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This is Who We Are

People are at the core of Water For People's mission. The differences in language, educational backgrounds, gender identities, ethnicities, skill sets, and years of experience uniquely positions Water For People to tackle the world's water crisis.

Our Co-CEOs

Partnerships are embedded in everything we do—even our organizational leadership.

Meet Samson and Mark
Co-CEO Samson Hailu Bekele (far right) walks with community members in Rwanda.
Co-CEO Samson Hailu Bekele (far right) walks with community members in Rwanda.

Global Leadership Team

The eight members of Water For People's Global Leadership Team represent the dedication, expertise, and cross-cultural backgrounds of Water For People's employees as they lead strategic decision-making for the organization. From civil engineering, economics, environmental policy, finance, community service, strategic planning, and private and public sector development, the Global Leadership Team brings this extensive array of experience and knowledge. Plus a shared passion for a world where every person has the opportunity to thrive.  

Portrait of Samson Bekele

Samson Hailu Bekele

Co-CEO

SAMSON HAILU BEKELE
CO-CEO

Samson Hailu Bekele joined Water For People as the Africa Regional Director in 2017. He contributes his 35 years of experience in strategic planning, managing finances and programs, strengthening fundraising and grant management processes, and mentoring people. He has visited or worked in 25 countries – 18 in Africa – and savors time with his two, now nearly adult, children. He holds an MBA from Strathclyde Business School, a postgraduate diploma in business analysis from Lancaster University, and a BA in Accounting from Addis Ababa University. 

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Portrait of Mark Duey

Mark Duey

Co-CEO

MARK DUEY
CO-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. 

Learn more and connect with Mark.

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Portrait Photo of Sarah Bramley

Sarah Bramley

Chief Impact Officer

SARAH BRAMLEY
Chief Impact Officer

Sarah believes that improving sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation is at the heart of eliminating poverty; It is essential to ensuring equitable education opportunities, improving health and nutrition, and increasing household economies. Sarah is an experienced nonprofit leader, accomplished in creating interdisciplinary strategy and driving to results in some of the largest and most complex international NGOs. Sarah has lived and worked in Sri Lanka, Uganda, and Guatemala, and she has extensive work experience in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. She earned an MPH from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a BA in Science, Technology, and Society from Vassar College. Sarah enjoys experimenting with recipes from around the world.

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Jody Debs 2021_Web

Jody Debs

Chief Finance and Administration Officer

JODY DEBS
CHIEF ADMINISTRATION OFFICER

Jody is excited to bring her more than 30 years of legal, compliance and risk experience to Water For People.  She is passionate about leveraging her knowledge and skill set to support Water For People’s mission and values.  Jody has been active on other NGO boards in the international development and legal sectors.  Jody has JD and a MA in Economics from Duke University and a Bachelor’s of Journalism and of Arts from the University of Missouri.  Jody enjoys the Colorado outdoors with her family and gardening, music, theater, dance, and art.

Learn more and connect with Jody.

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Portrait photo of Bishwadeep Ghose

Bishwadeep Ghose

Country Director, India

BISHWADEEP GHOSE
COUNTRY DIRECTOR, INDIA

Bishwadeep Ghose joined Water For People India in fall 2020 as the Water For People India Country Director, contributing 25 years’ experience sharing knowledge on, managing national and international programs, and advocating for programs related to water security, agriculture, and forestry. He has contributed to water policies and the design of large-scale programs of India’s Central and State Governments while with Arghyam and the India Water Portal. He also served as an Interim Director of Hivos’ Regional Office and is the Founding Director of the India Foundation for Humanistic Development. He has a Post Graduate Diploma in Forest Management and a bachelor's degree in chemistry and enjoys spending free time with family and being outdoors. 

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Portrait of Cate Nimanya

Cate Nimanya

Regional Director, Africa

CATE NIMANYA
REGIONAL DIRECTOR, AFRICA

No girl should have to walk long distances to find water, no person should suffer from WASH related diseases; together we can deliver a good water story for everyone."

Passionate about this vision, Cate enjoys supporting communities and governments to realize their water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) goals.

With 25 years of experience in strategic planning, program development and management, resource mobilization, driving results and mentoring young professionals, Cate has contributed to WASH sector policies, strategies, program development, market-based sanitation and a number of innovations in various capacities including as a Country Director - Uganda at Water for people from 2012 – 2021.

Cate holds an MBA from Heriot Wattt University in United Kingdom, an MSc in Water Resources and Environmental Management from the Institute of Geoinformation Science, Enschede Netherlands and BSc in Chemistry and Geology from Makerere University Uganda. Cate loves a good read and values time with family

Learn more and connect with Cate

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Portrait of Daniel Oporto

Daniel Oporto

Regional Director, Latin America

DANIEL OPORTO
REGIONAL DIRECTOR, LATIN AMERICA

Daniel is an international development expert with 20 years of experience designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating projects in areas related to pro-poor and private sector development. Daniel's experience has focused on the following fields: market-based mechanisms in water and sanitation, sustainable and climate-smart agriculture, public-private partnerships, linking smallholders and farmers to markets, value chain and market systems development, and bottom of the pyramid markets, to name a few.

Daniel has worked on multicultural project teams with clients and employers from the private sector, multilateral and bilateral institutions, humanitarian aid agencies, nonprofits, microfinance institutions (MFIs), social entrepreneurs, and business associations in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. He currently lives in La Paz, Bolivia where he enjoys reading and researching issues related to poverty and likes long walks with his family. Daniel speaks Spanish and English fluently.

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woman standing in front of wooden wall

Katherine Williford

Chief Growth Officer

KATHERINE WILLIFORD
CHIEF GROWTH OFFICER

Katherine believes that through Water For People’s Everyone Forever strategy, poverty is solvable – and is passionate about connecting supporters with our work to achieve that vision in our lifetime. Katherine found her calling on a community service trip to Honduras, which inspired her to move to Honduras full-time as a volunteer – where she saw firsthand the impact water poverty has on families. She brings more than a decade of business development and board experience in the nonprofit sector, and has lived, worked, and traveled to more than 25 countries. Katherine holds a B.A. in Spanish Language & Literature from Rhodes College, and enjoys hiking, camping, skiing, and show-shoeing across Colorado with her husband and dog in their free time.

Learn more and connect with Katherine.

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COUNTRY DIRECTORS

Water For People Country Directors are local leaders and experts in their country’s context. These Directors develop strategies, foster relationships, manage operations, promote policies, guide their teams, and empower communities to create lasting change.   

Portrait Photo of Andres Abasto

Andrés Abasto

Country Director, Bolivia

Andrés Abasto
COUNTRY DIRECTOR, BOLIVIA

Andres joined the organazation on October 1st, 2021. He brings over 20 years of experience implementing and managing projects in specific areas such as economic growth, business development, market access, and poverty alleviation. His management capabilities have focused on consulting firms, aid agencies, development programs and, local and international NGO’s. His qualitative results orientation skills, in addition to his implementation of participation-based development activities have allowed him to build opportunities for fundraising, partnerships, business development, risk capital funds, trade and social entrepreneur sustainability.

Andres has led investment projects in economic growth, was National Director of PROCOIN, an UE Economic Growth and Investment Promotion Program (over €17 million), and worked as Deputy Director at Integrated Food Security (IFS), Abt Associates and USAID Project, with a US$ 26 million budget.

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Brenda Achiro Muthemba

Country Director, Uganda

Brenda Achiro Muthemba
COUNTRY DIRECTOR, UGANDA

Achiro Brenda Muthemba has a masters in Business Administration from East and Southern Africa Management Institute (ESAMI), a masters in Social Sector Planning and Management  and a Bachelor's degree in Forestry and Nature Conservation from Makerere University Kampala.

Brenda is a WASH professional with over 15 years’ experience in leading and managing development and humanitarian work for Not-for-Profit organizations in Uganda, managing country-wide programs, providing oversight in design, planning, implementation, accountability, and learning. Her experience covers program/project development, Human resource management, research - especially Action based research, project procurements, audits, quality assurance support and accountability /reporting.

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Portrait Photo of Ulemu Chiluzi

Ulemu Chiluzi

Country Director, Malawi

ULEMU CHILUZI
COUNTRY DIRECTOR, MALAWI

Ulemu Chiluzi joined Water For People in 2020 as the Malawi Country Director. A civil engineer, he contributes his 18 years of experience leading development programs spanning the education, food security, livelihoods, WASH, governance, and HIV/AIDS sectors. He excels at organizational development and strategy, networking, relationship building, and resource mobilization. He has worked with CARE International, United Purpose (formerly Concern-Universal), Plan International Malawi, ActionAid Malawi, and Self-Help Africa. He has an MBA and a BS in Civil Engineering. In his free time, he enjoys playing chess.

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Portrait Photo of Eugene Dusingizumuremyi

Eugene Dusingizumuremyi

Country Director, Rwanda

Eugene believes that universal access to sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services and products is achievable if the entire World has one dream to end water and sanitation crisis. He joined Water For People in 2012 as Project Manager for Rulindo Challenge Program in Rwanda. Before being named Country Director, he was Programs Manager where he was responsible for managing and coordinating all aspects of the country program related activities and staff. Prior to Joining Water For People, he has worked with Rwanda Ministry of Infrastructure and University of Rwanda as project manager and university professor respectively.

Eugene is the 2021 Global Engineering Professional Award Winner. He earned an international MSc in Environmental Science from University of Greenwich, and a BSc in Civil Engineering and Environmental Technology at the University of Rwanda. As an engineer, he excels at organizational leadership and development, team building, partnership management and resource mobilization. In his free time, he likes spending time with family, hiking and hiking and being outdoors

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Portrait of Henry Gudiel

Henry Gudiel

Country Director, Honduras

Henry Gudiel is a Water and Sanitation Senior Specialist with more than 20 years of experience in the design and implementation of programs and projects for public and private actors within the WASH sector. His skill set includes management and facilitation of transformation processes, project evaluation, skills development, institutional strengthening, public policies, strategic planning, fund management and water resources.

He holds a Master in Design, Management and Leadership, a Postgraduate Diploma in International Cooperation Projects and a Postgraduate Diploma in  Leadership Skills. He has a Bachelor in Pedagogy and Education Science with a Planning and Administration focus.

Henry firmly believes that the SDG6 can be achieved if governments prioritize the Water and Sanitation sector, rely on strong institutions that plan and manage services and promote citizen participation in sectorial decision making.

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Portrait Photo of Gisela Murrugarra

Gisela Murrugarra

Country Director, Perú

Gisela Murrugarra
COUNTRY DIRECTOR, PERÚ

Joining Water For People in 2021 as Country Director in Perú, Gisela Murrugarra has more than 20 years’ experience managing, implementing, and evaluating programs. She has worked in both the private and public sectors, including the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Housing, Construction, and Sanitation. Gisela led multidisciplinary teams and facilitated public-private partnerships funded by World Bank that include the design and management of rural WASH programs and support for sanitation companies in Peru.  She brings to Water For People a strong background in continuous program improvement, in-depth analysis of processes, and financial risk management.

Gisela received her degree in Project Management from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and a degree in Industrial Engineering from the Universidad de Lima. In addition, she holds a Global Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Thunderbird School of International Management (USA) and TEC de Monterrey (Mexico). In Gisela’s spare time, she enjoys reading, running, and spending time with her family.

Gisela joined Water for People because she, like Water for People, believes that the biggest challenge in achieving the SDG6 is sustainability, which goes beyond coverage, as well as innovation to look for new solutions for population without access to quality services.

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Portrait of Rehema Tukai

Rehema Tukai

Country Director, Tanzania

Rehema Tukai
COUNTRY DIRECTOR, TANZANIA

Rehema is a Development expert. She has in-depth national and regional development experience promoting interactions between civil society, government, and other stakeholders and has invested over 15 years in senior management and governance roles of donor- funded development programs. 

She is particularly interested in leading processes of designing and deciding on implementation approaches for integrated development funding programs that prioritise investing in development of organisations’ capacity, optimising partnerships with key stakeholders for impact and managing the associated partnership risks.

Before joining Water for People, she was consulting with KPMG International Development Advisory Services in Tanzania, serving as Deputy Director in Tanzania Program, worked at a UKaid - funded program managed by KPMG Advisory, at the National policy research Think Tank, REPOA and WaterAid Tanzania.

Rehema holds a Research Honours degree in Natural Resources Science and Management from University of Canberra, a Postgraduate Diploma in Poverty Analysis for Socioeconomic Security and Development from International Institute of Social Studies (ISS)–Erasmus University.

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Portrait of Mario Velasquez

Mario Velásquez

Country Director, Guatemala

Mario Velásquez 
COUNTRY DIRECTOR, GUATEMALA

Mario is a Forest Engineer, specializing in Water Resources Management and Economics of Environmental Goods and Services, with a Master's Degree in Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment.

For more than 18 years he has worked as a staff professional, executive, university professor, researcher, and consultant in different development projects, both in governmental, non-governmental, academic, and international cooperation entities, where he has led multidisciplinary and multiethnic teams, carrying out coordination processes with the central government, local governments, and community authorities.

From 2013 to date he has developed more than 20 resource management projects for local NGOs and GOs. In the last 4 years he has dedicated himself to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene issues, with a market focus and with a the goal to fulfill the Sustainable Development Goal 6 of the United Nations Organization.

"In these 4 years, I am inspired by the idea of ​​contributing my knowledge and experience to bring a better quality of life for people. At Water For People I have found an important challenge in achieving sustainable access to basic services for Guatemalans."

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Additional Teams

With employees based around the globe, whether in the field or their home office, we have an incredible team with some of the most dedicated, collaborative, and innovative people driven by one vision: a world where everyone has access to reliable and safe water and sanitation services, forever. 

Global Hub Team
Board of directors

Interested in joining our team?

If you're ready to jump into the nonprofit sector, we'd love to have you on our team.

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