Leadership Showcase
There are thousands of charitable organizations and leaders working on the water crisis today. In this section, we present some of these impactful leaders who have made a difference for those affected and discuss what makes them such effective leaders.
01
Eric Stowe - Founder and CEO of Splash
Eric Stowe graduated from the University of Washington in 2001 with a BA in interdisciplinary arts and sciences and in 2003 with a MA in international studies [15]. While working for an adoption agency in Asia, he recognized that many of the orphanages did not have clean water whereas fast food places and luxury hotels always had clean and abundant water for their patrons [16]. After researching the supply chains and production of the large companies and adapting it to work for orphanages, Stowe left the adoption agency to start his nonprofit Splash [16].
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Splash now works in over 8 countries on WASH (water, sanitation, hygiene) and their most ambitious project yet WISE (WASH in Schools for Everyone) [14]. Splash focuses on clean water accessibility in poor urban areas. In 2017 they completed their milestone of 100% of orphanages in China having water filtration systems [14].
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Stowe firmly believes that long-lasting solutions require human connections. This is what Splash is doing in their work with schools. By creating a new normal with children who model it for adults at home, change spreads along the human connections and is therefore longer-lasting and more impactful [16]. In each country and city that they work, Splash has people that are native to the area heading each project and culture connection. Splash is committed to handing over the projects to local governments and organizations after it is up and running in order to foster independence from third party and foreign organizations.
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Through Splash, Stowe demonstrates the two major types of leadership: direct and indirect. As the CEO of Splash he leads directly by example, showing both the employees under him and the outside observes the values and ideals of Splash by living by them. He also leads indirectly by upholding Splash‘s commitment to make sure that the local people and government are involved in the solutions so that they can continue the progress that Splash starts. This gradual, hands-off approach gives guidance to the places they work but also lets them work it out themselves leading to more independent progress and better results.
02
Georgie Badiel -
Georgie Badiel Foundation
Georgie Badiel grew up between the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, the 5th among 10 siblings [17]. As a young child, she and the other women of the family would have to wake up at 6:00 AM to gather water, spending three hours per day on their chore [17].
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In 2003, Badiel became Miss Burkina Faso and went on to become Miss Africa in 2004 [17]. Her burgeoning modeling career led to jobs working for top fashion houses in Paris, France and eventually New York City, where she began her activism for clean water accessibility and gender equality in West Africa [17].
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Currently, Ms. Badiel runs the Georgie Badiel Foundation, an organization that builds and restores wells in Burkina Faso. Over the years, the foundation has provided clean water to over 270,000 people and provides technical training and educational programs designed to teach proper sanitary and hygiene practices [17][18]. From a young age, Badiel recognized how unfair it was that the men of her family were able to sleep in while the women gathered water. Therefore, the Georgie Badiel Foundation focuses on women’s empowerment by involving women in every step, from community ambassadors to providing engineering training programs to keep the pumps in maintenance [19].
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Georgie Badiel has become such an effective activist and leader because of her ability to identify the complicating factors of a problem and address them. Beyond just improving clean water accessibility, she addresses the gender inequality that complicates this issue and incorporates strategies in her foundation’s work that will provide long-lasting change in communities. She leads directly through her visibility as a model and activist as well as her leadership position in the foundation.
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