Our Mission

In early 2005, at the urging of several advocates promoting greater access to clean water and sanitation in the developing world, the U.S. Department of State convened leaders from the water and sanitation sectors. Representatives from government, private companies, nongovernmental groups, and academia came together to share perspectives on the urgent global water challenge. At the time, no organization existed to facilitate a dialogue of this kind, particularly one with strong private-sector participation.

Despite varied experiences and worldviews, participants in these discussions reached consensus on a number of matters:

1. An overarching agreement that water and sanitation problems have proven solutions.
2. Solutions would need to be identified, implemented, and scaled-up to create a global movement capable of reaching the estimated 1.1 billion people worldwide without access to clean water and an estimated 2.6 billion without access to basic sanitation.
3. Cooperation and partnerships across sectors, more funding, better coordination among grantors, and greater communication and learning from scores of field projects are necessary.

Recognizing the value in continuing this multi-stakeholder dialogue, The Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF) organized a series of forums throughout 2005 and early 2006. From these sessions came the call for a new organization to build awareness and promote scalable actions in expanding coverage for clean water and sanitation. The forums were supplemented by outreach and consultations with a wider range of stakeholders to assess support for such an organization and to examine potential priorities and operating methods. Global Water Challenge (GWC) was launched with initial funding from The United Nations Foundation, The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC), The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Cargill, and Wallace Genetic Foundation.

In late 2006, Global Water Challenge began its first project in the Nyanza Province of Kenya to provide, in cooperation with the Kenyan government, comprehensive coverage for water, sanitation and hygiene education in 1,500 schools. With initial funding from The Coca-Cola Company, GWC leveraged an additional $9.5 million from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. CARE is implementing the project on the ground. Of particular importance in this project is the monitoring and evaluation component by Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control that is documenting the benefits and hurdles for students, teachers, and communities. Click here to learn more.

Initially, GWC was hosted at the United Nations Foundation until early 2008, when GWC incorporated as an independent 501c3 organization. At that time, GWC constituted its own Board of Directors, chaired by former U.S. EPA Administrator William K. Reilly.

In April 2010, GWC formed a strategic alliance with the Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF). Through this alliance, GWC's strengths as a coalition-based organization are complemented by GETF's corporate sustainability work and experience in creating public-private partnerships.

Monica Ellis serves as the CEO of both organizations.