About Our Speakers

Director, Houston Public Works
City of Houston

Carol Ellinger Haddock is Director of Houston Public Works, the largest American Public Works Association accredited agency in the nation. Carol leads almost 4,000 employees in transforming the culture and operations of the Department, with the purpose: “Together we create a strong foundation for Houston to thrive.” Houston Public Works includes water and wastewater systems; street and storm drainage systems and regulation of both public and private development. The Department has an annual operating budget of $2.1 billion and an annual capital budget of nearly a billion dollars. 

Carol has been at the City for nearly sixteen years and was promoted to Director in 2017. She has led the organization through a cultural transformation by providing resilience training for all employees. Streamlining operations and equipping employees with new skill sets, has allowed the Department to move forward from Hurricane Harvey, set records for treatment of drinking water in a day, reduced environmental impacts in both the wastewater and stormwater systems, maintain a next-business-day pothole repair program 99% of the time and support more than $6 billion in development.

Through Carol’s leadership, Houston Public Works employees have been empowered to take on additional leadership roles in the Department and throughout the country in professional organizations. When other cities or agencies have complex problems to solve, they often turn to Houston for advice and guidance.

Carol is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Texas with a Civil Engineering Bachelor’s degree from Rice University and has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Houston. Prior to joining Houston Public Works, Carol worked in private consulting, for the Harris County Flood Control District, and as a Congressional Fellow for the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. She is married to Will Haddock, a Houston bankruptcy attorney.