Louisville MSD’s Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) program is designed to help maintain and improve the quality of our community’s waterways by reducing the pollutant discharges that flow into them through stormwater runoff. It is regulated under the Kentucky Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (KPDES) permit, which is issued by the Kentucky Division of Water (DOW). The program is part of a broader effort to comply with the Clean Water Act (CWA), which mandates that communities work towards achieving "fishable and swimmable" water standards. The current Louisville MSD MS4 program stands at a transformative crossroads. With upcoming permit negotiations, evolving regulations, and key staff transitions, this moment presented a powerful opportunity to reimagine our future. It became an opportunity to demonstrate program value and impact to secure future resources, engagement, and environmental success. To strengthen the MS4 Program and enhance its overall impact, Louisville MSD launched a comprehensive effort to engage staff in defining program goals and developing an implementation blueprint to address key challenges. This work unfolded across three phases: Assessment, Future Direction, and Implementation & Sustainment. During the Assessment phase, the MS4 Team conducted surveys, interviews, and workshops with staff at all levels to evaluate the program’s current state, identify improvement opportunities, and complete an MS4 program maturity assessment. Top opportunities included enhancing internal training and awareness of the MS4 program, strengthening accountability measures for external stakeholders to support compliance, and leveraging data more effectively. In the Future Direction phase, the team partnered with leadership through a series of workshops to review best practices and establish the program’s future goals. Four goals were identified: • Internal Advocacy and Planning: Enhance the internal alignment of the MS4 mission with organizational strategic planning and decision-making. • External Engagement: Strengthen collaboration through tailored messaging to public partners, fostering intentional partnerships, and enhancing transparency through accessible data visualization. • Smart Development: Improve training and modernize regulations to increase the development community’s acceptance of green infrastructure. • Defining Project: Complete a nature-based, water quality demonstration project to revitalize a community waterway. Finally, in the Implementation & Sustainment phase, cross functional work teams were formed to develop detailed implementation roadmaps for each goal. This presentation will guide participants through the MS4 team’s journey in developing their program strategy. More importantly, it will highlight how the team prepared staff for the changes outlined in the strategy through intentional and structured change management efforts. These efforts included engaging employees in co creating the strategy to build ownership and momentum, securing strong executive sponsorship, and consistently communicating progress and impacts to key stakeholders. By combining a comprehensive planning process with a people first change management approach, this session will offer participants a fresh perspective on how even a compliance driven program like MS4 can influence organizational culture and deliver clearer, more visible value to the community.