Founder and CEO, Charity: Water; New York Times Best-Selling Author: Thirst
Scott Harrison is the founder and CEO of Charity: Water. Through radical transparency and innovative digital practices, Charity: Water has mobilized 1M+ supporters from 105 countries, raised over $400M, and funded clean water projects in 28 countries for over 10M people. Scott was recently named #10 in Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business, and has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and by Forbes, Fortune and INC Magazines.
The Spring - The charity: water story
Charity: Water Founder Scott Harrison On Building A Digital-First Charity | Forbes
The Secret Formula to Finding Your Passion | Scott Harrison on Impact Theory
Charity: water believes in inspiring generosity. They focus on the positive, tell stories about opportunity and always emphasize the hope more than the need. They work with incredible local partners around the globe to implement the water projects they fund, and their Water Programs team spends about 30% of their time in the field managing projects, building relationships with local teams and reporting back results to donors. Every time a project is completed, charity: water proves it using photos and GPS coordinates on Google Maps.
Through the use of innovative technology, charity: water has also developed remote sensors to monitor the functionality of their water projects. With the help of local leaders and trained mechanics, charity: water is not only working to bring clean water to communities in need, but is making sure it keeps flowing at projects around the world for years to come. This is all made possible by a small group of private donors who pay charity: water’s operating costs, allowing 100% of donations made to clean water to fund water projects for people in need.
Scott spent almost 10 years as a nightclub promoter in New York City before leaving to volunteer on a hospital ship off the coast of Liberia, West Africa as a volunteer photojournalist.
Returning home to New York City two years later, he founded the non-profit organization charity: water in 2006. Turning his full attention to the global water crisis and the world’s (then) 1.1 billion people without clean water to drink, he created public installations and innovative online fundraising platforms to spread international awareness of the issue.
In 16 years, with the help of more than 1 million donors worldwide, charity: water has raised more than $750 million and funded 111,796 water projects in 29 countries. When completed, those projects will provide 15.5 million people with clean, safe drinking water.
Scott has been recognized on Fortune magazine’s list of 40 Under 40, Forbes’ Impact 30, and Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, where he earned the #10 spot. He is currently a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and author of the New York Times Bestselling book Thirst.
Scott and his wife Viktoria have two children, Jackson and Emma.
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