The Water for the West governance structure lies with the Board of Directors that provides the expert stewardship necessary to manage a high-tech 501(c)(3), steering the organization toward a sustainable future and serving as the legal and strategic bridge between innovative engineering and public benefit.
Board of Directors
In the summer of 2021 Dan together with 5 executives from L3 formed a charity called Water for the West. He serves as the CEO and Chairman for that foundation whose purpose is to solve the west’s water needs. He is passionate about bringing new sources of water to the rapidly growing western United States. He has been working with and educating legislators, government water organizations along with conservancy districts on out of the box solutions to bringing large amounts of water to the Colorado river basin and 7 western states experiencing extreme drought.
Daniel G Watt also serves as the President of a Diesel Turbo Manufacture, Diesel Power Source LLC. Together with the Owner of this small business they are working to grow the business that has great potential to move into the Semi-truck market.
He also serves as the owner and president of Dan Watt and Associate since 2021. In January of 2021 after leaving L3 Harris Technologies, he formed a consulting company named Dan Watt and Associates LLC, whose purpose is to bring solutions to clients - making businesses better, one business at a time. He has worked with private equity, and several small businesses needing to grow by building a stable business foundation as well as looking at and evaluating M&A opportunities. On top of Dan’s technical/engineering and executive leadership background, he has experience in rebuilding failing businesses by quickly identifying and executing solutions for long term profitability and growth.
Dan also served for 28 years in the aerospace and defense industry, with the last 13 years in executive leadership in roles such as Senior Vice President and Chief Operation Officer for L3Harris, Broadband Communications Sector, Senior Vice President of Plant Operations, Acting President of Narda-Miteq, Vice President of Products and Programs, and Vice President of Engineering. He held P&L responsibilities multiple times in his career and has proven ability to grow the business while growing bottom line concurrently.
Dan’s early career started with Unisys as a Design Engineering and during his 28-year career at L3 he has continued to work in Design Engineering, Systems Engineer and then into Engineering Leadership and other leadership roles throughout the company. He has led numerous organizations including: Program Management, Business Area P&Ls, Engineering and Operations, Quality, Product Line Management, Sales and Operation Planning, Facilities, IT, Supply Chain, and Program Security.
He has been the go-to guy for solving tough problems including taking on the role of Acting President for Narda-MITEQ for four months to help clean up a business in the red, while the search for a permanent president. He also was the Acting President of CSW while the president was on special assignment.
He takes pride in helping his employees and customers achieve mission success. He served for several years on the L3 Corp Engineering Council and has always had a passion for product development and innovation. He holds several patents and finds great satisfaction in seeing the technology/products that were developed and deployed play a key role in giving our US Armed Forces the competitive advantage.
With a continued focus on Diversity and Inclusion within his organizations, he served on the L3 Corp D&I Council for just under 3 years, as well as speaking at several D&I events. He also serves on the University of Arizona’s Executive Advisory Board.
He has a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Arizona and graduated number one in his class (Cumma Sum Laude). He also successfully completed the L3 Executive Leadership Development Program from the University of Pennsylvania.
He served in the US Army’s 11th Signal Brigade (Ft. Huachuca) for three years and has lived in and around the military all of his life, thus his great passion for supporting the warfighter.
Dan is a dedicated husband and father and currently lives in Salt Lake City with his wife and four children. He is active in community service, youth programs and the Boy Scouts of America. He also enjoys most outdoor activities including hiking, biking, kayaking, camping and drone photography.
A veteran of the aerospace, defense and telecommunications industries, Elissa has more than 35 years of experience in multiple disciplines involving both domestic and international Government business. She has held Director and/or Vice President positions in Business Development and Strategy at Litton, Northrop Grumman, Smith’s Industries, ITT Industries and L3 Technologies (now L3Harris). Born and raised in New Jersey, she has been a resident of California for more than 30 years. Upon moving from the Los Angeles area to San Diego in 2007, she built and coached high-performance teams and successfully lead Business Development, Program Management and Operations organizations at L3. She ultimately became President of L3’s Linkabit Division providing advanced Satellite Communication Systems and Signal Intelligence Systems worldwide. Her most recent position was L3 Technologies, Segment Vice President of Strategy, Broadband Communications Systems Segment where she supported Merger & Acquisition (M&A) activities, strategic planning and business assessment/troubleshooting.
Elissa earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Boston University and completed an Executive Leadership Development Program at the Wharton School of Business. She has a Private Pilot’s license, is an avid sailor, skier, classical pianist and is presently rediscovering golf. Her love of the ocean, outdoor activities and life in California has brought increasing awareness and concern for the present water shortage in the western part of the United States.
She is presently Semi-retired with a vocation to give back and support worthy endeavors. She is currently on the Dean’s Leadership council of UCSD Division of Physical Sciences and recently joined Water for the West’s Advisory Board.
Doug Bowen is currently a resident of Spanish Fork, Utah. He has 42 years of work experience: 10 years military ( Capt.); 32 years as an engineering leader for Government/Industry activities. 10 years as an investor in a small business and as a volunteer for several organizations.
Doug currently serves as a Director on the Water for the West Board of Directors (Sec/Treasurer) and on the Board of Directors (Sec/Treasurer) for AIS Force Association, Chapter 236. Past Chair Blackhawk District BSA. He also was recently serving as the Chair of the Spanish Fork City Utilities Board (10 years) where he gets his background in water.
For many years Doug served as the VP of Engineering for L-3 Communications Systems West. President Interlake Investment Group (2005-20014). Chief Engineer-Z-08, a classified activity supporting: SAF/SP; ASD/C3I; CIA; DIA; Rm 4D1000 Pentagon; NSA (R,S,T,W groups). This was over a career spanning 42 years.
Doug has lived in Utah for 70 years. He has traveled extensively and knows how water can affect people’s lives. Doug feels fortunate to have great people that have worked to conserve and protect our water and water rights in the state and across the West. He believes passionately that we face unique circumstances in the West that must be dealt with. He also believes that we do not have sufficient water being generated in the Intermountain area to sustain ourselves at the current projected growth rates and climate conditions. We have about 20 years to fix this condition, which is just about enough time to build the transport infrastructure we might need.
Doug also enjoys playing the piano and organ, gardening, volunteer for his church, and he cheers and supports his grandchildren and children in their lives.
Bill Banton is Currently serving as the VP of HR and Legal Council for Water for the West, he also serves as a director on the Water for the West Board of Directors. Bill has served as a global Human Resources professional and Attorney for over 25 years. Most recently Bill served as Vice President, People Business Partner, for Mastercard, Inc., where he partnered with business leadership to lead their newly created US Open Banking segment. Prior to Mastercard, he spent time in the Fintech space with Global Payments Inc., where he served as Vice President, Human Resources. Bill has led a wide range of Human Resources initiatives and held leadership roles across various industries, working at companies such as L3Harris Technologies, Ametek, Mylan, Campbell Soup, Borgwarner and Alcoa. Along with his Human Resources roles, he has maintained a general civil litigation law practice, where he is a member of the Oregon State Bar and District of Columbia Bar. Bill holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Brigham Young University and a Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School.