Months earlier, in April 2006, Coca-Cola's North American President Donald Knauss sent a letter to the University of Michigan's Chief Financial Officer, Tim Slottow, that said in part: "We are in active dialogue with TERI, a highly respected Dehli-based NGO with deep experience on sustainability issues to develop a transparent and impartial independent third party assessment of water resource management practices at Coca-Cola facilities in India..." Mr. Slottow immediately responded for the university: "...[We] are supportive of your work with The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI), a highly respected nonprofit organization with more than 30 years of experience and leadership on sustainability issues, to develop a transparent and independent third party assessment of water resource management practices at Coca-Cola bottling plants in India.