AC26 Leading the Flow: Empowering Leadership in Wastewater Treatment Operations

Stephen (Steve) McKeon is a motivated, approachable servant leader with more than 25 years' professional experience leading teams in global operations in the Automotive/Aerospace, Defense Contracting, and recently Wine/Spirits markets.

He has extensive experience in program management, project execution, and developing high-performance work teams who deliver results. With a unique operations background to include environmental, health and safety, lean manufacturing, and contract services, he has demonstrated the ability to solve business challenges and deliver results in US and global markets. With his focus on stakeholder groups—the customer, the employee, and the business—he finds balance and harmony to achieve alignment and meet competing demands. From this perspective, he has helped many organizations develop leaders in the practice and currently conducts workshops with partners Lupe Munoz and Alex Aranda on Transformational Leadership founded in Servant Leadership.

Leveraging lean thinking methodologies and practice, he helps organizations evolve and grow through development of standard work practice with a robust continuous improvement approach to eliminate wasteful practice. He has extensive experience in problem solving, process engineering, organizational change management, risk management, project planning, team building, communication, technical support, and program start-up and closure.

Values: Trust, Safety, Respect, Integrity, Resilience
Priorities: Family, Friendship, Life Experiences
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science - Metropolitan State University of Denver
Certified in Lean Practice - George Group

You can learn more about Steve by catching him and Lupe Munoz on The Leadership Exchange podcast.

Lupe is a transformational leader with over 30 years of leadership experience. With a degree in Aerospace Engineering, and seven years as a U.S. Army Veteran, Lupe brings a disciplined, strategic approach to leadership. Over three decades, he’s led high-performing teams across multiple industries, always focused on driving results through servant leadership, accountability, purpose, and operational excellence. As a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Lupe combines data-driven decision-making with a people-first mindset helping organizations build stronger leaders, improve execution, and build continuous improvement cultures.

Alex Aranda is a Managing Partner at La Clara Vista Consulting and a Senior HR Leader with over 20 years of professional leadership experience, specializing in building high-performing teams and driving organizational results. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA and an MBA from California State University, Sacramento; complemented by various HR certifications. Alex is recognized for fostering cultures of trust, accountability, and resilience, and for her enduring passion for helping individuals unlock their full potential by aligning talent with purpose. A skilled mentor, trainer, coach, problem-solver, and facilitator, Alex finds particular interest in subjects such as Emotional Intelligence, Leading Change, Conflict Management, Servant Leadership, and Operational Excellence. Alex resides in Lodi, California and has 3 children ages 15, 9, and 8.