WHAT PEOPLE SAY
People who have watched the work up close.
These are unedited. Each person wrote or approved their own words, and each held the role shown at the time of the work described.
Roles, figures and circumstances are described as at the time of the work.
Felicia Marcus, former Chair, State Water Resources Control Board
I first came to know Joe Karkoski during my years on the State Water Resources Control Board, and later as its Chair. He came before us regularly — first from the Central Valley Regional Board on the Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program, and later leading the State Water Board's financial assistance programs. Over those years I watched him handle some of the most challenging and contentious work in California water.
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What consistently stood out was his judgment under pressure. Joe brought us complicated, high-stakes matters where the stakeholders disagreed sharply and there was no clean answer. He didn't oversimplify them, and he didn't tell the Board what it wanted to hear. He laid out the real tradeoffs, took hard questions with composure, and came back with solutions that worked. During the drought years in particular, when we were making consequential decisions quickly and with incomplete information, that kind of steadiness mattered enormously.
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He is also, simply, a person of real integrity — straightforward, unflappable, and genuinely committed to public service and to the communities these programs exist to serve. Any leader or public agency that gets the benefit of his counsel is fortunate. The world will be better off with him doing this work in it.
Christopher Stevens, former Assistant Deputy Director, Division of Financial Assistance, State Water Resources Control Board
I know Joe's character and abilities from working with him at the State Water Board's Division of Financial Assistance for over nine years as a colleague and ultimately one of his Assistant Deputy Directors.
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Joe was one of the toughest bosses I worked for in my life. All good leaders are impatient and demanding; great leaders, though, foster excellence by emphasizing training, accountability, and recognition. They want the best from themselves and those they lead. I think Joe exemplifies the qualities of a great leader.
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He helped formally and informally guide DFA through some of its most demanding and challenging times. He set an example of excellence and professionalism daily and promoted strong relationships and trust internally and externally.
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The Division of Financial Assistance is complex and dynamic, providing millions in financial assistance daily. And it regularly received new programs and additional responsibilities. I always appreciated Joe's ability to think strategically and broadly about how to integrate new objectives into the organization, as well as improving existing policies and procedures, to support the Water Board's objectives. His understanding of multifaceted, interdisciplinary organizations helped staff solve the myriad execution problems that all complex organizations face.
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From firsthand observation, I have no doubt that Joe can help develop great leaders and improve any organization that asks for his assistance.
Christine Gordon, former Assistant Deputy Director, Administration and Operator Certification, Division of Financial Assistance, State Water Resources Control Board
When I joined the Division of Financial Assistance in 2022 as its first-ever CEA in Administration, the branch had roughly 130 staff and was in the middle of a major reorganization. Joe was leading that effort, and I came on to help spearhead it.
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What stood out about working with Joe is that he never accepted "this is how we have always done it." He thought outside the box and was always looking at process improvements — how we could make DFA better, not simply how we could keep it running. He also moves fast. He does not let things sit; if something needs to be done, he does it. In an organization going through that scale of change, that combination mattered.
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It was a huge undertaking, but with Joe as a leader, I learned a lot, and I am glad I was part of it. His integrity, his judgment, and the whole package of what it means to lead an organization like DFA showed in how he ran it. I would recommend him to any public agency working through organizational change.