American Water, the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company, has named Kathleen O’Hara as vice president of Operations for the Homeowner Services division. Kathleen joins American Water with impressive success and acumen gained from a number of leadership roles in the home and consumer services industries, and will be based in Naperville, Ill.
The addition of Kathleen to the Homeowner Services team comes following the 2018 acquisition of Pivotal Home Solutions and the subsequent integration and organization of the division to best support growth initiatives.
“Kathleen joins American Water’s Homeowner Services division at an important point in our integration timeline, and will bring with her the vision and expertise needed to best serve our customers,” said Homeowner Services President Eric Palm. “We continue to see a great deal of potential in this part of American Water’s market-based business, and welcome Kathleen as she works to maximize the value and impact of our operations team for customers, employees, and municipal, utility, and non-traditional partnerships alike.”
Most recently, Kathleen served as vice president and general manager of ServiceLive, a Sears Holdings company linking customers with local, certified home improvement professionals. Prior to that position, she launched strategic business initiatives as chief marketing officer of Exhale, a consumer health-focused company developed to identify the cause of allergies and asthma within the home. She also held the key leadership position of vice president of marketing for both Direct Energy and the Tribune Media Group.
American Water’s Homeowner Services division includes American Water Resources (AWR) and Pivotal Home Solutions (PHS), combining to serve over 1.5 million customers in 43 states and Washington, D.C. AWR and PHS have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and offer peace of mind to homeowners through service line and other home system protection programs.
