Our Mission

Abe directs Brightwater’s iterative approach to new product development, including product design, prototyping, fabrication and testing. He is also the Research Director and Co-Founder of the Rich Earth Institute. A lifelong resident of Vermont, he has used alternative sanitation systems since 1976, and has been academically and professionally involved in their development since 2000.

Kim Nace has a BS from Lewis and Clark College, holds an MA in International Administration from World Learning and an MA in Educational Leadership from Keene State College. Prior to working in the sanitation sector, she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana and taught children of all ages. She coordinated research funded by the MacArthur Foundation and later served as a school Principal in rural Vermont and in Chennai, India. She was Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Rich Earth Institute prior to leading Brightwater Tools. She has built a high-performance team at Brightwater Tools and continues to engage others in the possibilities & practicalities of regenerative sanitation. Kim and her family use a urine diverting composting toilet.

Jackie Gold is an established leader with 25+ years of business development, marketing, and operations experience spanning commercial real estate, financial services, insurance, management consulting and education. 

Most recently, Jackie worked as a business consultant in education and the fintech industry. Prior to that, Jackie was a Senior Vice President of operations for TitleVest, New York’s largest title insurance company, where she helped orchestrate the sale to First American Financial in 2015.  Prior to FAF, she was division Chief Operating Officer for Barclays Internal Audit Group in the Americas, and she spent nearly 10 years at Cushman & Wakefield as Senior Managing Director in charge of global marketing operations. Jackie’s other experiences include senior roles at MetLife, Ernst & Young, MasterCard International, and the Real Estate Board of NY.

Jackie holds a BA from New York University and an MBA from Columbia Business School. She resides in Vermont with her family. She is a certified ski instructor and loves the outdoors.

Michael brings 25+ years of experience in new product development, product design, manufacturing and project management to Brightwater Tools. He looks forward to working together with the team to deliver innovative & impactful products to market in order to foster systemic change in how we manage wastewater.

Most recently, Michael worked as a Principal Product Engineer in R&D for Newell Brands developing iconic products for Sharpie, Elmers and X-ACTO. His experience spans a wide range of products, from commercial to industrial. Michael has a B.S. in Engineering from Grand Valley State University and he has been a Registered Professional Engineer (P.E) in Georgia since 2007.

Arthur Davis holds a BA in Geology from Oberlin College where he also got his start with alternative sanitation systems while working on the Living Machine system at the Adam Lewis Environmental Studies building on campus. After Oberlin, Arthur continued to work with sanitation systems, as well as mechanical & electrical systems as the engineer aboard the Schooner Adventuress, an environmental education tall ship in Puget Sound, WA.

In 2017, he began working for the Rich Earth Institute and has been designing, building and operating innovative human waste management equipment and infrastructure ever since. He has now brought those skills to Brightwater Tools as part of the Research & Development team. He is a passionate recycler and sees recycling human waste as a clear next horizon in the movement to reduce and reuse.

Cole joins the Brightwater Tools team after working with the Rich Earth Institute as an Intern. His background in mechanical engineering allows him to assist with the design, fabrication, and testing of Brightwater Tools’ novel treatment systems. Cole is committed to finding efficient solutions to the problems that impede our sustainability goals. Cole received a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dayton. His coursework focused on mechanical design and renewable energy, culminating in the redesign of a solar thermal adsorption refrigeration unit.

Mike Iacona oversees Brightwater Tools' financial tracking and administrative systems. He earned a BS in Finance from Penn State University and spent many years working on organic farms in NH, PA, Quebec, CA, and various parts of Europe. This time spent growing food led to his deep appreciation for soil health and its role in human health. Mike also has 8 years of practical experience running a residential carpentry business and designing/ building wooden taper-wall yurts. Though it may look like he's creating a spreadsheet, he's actually turning waste into a resource.

Julia supports the Brightwater Tools team with digital media creation and communications. She is also the Education Director at the Rich Earth Institute, where she organizes the annual Urine Reclamation Summit, hosts education programming for gardening with urine fertilizer, and supports community-scale adoption of urine nutrient reclamation. She holds a BA in Environmental Studies from Skidmore College and an MRes in Human Geography from the University of Glasgow. As quoted in the New York Times, Julia is enthusiastic about the potential we all have to “pee the change!”

Gabe joined Brightwater Tools in 2021 as an R&D engineer focused on software development. Prior to that, he went back to school for a MS degree in Data Science at SUNY Albany. Before changing careers, he worked on a variety of farms around the country, and more recently as a pastry chef. Gabe brings his passion for data science to bear on the difficult problems being solved at Brightwater Tools. Data visualization, algorithm design and mathematical modeling are some of the skills that he contributes to the team. He is excited and proud to help improve the innovative wastewater treatment systems that will play an important role in carrying our communities toward a sustainable future.

Paul joined Brightwater Tools in late 2022 as an R&D Engineer concentrating on hardware and software development. As a developer and audio-visual technician, he brings over 20 years of experience in programming, experience design, and creative technology, mainly focused on developing technology to support interactive exhibits and experiences for a variety of museums and cultural institutions. Having grown up with the initials PP, he was excited for the opportunity to bring these skills and his passion for the environment to support wastewater innovation. Paul finds therapy and solace in writing code to deliver groundbreaking solutions for embracing the importance of this natural resource.

After 20+ years in Brooklyn, Paul and his family now reside in Bennington, VT. He has a BA from Bard College and Masters degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU.

Lynn Broaddus, PhD, MBA, was the 2020-21 President of the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an international organization of water quality professionals headquartered in Alexandria, VA. Lynn formed Broadview Collaborative Inc. in 2014 as a platform for advancing sustainable, resilient practices in the water sector. She serves as a strategic adviser and facilitator for private-sector, nonprofit and philanthropic clients throughout North America, and is known for bringing new ways of thinking to the crucial environmental challenges of our day.

Dr. Nancy Love’s research focuses on environmental biotechnology and water quality with an emphasis on engineered treatment systems. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Water Environment Research Foundation, the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology, various utilities and water authorities, and NASA. Nancy has worked on technologies to convert urine to safe (low contaminant level) fertilizer products with Rich Earth Institute, University at Buffalo, and Hampton Roads Sanitation District.

Nadav is a green building consultant and workshop facilitator who is passionate about the potential for urine diversion to reduce the load on wastewater treatment systems (where they exist) and reduce eutrophication where wastewater treatment is inadequate. Nadav is a long-serving former member of the national LEED Faculty, he is an experienced trainer and facilitator, convening the network of architecture firm Sustainable Design Leaders and teaching diverse groups about LEED and green building. As President and CEO of BuildingGreen, he oversees the company’s industry-leading information and community-building websites BuildingGreen.com and LEEDuser.