American Water, a publicly traded water and wastewater utility company, announced Ed Vallejo, vice president of Investor Relations, has been selected to receive a 2012 Minority Business Leader Award. Established by the Philadelphia Business Journal, the awards honor Greater Philadelphia area minorities in business who have made a significant contribution to the community. Vallejo and fellow honorees will be recognized on August 9 at an awards ceremony and in a print supplement in the August 10 issue of the Philadelphia Business Journal.
As vice president of Investor Relations, Vallejo is responsible for developing investor relations strategies and serving as American Water's liaison with the financial analyst and investor communities. He has held his current position since 2006, when he rejoined American Water as the company was beginning to prepare for its initial public offering (IPO) in 2008. In 2009, he led the Investor Relations team through completing the divestiture, making American Water 100% publicly traded on the NYSE.
Prior to his current position, Vallejo served as the chief financial officer of Thames Water Chile, where he was responsible for all aspects of financial strategies, processes and operations. He has also held previous positions at American Water, including vice president of Mergers & Acquisitions as well as treasurer. He started his career in the utilities sector as an investment banker covering electric, gas and water companies.
Despite the demands of his professional work, Vallejo has always made it a point to serve his community and has a special interest in projects that focus on helping communities that share his ethnic background. He was instrumental in supporting a start-up Spanish Christian church in Union City, N.J. and also supports a Christian bookstore "Hossana" in the same town. Additionally, while working in Chile, he was very active with Habitat for Humanity, traveling to less fortunate Chilean towns and helping to lay water distribution mains so the residents could have access to water service. This year, Vallejo sent his son, Robert, 18, to deliver supplies to an orphanage in Ecuador.
Vallejo is a member of the board of directors of Indiana Utility Shareholders Assn., whose mission is to establish a grass roots program of information and education between shareholders and policy makers at the state and national level.
In 2011, Vallejo was named to the All-America Executive Team, Best IR Professionals by Institutional Investor magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from New York Institute of Technology and a master's degree in business administration from New York University. Vallejo lives in Medford, N.J., and he and his wife, Alisen, have three children.
Source: American Water
