Building Trust, Breaking Silos, and Mentoring the Next Generation: The Leadership of Kirsten DePersis

For Kirsten DePersis, leadership is less about control and more about trust. As a senior leader at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), she has guided high-stakes projects, such as the Folsom Administrative Office Building initiative, and spearheaded improvements in interdepartmental collaboration, resilience planning, and operational excellence. Her approach is simple, yet profound: Empower people, create space for collaboration, and always explain the why.

Trusting Teams to Lead the Work

Kirsten believes the best way to lead is by ensuring that teams know they are trusted to do the work for which they were hired. "The farther up in an organization you go, the farther away from the work you get," she explains. "It's incredibly important to trust that the people you've hired know what they're doing and that they're providing you the information and guidance you need to make good, informed decisions."

For her, the challenge lies in striking the right balance: Staying close enough to a project to maintain a pulse on progress and risks, while avoiding the pitfalls of micromanagement. Trusting the team, she emphasizes, is not only the most respectful approach but also the most effective.

Balancing Innovation and Reliability

In utilities, innovation can’t come at the cost of reliability. Kirsten’s leadership philosophy blends operational excellence with resilience planning, ensuring that SMUD can adopt new tools and standards without sacrificing dependability. This balancing act has become a cornerstone of her work, whether introducing new construction models or improving infrastructure performance.

“Reliability is non-negotiable,” she notes. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t innovate. It means we have to innovate in ways that make our systems stronger, not more fragile.”

Breaking Down Silos

When Kirsten first joined SMUD, she quickly noticed a recurring theme: Teams expressed feeling blindsided by the decisions of other departments. Her solution was as straightforward as it was transformative: Start talking. "My first question was always, 'How often do you meet with them?'" she recalls. "Most of the time, the answer was never. Well, there's the problem."

Her strategy was to create consistent touchpoints—inviting teams to one another’s meetings, appointing points of contact to track cross-departmental initiatives, and creating opportunities to share information early. This proactive approach has shifted the team’s efforts from reactive to collaborative, reducing friction and increasing trust across SMUD.

Mentorship as a Calling

Of all her leadership responsibilities, mentorship remains one of Kirsten’s greatest passions. “I’ve learned so much from others over my career, and it’s important to me to give that back,” she says.

She's particularly committed to mentoring young women entering male-dominated fields. Her conversations with mentees range from practical career navigation to balancing family and professional ambitions. What makes her approach effective is its flexibility: She tailors her guidance to meet the needs of each mentee, offering a menu of topics and allowing them to set the agenda.

“It’s about meeting people where they are,” Kirsten explains. “I want them to leave our conversations not only with insight, but with confidence in their own voice.”

Making Metrics Meaningful

For Kirsten, metrics are not about bureaucracy—they’re about telling a story. She insists on explaining the "why" behind every measurement so her teams understand the purpose and impact.

“One of the first things I try to implement is metrics that measure the amount of work we have on our plates,” she explains. “We all feel like we have too much work, but if I can show clear data to back that up, we’ll be much more successful in getting resources.”

She also makes a point of revisiting metrics regularly, ensuring they remain relevant and actionable. “If we’re not actually using the information to make better decisions, then it’s not worth tracking,” she says.

Leading Through Change

Large-scale construction standards and operational changes can create uncertainty, but Kirsten has learned that guiding teams through change requires consistency, clarity, and courage. She leans on trust, collaboration, and transparency to help teams stay steady during transitions.

“People handle change best when they understand the purpose behind it, feel supported through it, and can see how it connects to a stronger future,” she reflects. “As leaders, it’s our job to provide that clarity and to be the steady hand through the turbulence.”

A Legacy of Empowerment

Kirsten DePersis’s leadership at SMUD is defined by trust, collaboration, and mentorship. She empowers her teams to lead, breaks down silos by creating space for dialogue, and develops the next generation of leaders through mentorship grounded in honesty and compassion.

Her legacy is one of empowerment—reminding us that the most effective leaders are not those who hold the tightest grip, but those who trust their teams to rise, innovate, and thrive.