Local Water Leadership

Scott Harrison shares his perspective on how local leadership is crucial for sustainable charity water projects, drawing from his 17 years of experience building water infrastructure in developing nations.

Key Points:

• Local Leadership is Essential:

  • Projects must be "culturally appropriate and sustainable"
  • Led entirely by local teams in each country
  • Creates thousands of local jobs as they scale

• Real World Example - Ethiopia:

  • 350 local staff running operations
  • Operating 8 different drilling rigs
  • Zero expatriate workers in the entire program

• Organizational Philosophy:

  • Charity:Water's role is to:
    • Generate awareness and care about the water crisis
    • Raise funds and support
    • Enable local teams to execute
  • Focus on building sustainable infrastructure rather than temporary solutions

• Impact Metrics:

  • Currently helping 16.8 million people get clean water
  • Operating across 22 countries
  • $40 provides one person clean water for 10+ years
  • Projects designed to last 20+ years

• Vision:

  • Still considers themselves in "2nd inning" of their mission
  • Current impact represents 1/47th of their ultimate goal
  • Believes long-term success requires patient, sustained effort
  • References Amazon's growth: "7% of the value was created in first 20 years, 93% in years 21-27"

The approach emphasizes that sustainable change comes from empowering local communities rather than imposing external solutions.