Milwaukee's Deanna Branch and Rashawn Spivey will speak at DNC Wednesday night

Deanna Branch and Rashawn Spivey from Milwaukee are familiar with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Both have been guests at the State of the Union in the last two years. Both have appeared with Biden or Harris during official visits to Wisconsin.

And Wednesday night, both will speak onstage at the Democratic National Convention.

Their message? Highlighting the administration's infrastructure funding for lead pipe replacement. Both have become advocates for lead pipe removal: Branch's son was hospitalized twice for lead exposure, and Spivey's business works to replace those pipes.

Milwaukee has a new designation to speed up lead pipe replacement, a project that Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said will take more than a decade. The original projection was 60 years, and officials have credited federal funding for reducing the timeline. Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency allocated $83 million more for removal efforts in Wisconsin.

More: New rule would require Wisconsin to replace all lead pipes by 2037

More: Milwaukee is making it easier, cheaper to replace your lead water pipes. Here's how.

Branch and Spivey represent the "everyday Americans" Democrats are including in nightly convention programming. Examples from Monday night included union plumbers and women affected by abortion bans. The Republican National Convention used the same concept but got pushback after listing billionaire Diane Hendricks, a GOP donor and one of the richest people in Wisconsin, as an "everyday American."

While two speakers and singer James Taylor were cut when programming ran long Monday night, Branch and Spivey are expected to speak early Wednesday night in the 6 p.m. CT hour. They're both expecting to speak for about three minutes.

Deanna Branch

When two of her sons were exposed to lead pipes, Branch had to leave her apartment. Her now 11-year-old son Aiden was hospitalized and Branch felt there weren't enough resources or information available.

"I just figured, if there are no resources for us, I can become that resource for my community," she told the Journal Sentinel on Tuesday. "I can do my part to make sure that what happened to my family doesn't happen to other families in my community."

Branch met Harris about three years ago, and the vice president has her cell phone number. Since then, she's gotten calls and connected with other advocates. The invitation to the convention came in an email, though at first she thought she'd be in the audience, rather than speak on stage.

The main message she wants to send is "that the right people remain in office so that the work can continue to get done."

Branch's three children will also attend the convention, potentially watching from a green room or in the arena. Branch added she's excited to see the vice president again and listen to the Obamas.

More: Milwaukee woman among Biden's State of the Union guests highlighting lead pipe replacement effort

Rashawn Spivey

Spivey founded Hero Plumbing in 2010, and he estimates they've removed around 1,400 lead laterals along with other residential and commercial plumbing work. He got into plumbing when he was around 12, later did an apprenticeship, and went into business about 10 years later.

The main message of his speech: "Thanks to the Biden-Harris administration, we've grown the business and we've improved the health of people that had lead pipes," Spivey told the Journal Sentinel.

It'll be Spivey's first time at a national political convention. He said attending the State of the Union address in March "was another experience that I didn't ever imagine" he'd have, and he met the first lady and second gentleman.

"I'm glad to be in the presence of the person who actually did the work," Branch said of Spivey.

More: Hero Plumbing owner, Waukesha police chief among Wisconsin guests at State of the Union address

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Two Milwaukee lead pipe removal advocates will speak at DNC Wednesday