A world where every person has access to reliable and safe water and sanitation services.
Mission
Water For People exists to promote the development of high-quality drinking water and sanitation services, accessible to all, and sustained by strong communities, businesses, and governments.
Values
Our values are based on demonstrating integrity in all we do.
Accountability – to communities, partners and each other
Courage – to innovate, to risk, to lead
Empowerment – of citizens, families and local institutions
Partnership – on the ground, in the sector and at all levels of government
Transparency – in what we do, what it costs and what is working
History
Water and sanitation infrastructure isn't just part of what we do, it is in our DNA. Born out of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), Water For People was established in 1991.
In the early 1980s, Ken Miller, senior executive with CH2M and a former president of AWWA; Wayne Weiss, with Black & Veatch; and John B. Mannion, a former executive director of AWWA, shared the vision of a world where all people have access to safe water and adequate sanitation. The three joined forces with others from the water and wastewater industries to initiate Water For People’s creation.
Fast forward to present day, and Water For People has become a leader in social responsibility and innovation in the sector. We continue to have a strong partnership with AWWA, the Water Environment Federation, the National Association of Water Companies, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, and the US Water Alliance. These partners provide Water For People with a venue to stay closely connected with the water and wastewater industries in North America, and we are grateful for their support over the years.
Partner Water Associations
Team
As our name suggests it all comes down to people. Our mission is about people and our work is for people. And the most important resource we have to succeed at our mission is the incredible people who work for, with and in conjunction with us. We’d like to thank all the volunteers, staff, board, field partners, funding partners, donors and strategic partners for their dedication, tenacity and selflessness in helping us work to solve the challenges of unsafe water and poor sanitation in the developing world.
Senior Leadership
Eleanor Allen Chief Executive Officer
Chad Arnold Chief Development Officer
Nick Burn Chief Officer of Strategy and Scale
Mark Duey Chief Programs Officer
Luis Garcia Chief Financial Officer
Sara Orens Chief People Officer
Eleanor Allen
Eleanor Allen is fiercely passionate about improving the state of the world with respect to water and sanitation and has dedicated her career to this goal. First as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic, then as a consulting engineer (at CH2M and ARCADIS), and now as the CEO of Water For People. As a professional civil engineer, Eleanor has lived over half her professional life in Latin America and has worked all over the world. Currently she is dedicated to leading Water For People to bring reliable and lasting access to safe water and sanitation in Latin America, Africa and India. With her family (husband and two boys) she loves to explore the outdoors and to travel to new places. She also loves fast cars. Eleanor holds a BS from Tufts University and a MS from the University of California at Berkeley.
Mark was one of the early champions of Water For People’s Everyone Forever model, and believes the global water and sanitation crisis can end during our lifetime. He joined Water For People in 2008 as coordinator of a school water, sanitation, and hygiene education program across Central America implemented by CARE, Catholic Relief Services, and Water For People. He has served as Head of Global Program Quality across Africa, India, and Latin America, and as Latin America Regional Director. Mark was a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras, and a consulting engineer with HDR in Nebraska and Florida. Mark is a professional civil engineer and holds a Master of Science in Economics, Finance, and Management from the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics, where he was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. Mark enjoys strong family ties to Central America, where his wife and two of his three children were born.
Chad Arnold
At a young age, Chad was exposed to the world beyond the US border through student outreach trips to Mexico, Panama, Bolivia, Peru, Russia, and Nepal. That set the trajectory for Chad’s professional career in international development – to bring relief, hope, and dignity to those who face challenges beyond what most of us could ever imagine. For Chad, safe and clean drinking water isn’t just about ending thirst. It’s about justice. It’s about remembering that we all have basic rights as human beings; and no location, belief system, or skin tone changes that fact. Since those student trips, Chad has traveled to over 60 countries in 20 years, educating and engaging communities, influencers, faith organizations, schools, corporations, and individuals to end the clean water crisis - a crisis that is 100% fixable. Most recently, Chad has led the creation and direction of marketing and fundraising strategies for Compassion International and World Vision USA, serving as an industry thought leader both within these organizations and externally as a public speaker and consultant. Chad has undergraduate degrees in psychology and sociology and an MBA in Marketing. He spends his time outside of the office concert-going with his wife Shannon and snowboarding, hiking, and jumping off cliffs with his five boys.
Sara Orens
Sara Orens has spent the majority of her career in global Human Resources (HR) having found the path to HR through working in immigration. She has an insatiable desire to learn which complements an organization with employees across eleven countries. Sara’s experience spans a variety of fast-paced, dynamic work environments in both private and non-profit sectors. She is passionate about people and culture, and truly enjoys contributing her HR expertise to support WFP’s mission. Sara loves spending time with her little family, enjoying the beauty of Colorado’s outdoors, and photography.
Nick Burn
Nick Burn has spent nearly 30 years of his life managing international development programs. Trained as an agriculturalist, he lived in Indonesia and Tanzania for 10 years, and traveled for work extensively in countries across Africa, South Asia and Latin America. Over the past five years he has been working with Water For People to implement programs he believes in, programs that build lasting systems and promote aid independence. He believes that Water For People’s work can bring real change to the poorest of the poor.
Luis Garcia
Luis grew up in Bilbao, Spain and earned degrees in economics from universities in Bilbao and Lille, France. He has also taken Ph.D. courses in International Economy and Development from the Basque Country University in Spain. He speaks five languages – all with his Bilbao accent in common. Luis began his career as Treasurer and Accountant for two regional associations in Spain before becoming a Financial Advisor at Bilbao Vizcaya Bank. For the past twenty years, he has been dedicated professionally to serving those that suffer hunger or don’t have access to safe water at Action Against Hunger. In early 2006 he moved from Madrid to New York, joining Action Against Hunger USA as first the Director of Grant Compliance & Field Financial Controller and working up to the Director of Finance. During the course of his career Luis has traveled to 25 different countries. Now a resident of Colorado, Luis looks forward to cycling in the Rockies.
Water For People is one of the leading innovators in the water and sanitation sector, in big thanks to our team. We work across nine countries to ensure water and sanitation are accessible to Everyone Forever, and our employees around the world help drive sustainable solutions to end the global water and sanitation crisis.
Our team is based in Denver, but we have employment opportunities around the world.
U.S. employee benefits include paid time off, health and dental insurance, and retirement compensation. Global benefits differ per country. We work in a team-based environment and value the benefits of a diversified workplace.
SCAM NOTICE: We do not conduct interviews via chat rooms and we will not ask for your bank information.
Supporters and Partnerships
Supporters
At Water For People we know that we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without the incredible support of our partners. These corporations, nonprofits, foundations, and individuals make our work possible through their unwavering commitment to Everyone Forever.
Craft of Water partnerships are a way for consumer brands to help solve the global water crisis. A Craft of Water partnership with Water For People allows for a positive, highly impactful philanthropic endeavor for the partner. Through product sales, cause marketing campaigns, events, and collaborative fundraising efforts, a Craft of Water partnership raises funds for Water For People’s work while giving consumers a way to solve the global water crisis.
Eleanor Allen, CEO of Water For People, was honored as a Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year. Allen, along with fifteen other international professionals, was chosen by the board of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. The prestigious program acknowledges entrepreneurs’ innovative approaches and potential for impact in solving global social issues. Allen and Water For People were selected for the ability to create lasting social change by shifting the systems that supply water and sanitation services to be more reliable through the Everyone Forever impact model.
The Skoll Foundation presents the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship each year to a select group of social entrepreneurs whose innovations have already had significant, proven impact on some of the world’smost pressing problems, and invests directly in the promise of even greater impact at scale. By investing in organizations when an innovation is ripe for accelerated and scaled adoption, the Skoll Awards help unleash the full global potential and reach of social entrepreneurs. Water For People won the award for FLOW, our innovative monitoring and evaluation platform.
Water For People appreciates the loyal support of all our donors, including individuals, businesses, organizations, and governments. A strong and generous donor base helps us further our mission throughout the developing world.
From our guiding principle of keep good company to our efforts to monitor all our work in the field, to our program to internally audit our country programs in addition to external audits, we're serious about accountability.
Water For People welcomes inquiries from prospective donors. For more detailed financial information, please click on the links below to download Water For People's current Audited Financial Statements and Form 990s.
Water For People is a 501(c)(3) organization (EIN 84-1166148)
FAQs
Where does Water For People work?
Water For People currently works in nine countries around the world: Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Peru, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, and India. Our employees in-country know the culture, language, and communities we serve. However, based on special grants and funding, we have worked in more than 40 other countries over the years but have found that a targeted approach is more effective and efficient.
WHAT DOES EVERYONE FOREVER MEAN?
Everyone: Water For People works to reach Everyone in a district. This means reliable water and sanitation services for every family, clinic, and school. Every single person – even the hardest-to-reach, the most vulnerable, the marginalized – has access to safe water and sanitation services.
Forever: Reaching Everyone is just the beginning. We work to make sure water and sanitation services are sustainable. Forever means building from the ground up and top down – empowering communities, service providers, and governments to invest in the long-term water and sanitation solutions that are right for them. When water services are sustainable, water supplies are protected, managing institutions are functional and funded, and communities are aid-independent.
What makes Water For People unique from other water and sanitation organizations?
Water For People works towards ‘full-coverage’
This means reliable and lasting water and sanitation services for every family, clinic and school.
Capacity-building is critical to our work
Water For People ensures that when something breaks, someone has the capacity to fix it.
Co-finance
Water For People, along with local communities and governments must invest in their own water solutions. Everyone pays.
Monitoring and evaluation
Water For People builds local capacity for data-driven decision-making through appropriate annual monitoring of service levels and sustainability.
Market-based approaches
Water For People works closely with the private sector (local businesses and entrepreneurs) to ensure ongoing service is provided. This helps to create jobs.
Replication and scale
Water For People will demonstrate a model that others can take on to create a global movement where everyone has access to water and sanitation!
Focus on sustainability
Water For People thinks about the long-term every step of the way. We want these communities to be independent of ongoing foreign aid for their water and solutions. Just like you and me, we want these communities to have reliable access to water and sanitation for generations.
How does Water For People choose communities/projects to assist?
Water For People performs a special data collection and analysis survey of any new areas that it considers working in. This data collection process ensures that all factors are considered in working in a new area. At this time, there are no new countries being considered.
When new countries are considered, the first factor is a clear need for improved water supply and/or sanitation. A variety of factors are considered in choosing a country and region in which to work: community motivation, costs, the availability of a trustworthy NGO partner, the support of local government, and a safe environment. To ensure system sustainability, Water For People requires a commitment from the beneficiary community.
Water For People’s country coordinators carefully target specific regions (county-sized) within their countries where work will be focused. The goal is to bring 100% coverage in water and sanitation within each region, and then replicate this model in new regions.
How can I volunteer to work for Water For People?
To learn more about volunteering opportunities with Water For People, please visit our Volunteering Section.
Email Us
Have a question not answered above? Let us know at info@waterforpeople.org and we will respond as quickly as possible. Thank you!
Contact
Want to get in touch with our team? Send us an email to info@waterforpeople.org, and we’ll make sure it gets to the right person. We do our best to respond as quickly as possible to as many as possible!
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The last version of Internet Explorer was version 11. Now Microsoft is pushing 'Edge'. Older versions of IE aren't even supported by Microsoft anymore. This article is a bit dated, but is a quick read and helps to explain why you really should upgrade: Please Upgrade Your Browser. Essentially, dated browsers are a huge risk for the user.
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Why Don't We Fix Our Site for X Browser?
Essentially, Water For People is a non-profit and we would rather spend money on our causes instead of the very significant amount of money that it would cost us to design and maintain a website that works for legacy, unsupported browsers.
