Career History & Duties

Director of Engineering & Environmental Compliance
WCA Waste Corporation

WCA Waste is a $150 million publicly traded company that operates in 12 states in the southeastern United States. The company went public in June 2004. Forget joined the company one year prior to the public offering and has been active in the asset evaluations since the public offering. She built an engineering organization and compliance programs within the company. She reported directly to the President and COO and works with all levels in the organization to implement new procedures and policies and develop programs to meet the federal, state and local needs of each site.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Oversee management of engineering, compliance and construction. All projects are performed by outside vendors who must be selected and managed.

• Report to the President and COO on engineering and environmental issues and work with financial staff to continually assess value of assets. In the solid waste industry the revenue, and therefore stock value, is derived from the amount of material that can be compacted into the property that is permitted. Creative engineering techniques allow more material to be compacted into a fixed volume of space, thereby increasing the value of the company to the shareholders. This information is reported to shareholders quarterly.

• Evaluate potential acquisitions and integrate newly acquired companies into systems. Due to the liability associated with landfills, the environmental aspect is the most important piece of acquisitions. A thorough investigation must be performed so that all potential problems are uncovered long before a decision is made to move forward or not

• Build an engineering organization. Prior to going public the company utilized consultants exclusively to manage the engineering and environmental requirements. With the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley and liabilities associated with public companies, an internal engineering organization must be created.

Specific accomplishments include:

• Researched, selected and installed compliance program to ensure all 60+ facilities operate within the guidelines of their permits and local, state and federal regulations. When new sites are acquired, they are rolled into the program immediately. This is a large step forward for a company and an industry that previously relied on local managers to ensure all regulatory requirements were being met.

• Created and implemented an environmental inspection/audit program for three different types of facilities in 12 states. This program requires inspections on three different levels and has required a great deal of education for the field personnel. Successfully selling the program has led to a positive attitude among field personnel and the identification of issues that needed attention by upper management. Identifying these liabilities and correcting the issues prior to discovery by a state agency saves the company a significant amount of time and resources.

• Developed an electronic filing system for all corporate engineering and compliance files. The idea of an electronic filing system could have been quickly killed in the solid waste industry. However, successful implementation and training has evolved into excitement and anticipation. The system covers 60+ facilities.

Education

Masters of Business Administration, Finance
1998, University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas

• Graduated in Top 1% of Class while working full time

Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering with Environmental Minor
1994, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

• Deans List while participating in athletics, volunteer activities and working part time

Volunteer Service to the Community

Forget is very involved with service to the community. She does this through many different avenues.

Society of Women Engineers (SWE):

• Washington University in St. Louis Student Section, 1989-1994

  • Was recruited to revive a dying student section by the faculty advisor. Served first as President, then Vice-President, then Treasurer. Implemented successful fundraising programs that allowed a contingency to attend all local and national SWE conferences. Utilized knowledge acquired at conferences to drastically increase membership, publicity, activities and build relationships with SWE professional section.

• Houston-Area Section (SWE-HA), 1994 - Present

  • Served in multiple positions leading up to Section President: Girl Scout Liaison, Networking Lunch Coordinator, Career Guidance Committee member, Region Conference Planning Committee member, Secretary, Vice-President and finally SWE-HA President. Highlight of Presidency was finalizing the re-write of the bylaws to accommodate the needs of a large section and to include the Board of Trustees that was created to manage the revenue from hosting the 1998 National Conference.

• 1998 SWE National Convention and Student Conference Career Fair Committee Chair.

  • Worked diligently with Show Management to ensure career fair would be the largest ever and best attended. A record number of companies exhibited and a record number of booth spaces were sold. To increase the number of people attending the career fair, Danielle developed the Explore Engineering program that invites area high school students to visit the career fair and see how many companies hire engineers. Her idea and the effort of her committee created an extremely successful program that has become a permanent fixture at the SWE National Conference.

• Region C, 2000 - Present

  • Region C Student Co-Coordinator. Served as liaison between 16 SWE Student Sections, Region C leadership, and SWE National. Tracked down student sections that hadn’t been active in years and identified needs. Worked to meet those needs and increase participation in lost sections. Met with interested students in Little Rock, Arkansas to revive student section in that area.

• SWE National Activities, 2001 - Present

  • Student Section Vitality Task Force Founding Member and Chair. Danielle started this effort with no budget, no team members, and no student focused training modules. She developed a plan for the team, recruited and trained team members, worked with SWE fundraisers to find a corporate sponsor, and developed a training program that focuses on student needs. This program has grown from nothing and has become the first SWE Task Force ever to become a SWE Committee; has existing sponsors for $45,000 and a requested budget of $110,000; has an existing 32 team members with an additional 50 positions open and being recruited for across the country. Danielle has mentored and managed this team of college students and young professionals and created a group of excellent public speakers with a great passion for SWE and sharing their knowledge about SWE.

Executive Women’s Council of National Solid Waste Management Association

• Danielle serves on this Executive Council for the solid waste industry as the WCA representative. The Women’s Council is generally made up of women who own their own garbage companies and the highest ranking women in the publicly traded companies. The mission of this group is to increase the number of women in the industry by offering training and tools needed to compete.

American Society of Civil Engineers

• Washington University Student Chapter

  • Concrete Canoe Designer and Rower

• ASCE Houston Professional Branch

  • Panelist, “Graduate School vs. Professional Life After Graduation”, April 1999

  • Panelist, “Types of Civil Engineering Career Positions”, April 2000.

  • Asked to Serve as Branch Director for 1999-2000, but declined the offer to commit time to SWE.

  • Student Liaison Committee Chair, 1998-1999.

  • Younger Members Committee Chair

  • Served as Younger Member Delegate from Houston Branch to

  • Zone III Management and Leadership Conference, 1998.

  • Hospitality Committee Chair

• ASCE National

  • Acknowledged for technical paper on History of Landfills, submitted to Millennium Project.

The Professional Group

• Danielle served as Vice President of Education – TPG is a local professional Women’s group. Danielle served on the Board of Directors after only one year in the group.

Washington University Alumni Association

• Regional Cabinet Member

• Group of 12 alumni from South Texas who advise the University on Alumni activities and assist with local activities.

• Houston Alumni and Parent Admissions Committee Chair, 1999-2002. Group provides alumni interviews for University applicants. Houston area has over 400 students who apply each year and team was not able to provide all of these interviews. Danielle developed interview days where all of the alumni and the applicants would come together in a central location and have a marathon day of interviews. Previously alums were providing 2-4 interviews each per year. The interview day program increased that number to an average of 10 interviews per alumni. This greatly increased the group’s ability to offer interviews to all applicants. Danielle also started the San Antonio group of the alumni interviewing program.

• National Alumni and Parent Admissions Leadership Team, 2000-2002. Served as one of only five people on national leadership team for alumni interviewing program. Assisted in writing a manual for new team members to use to provide a successful interview. Assisted in planning annual training for other chairs from across country.

• Alumni Association Chair for Houston, 2004-Present. Have developed a young alumni program for Houston. Recruited the young alumni chairs and work with them to offer programs that will encourage camaraderie among young alumni in Houston area. Attendance at young alumni events is growing. General committee offers programs for the 1400 area alumni. 12 programs a year are provided to various alumni groups. All have been very well received and attendance is growing.

• Alumni Board of Governors, Vice-Chair of Clubs. Serve as a national advisor to the university on alumni related affairs.

Midtown Civic Club

• Past Member of Public Relations Committee. Identify new residents in this rapidly growing area near downtown Houston and invite them to attend the monthly meetings and social activities to strengthen the neighborhood.

• Past Newsletter Editor for monthly publication.

Buffalo Bayou Art Park

• Developed idea to exhibit public art in Houston’s Museum Area. This neighborhood has large medians and heavy traffic. Recruited the Buffalo Bayou Art Park to sponsor the project and raised all the donations needed to fund the first installation. The first piece was installed in 2005. Also planned the opening party and fundraising event.

• Declined offer to serve on Board of Directors. Danielle’s husband, Chris, took the position instead. She works through Chris to provide resources for the group and performs fundraising behind the scenes.

Girl Scouts of America, U.S.A.

• Recipient of Highest Honor, Gold Award, 1988.

• Selected for “Wider Opportunities” trips sponsored by Council.

• Spent the summer at a horse camp in Wyoming.

• Emerald Circle member. This group offers scholarships to Girl Scouts who earn their Gold Awards. The group also pays for dues and uniforms for young girls whose families can not afford the ~$10 Girl Scout annual dues. Danielle’s continued support of the Girl Scouts stems from her desire to teach young girls and show them what is available to them if they have goals and strive toward that goal.

Recognitions, Honors, Awards

Peer Reviewed Publications:

“Guide to Developing Community Solid Waste Facilities” – Workbook published by Houston-Galveston Area Council and presented at TXSWANA conference. Workshop presented to solid waste professionals in the Houston-Galveston Area Council region and TNRCC officials.

“Gas Migration Assessment and Remediation Activities” – Paper selected, published and presented at state, regional, and national conferences. ASCE Regional Spring Meeting, April 1998, Society of Women Engineers 1998 National Convention and Student Conference.

Photograph published in book Eye of the Beholder, published by the International Library of Photography.

Licenses:

• Professional Engineers License, Texas & Arkansas

• Engineer-In-Training Certificate, Missouri

Honors & Awards:

• Landfill gas remediation project was recognized by Waste Management with a monetary bonus and acknowledgement in the Corporate Technology Newsletter

• Automation of landfill systems project was published in the Waste Management Technology Newsletter, Winter 1997/1998 edition, as a model project

• Awarded RUST E&I Employee of the Month in first six months of employment (1994)

• Graduated in Top 1% of MBA Class while working full-time

• Dean’s List at Washington University

• Washington University School of Engineering, Young Alumni of the Year, 2006

• Recipient of Vladimir Anastosof Half-Tuition Scholarship at Washington University

• Hewlett Packard Employee Scholarship for Undergraduates

• Received SWE Secretary recognition plaque for service to section

• Recognized for Explore Engineering event initiation and implementation in SWE Magazine article. The idea for this program was created by Danielle and developed by her team. It was so successful that the program is a national program repeated annually at the National Conference

• Received recognition plaque for exemplary service to SWE 1998 National Convention

• SWE Student Section was Recognized with a Certificate of Achievement at National Convention Student Award Ceremony
  2002 Distinguished New Engineer by the Society of Women Engineers (National Award)

• 2003 Houston Area Young Engineer of the Year

• 2004 Federation of Houston Professional Women “Woman of Excellence”

• After only 1 year as Washington University Alumni Interviewing Committee Chair, was asked to serve on the National Leadership Team for the alumni community and guide the Alumni Interviewing program nationally (only 5 alumni are on this team)

• Recipient of Girl Scout Gold Award, 1988

• ASCE Panelist, “Graduate School vs. Professional Life After Graduation”, April 1999

• ASCE Panelist, “Types of Civil Engineering Career Positions”, April 2000.

• Received ASCE Certificate of Appreciation for Achievements as Student Liaison Committee Chair

• Received ASCE Certificate of Appreciation for Achievements as Younger Member Chair and a Letter of Commendation was sent to my manager to praise accomplishments and leadership of the committee

• Served as ASCE Younger Member Delegate from Houston Branch to Zone III Management and Leadership Conference, 1998

• Received ASCE Certificate of Appreciation for Great Job as Hospitality Chair.

• Acknowledged for technical paper on History of Landfills, submitted to ASCE Millennium Project