April Richards is the Program Manager of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA’s SBIR program focuses on supporting small businesses to develop and commercialize novel environmental technologies needed to address high-priority issues such as water treatment, air quality, land revitalization, homeland security, manufacturing and sustainable materials management. She has worked at EPA for over 15 years and is also the team lead for the People Prosperity and the Planet (or P3) Program, a student design competition. April has worked as a fellow on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee where she provided technical expertise on environmental issues. She previously worked for an environmental engineering consulting firm in Florida primarily in drinking water treatment. She has a Master’s degree in Civil/Environmental Engineering and is a professional engineer.