Letitia A. Obeng holds a PhD in public health and water resources engineering from Imperial College London. She spent 25 years at the World Bank, working as a technical specialist, manager and director on water supply, sanitation, water resources management and other sustainable development areas such as agriculture and rural development, social development, environment, environmental health, waste management, urban development and growing capacity. She also served in corporate roles including as Director, Office of the President. Obeng chaired the Global Water Partnership for five years, is the current Chair of the Water Integrity Network, and has served with Water Aid America, the Daugherty Water for Food Institute and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
Sarina Prabasi is a Nepalese–American charity executive specializing in international development. She served as Chief Executive Officer of WaterAid America from May 2014 to September 2019. She was previously Deputy Chief of Programs at Orbis International, and had been a Country Representative at WaterAid Ethiopia. Prabasi’s first book, The Coffee House Resistance: Brewing Hope in Desperate Times, was published in 2019.
Peter Lochery is an environmental engineer with more than 50 years’ experience in the water sector. He has worked in the private sector in the UK, the Middle East and East Asia, and with the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program in West Africa and South Asia. During his time in West Africa, he was seconded to government for six years. In 1995, he joined CARE and led its global development programming in water security, sanitation and hygiene. While at CARE, he was involved with several start-ups focused on advocacy, systemic change and partnership. He was the Chair of the Millennium Water Alliance until recently and now sits on the board of Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor. He was awarded the University of Oklahoma International Water Prize in 2015.
Mark Smith was appointed as Director General of IWMI in August 2020. Previously he was IWMI’s Deputy Director General – Research for Development, bringing more than 25 years of research and program management experience in water resources, agriculture, climate, and sustainability. Smith was formerly Director of the Global Water Program at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), where he led innovative, multi-regional programs in Asia, Africa, and Latin America addressing river basin management, transboundary cooperation, and water governance, climate change adaptation, and nature-based solutions. He led IUCN advocacy of water-related policies and strategies in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Ramsar Convention, Rio+20, and the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as delivery of support for national and regional-level policy innovation and scaling of water systems change.
John Etgen has spent over 30 years leading transformative efforts in water security, education, sustainability, WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene), and climate and health education. As the former CEO of the Project WET Foundation, John spearheaded initiatives that empowered communities worldwide with the knowledge and tools to sustainably manage water. His extensive experience and unwavering passion have shaped his mission to bridge the gap between understanding and action, ensuring that everyone values our precious water. Now serving as the Executive Director of C4W, John brings a visionary approach and decades of expertise to tackling water security in the developing world. His leadership is driven by a deep belief in the power of collaboration, innovation and community-led solutions. Whether working alongside local leaders or forging global partnerships, John is committed to creating a water-secure future for all. With his deep experience in water education and partnership-building, John continues to inspire action and drive impactful change, one drop at a time.