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Board of Directors

Portrait of Samson Bekele

Samson Hailu Bekele

Board Director
Development Committee 

Samson's Biography

Samson began his career as a financial analyst for the government of Ethiopia. After moving into the nonprofit sector, he spent more than 35 years in finance, administration, fundraising, and leadership across multiple organizations and in several countries. Samson joined Water For People as the Africa Regional Director in 2017 before moving into the Co-CEO role from 2022-2024. While at Water For People, Samson brought his deep experience in strategic planning, managing finances and programs, strengthening fundraising, and mentoring people. He has visited or worked in more than 30 countries – 20 in Africa, holding CEO/Executive Director and Country Director positions with other organizations including The Pharo Foundation, The One Foundation, and Concern Universal/Self Help Africa. Samson holds a Master of Business Administration from Strathclyde Graduate Business School in Glasgow UK, a postgraduate diploma in business analysis from Lancaster University in the UK, and a Bachelor of Arts in accounting from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia.

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About Samson
Portrait of Debra Coy

Debra Coy

Board Director
Audit Lead on Finance, Audit, and Risk Committee

Debra Coy is Executive in Residence with XPV Water Partners, the largest water-focused private equity fund in North America. She works with growth companies, utilizing her experience as an investment research analyst and strategic consultant to investors, companies, and municipal utilities. She also serves on the Boards of Directors for Global Water Resources Inc. and Willdan Group Inc.

Ms. Coy is well-known in the water industry and is a regular speaker and columnist on water industry finance and innovation. She previously spent 20+ years on Wall Street, where she was a top-ranked analyst covering global water markets for firms including Janney, Charles Schwab, HSBC, and NatWest Bank.

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About Debra

Portrait of Rich D'Amato

Rich D'amato

Board Director
Development Committee Chair

Rich is the CEO of Brown and Caldwell, a leading environmental engineering and construction services firm. He excels in developing strategy and leading teams to deliver innovative services and solutions to municipal and private sector clients throughout North America and the Pacific.

Throughout his 30-year career, Rich has worked in operations and maintenance, consulting, process engineering, design, and construction businesses focused on developing client solutions for environmental, water, and wastewater infrastructure. He advocates for inclusive workplace culture and empowers staff to create an environment that works for everyone. He promotes diversity and inclusion through participation in numerous employee networking groups at Brown and Caldwell, including pride alliance, women at BC, and rising professionals. He regularly participates at industry conferences and panel discussions around diversity, equity, and inclusion topics.

Additionally, Rich is the Chair of the Board of Directors for Brown and Caldwell and a member of the Leadership Council for Water For People. He previously served on various non-profit boards, including the Board of Directors for the National Association of Water Companies.

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About Rich
Portrait of Vanessa Davison

Vanessa Davison

Board Secretary 

Vanessa is the Managing Partner at Panorama Consulting Solutions, which helps government and business clients achieve digital business transformations.

She brings a proven management track record with over 20 years of experience. She’s led multiple mergers & acquisitions and turn-around projects helping organizations achieve radical transformation and increase net profits.

She has also served as a policy advisor to develop and implement strategies for effective citizen engagement and interaction.

Vanessa has graduate certificates from Harvard Business School and the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University. She holds a B.S. in Rhetoric and Legal Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. Vanessa has served on various non-profits boards.

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About Vanessa
Portrait of Mark Duey

Mark Duey

Board Director
Water For People CEO

Mark believes the global water and sanitation crisis can end during our lifetime. Mark joined Water For People in 2008 as coordinator of a school WASH program across Central America. He later became Latin America Regional Director, Chief Programs Officer, and was most recently Water For People’s Chief Operating Officer. Mark was a consulting engineer and then a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras before joining Water For People.

He holds an MS in Economics, Finance, and Management from the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and his BS is in Civil Engineering from the University of Nebraska. Mark is based in Denver and enjoys strong family ties to Central America where his wife and two of his three children were born. 

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About Mark
Portrait of Pauline Idogho

Pauline Idogho

Board Director

Pauline is the Founder/CEO of Mocktail Club, a line of premium crafted ready-to-drink non-alcoholic cocktails inspired by her quest to find sophisticated and better-for-you alternatives to alcohol.

Prior to founding the company, Pauline had a 15-year career in investment banking, international development, and renewable energy finance. This included companies such as the International Finance Corporation (the private arm of the World Bank), Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo, and the AES Corp. She has lived, worked, and traveled in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, which helped to inspire the rich and sophisticated flavor profiles of the Mocktail Club line.

One percent of Mocktail Club’s sales go to support clean water access globally through donations to Water For People. Pauline is also the Treasurer and head of the Finance Committee of the Adult Non-Alcoholic Beverage Association (ANBA). Pauline holds a B.A. in Economics from Howard University and MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

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About Pauline
Rahim Kanji Headshot

Rahim Kanji

Board Director
Water For People Canada Board Director

Rahim is Executive Director at the University of Waterloo — Ontario Water Consortium and has been successfully chairing and serving as a Director of the Water For People Canada board, overseeing resource development, policy, strategic planning, and special events. He also represents the organization at local fundraising and awareness-building events. Rahim will provide a linkage between the two boards, strengthening the relationship between Water For People and Water For People Canada.

Skills of interest related to Water For People's mission include a passion for advancing innovation and sustainability, governance, executive leadership, partnership development, sustainability innovation, and operations management. 

Located in Guelph, Ontario, Canada

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About Rahim
Portrait of Greg McIntyre

Greg McIntyre

Board Chair

Greg is a retired engineering executive with over 38 years of experience in the global engineering and construction industry. He served on the Board of Directors for CH2M and as the President of CH2M’s Global Water Business Group.

Greg most recently was the Executive Vice President for Jacobs Engineering Group Buildings & Infrastructure business, leading a team of over 11,500 employees delivering solutions for water, environment, transportation, and the built environment.

Greg holds a BS in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida and an MS in Environmental & Water Resource Engineering from Vanderbilt University.

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About Greg
Portrait of Katherine Milligan

Katherine Milligan

Board Vice Chair

Katherine is a Director at the Collective Change Lab, a think tank and capacity builder that provides social change leaders with practical inspiration, insight, and guidance on how to do the work of systems change.

Named a "Top 100 Women in Social Entrepreneurship" by the Euclid Network, Katherine is affiliated with many innovation and entrepreneurship networks, including as a founding member of the Geneva Innovation Movement, an elea Fellow at IMD Business School Center For Social Innovation, an Accelerate2030 Advisory Council Member, an Unreasonable Mentor, and an advisor to The Wellbeing Project.

She teaches courses on social innovation and entrepreneurship at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and Fordham University and is the author of over 17 publications, articles, and blogs published by International Institute of Economics, Stanford Social Innovation Review, MIT journal Innovations, Forum Agenda, and the Harvard Business School. Previously, she was the Executive Director of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, the sister organization of the World Economic Forum, which supports the largest community of late-stage social entrepreneurs in the world.

Katherine received her B.A. from Dartmouth College and her Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University where she was a Pforzheimer Scholar and Sheldon Knox Fellow.

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About Katherine
Portrait of Shannon Music

Shannon Music

Board Director

Shannon Music is co-chair of the Central American Platform for Impact Investing (PiiC, for its acronym in Spanish), the Central American chapter of GSG Impact. She is also a Consultant with Avina Foundation’s sustainable business arm, Ikatu, where she focuses on regenerative agriculture.

Shannon serves on the boards of GSG Impact, VIVA Trust, FIFCO, the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE), the International NGO Water For People, and her family’s roller-skating rink. She also sits on the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Committee of Lincoln School. She was Executive Director of VIVA Idea, a think-action tank that designed impact projects via rigorous research and the development of digital tools. She was interim COO for the Social Progress Imperative (SPI), where she helped develop the methodology for measuring social and environmental progress worldwide.

Before that, she worked as a consultant for the Boston Consulting Group and was Program Manager at New Sector Alliance. Shannon is a Fellow of the Central American Leadership Initiative (CALI) and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

She has an MBA, MPA, and bachelor’s degree in psychology from Harvard University.  Shannon lives in Costa Rica with her husband and three children, ages 15, 13, and 10.  

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About Shannon
Portrait of Winifred Nabakiibi

Winifred Nabakiibi

Board Director
Governance Committee Chair

Winifred is a trained civil engineer who, through her career, has transitioned into an Institutional Development Specialist.

Winifred runs a consultancy firm that is dedicated to helping utilities excel. As a water services consultant and a Certified Project Management Professional, Winifred brings to the water For People team her experience working with government, the private sector and with development cooperation in multi-cultural environments.

Winifred’s philosophy of life is defined by a message from "The Leader Who Had No Title" by Robin Sharma: Regardless of who you are, where you are, and irrespective of what you do, you have the power to show leadership, to inspire, and to make a difference.

Her current pursuit is in promoting the linkage of regulation to the sustainability of utility services. Winifred holds a BSc degree in Civil Engineering from Makerere University in Uganda and a Masters in Water Management from IHE -Delft in the Netherlands. Winifred is married with 3 beautiful children and is based in Uganda.

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About Winifred
Portrait of Matthew Ostrower

Matthew Ostrower

Board Director
Finance, Audit, and Risk Committee Chair

Matthew is the Chief Financial Officer of SITE Centers, an owner and manager of open-air shopping centers. He has over 20 years of experience in real estate.

Prior to joining SITE Centers, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Equity One Inc. Mr. Ostrower also served as Managing Director and Associate Director of Research, among other positions, at Morgan Stanley.

Mr. Ostrower holds a dual M.S. degree in Real Estate and City Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in History from Tufts University. Matthew has served on various corporate boards.

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About Matthew
Bill Roe Headshot

Bill Roe

Board Director

Bill served as chair and board member for Water For Poeple up to December 2021. He is currently Board Member Emeritus at Water For People and a board member at Arrowhead Metro District and Creighton University.

Bill is passionate about Water For People's vision, mission, values, and strategy and has a proven track record for introducing large donors to Water For People.

He has excellent governance experience, served as an effective chair and board member of Water For People and has proven to be both willing and able to connect Water For People with significant funding opportunities.

Located in Vail, Colorado

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About Bill
Vaidee Sivaswamy Headshot

Vaidee Sivaswamy

Board Director
Water For People India Trust Board Member

Vaidee is the VP of R&D, Food & Beverage at EcoLab. He sits on the Water For People India Trust, where he has served as treasurer from 2011 to 2021. His financial leadership as treasurer has been crucial for WFPIT in a sometimes challenging context for NGO compliance in India.

Originally from India, Vaidee lives in Minnesota, but maintains close ties to India. He brings significant experience in people, technical, and business leadership to the board, specializing in water treatment, cleaning and sanitation technologies. Vaidee has a background in chemical engineering and actively supports WFPIT with his fundraising connections.

About Vaidee
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