.  The succeeding County Executive, Robert Ficano, appointed Mr. Wolfson to the position of Assistant Deputy County Executive/Director of Legal Affairs.  In that position, Mr. Wolfson was responsible for the day-to-day operations of county government and its 4,500 employees.  Mr. Wolfson retired from his Wayne County position in July 2009; he then went into private practice and contracted to serve as Wayne County’s Interim Corporation Counsel.  Mr. Wolfson is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota Law School.  In 2020 Mr. Wolfson was honored by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as one of its Leaders in the Law.

Nicolette N. Bateson, CPA is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Treasurer for the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA).

Ms. Bateson’s service follows her tenure as the first CFO for the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department ,which began in February 2013. In that role she led the Financial Services Group through a significant transformation effort engaging cross-functional teams to achieve sustainable change.  The result was a professionalized department with an unprecedented demonstration of transparency to all stakeholders.  This pivotal effort supported intensive, collaborative discussions that were essential to forming the regional authority.

Ms. Bateson possesses extensive financial and public administration experience. As a visiting specialist for the State and Local Government Program with Michigan State University Extension, Ms. Bateson worked with state and local officials to address the needs of cities in fiscal stress. Her research, educational programs, and writings related to public-sector financial challenges are often cited. In her roles as Assistant City Manager and Finance Director in local government, she was responsible for strategic planning, financial turnaround, information technology, labor relations, employee benefit design, project management and deploying multi-year budgeting and long-range capital planning.  Ms. Bateson’s professional career began with a national accounting firm serving clients in the construction, manufacturing, and nonprofit sector.

Ms. Bateson earned a bachelor’s of business administration degree in professional accountancy from the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a master’s of public administration degree in public administration from Eastern Michigan University.

Ms. Porter is the Chief Operating Officer of GLWA Water and Field Services Area where she oversees five water treatment facilities and water transmission to the Authority's member partner communities, ensuring GLWA's water consistently meets and exceeds all quality standards and regulations.  Ms. Porter is an active member of the American Water Works Association, and will be the national organization’s president in 2024, which will make her the first African American and the first woman of color to hold that prestigious position. She also served as a Michigan AWWA Section Trustee (2018-2021). In 2017, Crain’s Detroit Business recognized her as one of Detroit’s Women in Leadership. Ms. Porter provides leadership that’s grounded in experience and manages engineers, field staff and administrative and technical support personnel. Her broad knowledge base in the water service sector began at DWSD as a Junior Chemist, where her dedication yielded eventual advancement to Water Production and Operations Manager. As the COO of the DWSD, she was part of the team that helped establish GLWA in 2016. Ms. Porter earned her BS degree from the University of Michigan, an MBA with a concentration in Human Resources Management from Madonna University, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Ms. Porter maintains State of Michigan operator certifications for both Water Distribution (S-3) and Complete Treatment (F-1). Under her direction, GLWA’s Southwest Water Treatment Plant received the “2023 President’s Award and the Water Works Park Water Treatment Plant received the “2019 President’s Award for Water Treatment” from the Partnership for Safe Water.

Ms. Kramer became the Chief Organizational Development Officer in October 2022 after serving as the Director – Organizational Development since 2019.  Jordie has served in increasingly more responsible human resource roles in government entities in southeast Michigan for nearly three decades. Her areas of responsibility include recruitment, compensation, benefits, labor relations, employee relations, human resource information systems (HRIS), and training and development.  Before her tenure at GLWA, Kramer served as Oakland County’s Director of Human Resources, and served as Labor Relations Supervisor and Senior Compensation Analyst. Kramer is active in the Michigan Public Employers Labor Relations Association and serves as a member of its board of directors and is also active in the National Public Employers Labor Relations Association. She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Central Michigan University.

Jody Caldwell is the Chief Planning Officer for the GLWA. Mr. Caldwell brings more than 22 years of private consultation, municipal operations and maintenance, and asset management experience to GLWA. Prior to his appointment as Chief Planning Officer, Mr. Caldwell served as the Asset Management Director for the enterprise-wide asset management group for over five years. He helped to support functional areas by coordinating overall asset management strategies, objectives, and activities to ensure decisions are informed by risk, regional needs, and life cycle considerations. Prior to his service with GLWA, Jody was a Chief Engineer at Oakland County's Water Resources Commissioner's Office (“WRC”) where he worked for 12 years in many different capacities. In this role, Mr. Caldwell was responsible for oversight of multiple areas including capital, asset management and planning, finance and budgeting, water operations and maintenance, water engineering, and cross connection control. During his time with WRC, Mr. Caldwell worked closely with the DWSD and GLWA. He was the Oakland County representative on the DWSD Board of Water Commissioners, served as the water technical advisory committee and wastewater steering committee co-chairs, and was an important part of the DWSD-GLWA transition efforts. Mr. Caldwell is a registered professional engineer in the State of Michigan and holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Michigan State University.

Ms. Zdrodowski became Chief Public Affairs Officer for GLWA on July 6, 2016. In her capacity as Chief Public Affairs Officer, she guides the organization’s efforts to build and maintain its relationships with internal and external stakeholders.  Ms. Zdrodowski brings more than 30 years of strategic communications and community engagement experience to GLWA. Immediately prior to joining the GLWA team, she served as Chief Communications Officer for Detroit Public Schools during a period of unprecedented challenge and change.  Her previous public sector communications experience also includes her tenure as Deputy Press Secretary to former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer. Ms. Zdrodowski also spent more than a decade leading the nonprofit/government practice group for a Detroit-based public relations agency.  Ms. Zdrodowski holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Michigan State University.  She is a member of the Public Affairs Council for American Water Works Association (AWWA) and is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Michigan Section of the AWWA.

Mr. Small became Chief Information Officer for GLWA on August 15, 2016.  In his capacity as Chief Information Officer, Mr. Small directs and coordinates technology strategy implementation and provides strategic IT leadership, change leadership, customer service, innovation, and information security for the regional authority. Mr. Small brings 30 years of information technology and business process experience to GLWA.  Immediately prior to joining the GLWA team, he served for four years as Deputy Chief Information Officer at Wayne County, Michigan. Prior to his work at Wayne County, Mr. Small held IT leadership roles at several multi-national companies in a cross‑section of industries, including retail, sourcing, brand-management and consumer products.  Mr. Small holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from The George Washington University and a Masters in Computer Information Systems from Baker College. He was named 2019 IT Professional of the Year by the Michigan chapter of the Government Management Information Sciences (Mi-GMIS) and was recognized as a 2020 Special District Program Award Winner from Government Technology magazine in the Technology and Innovation Leadership category.

Chief Jones was appointed GLWA’s Chief Security and Integrity Officer on January 1, 2016 after serving with DWSD in that capacity since 2012. His extensive experience in law enforcement and security spans over a 40-year career. Chief Jones is responsible for GLWA’s entire security posture, which includes the physical security infrastructure and safety of employees, facilities and assets. In addition, Chief Jones has been pivotal in developing and implementing entity-wide integrity policies and procedures. Prior to his arrival at GLWA, Chief Jones served as Chief of Police, Police Administrator, Fire Chief, Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant and Deputy Sheriff with large local units of government in Michigan including the supervision of both police and fire personnel. Chief Jones has a Masters in Educational Leadership from Madonna University, a Masters in Liberal Studies from Eastern Michigan University and a Bachelor in General Studies from the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He has also received certification from the State of Michigan to be a K-12 school administrator. Additionally, Chief Jones is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and a graduate of the Secret Service Dignitary Protection training, as well as a certified firefighter.  In 2023, Chief Jones received Certificates of Completion for Promoting Racial Equity in the Workplace and National and International Security from John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Mr. Mehram is the Chief Operating Officer for Wastewater Operating Services of GLWA.  He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Michigan, who brings a wealth of wastewater operations experience.  Prior to assuming this position, Mr. Mehram served as the Chief Engineer at the Oakland County Water Resource Commissioner’s office. During his tenure at the Oakland County WRC, he led the transitioning of the City of Pontiac’s water and wastewater operations and maintenance from private contract operations to county operations. The transformation included design and construction of a new state of the art biosolids processing system. This innovative process was the first in Michigan and the third in North America. In his capacity Mr. Mehram also provided leadership for engineering, field staff member and administrative and technical support personal providing service for a number of county facilities including three treatment facilities, over two hundred pump stations, community wells and retentions basins. Mr. Mehram brings over 10 years of extensive experience specializing in design and construction of water treatment, water resource recovery and pumping systems as a consultant. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Michigan, who graduated from Wayne State University with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, and as a member of Chi Epsilon – a National Civil Engineering Honor Society.