Around the world today, nearly 800 million people lack access to safe drinking water and 2.5 billion people lack basic sanitation.  Clean water and sanitation form the cornerstone for healthy, sustainable communities.  They are also drivers for progress for a range of critical developmental needs in emerging markets, including education, economic growth, nutrition, environmental conservation, and gender equality.  The private sector has an important role to play as a provider of sustainable solutions in the clean water and sanitation field.  This talk focuses upon the linkages between clean water, sanitation and growth in emerging markets and will highlight some innovative social enterprises that are successfully addressing the global water and sanitation challenge in the developing world.

About Monica Ellis:

Monica Ellis is the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF), a leading not-for-profit foundation that advances sustainability through public-private partnerships.   Founded in 1988, GETF partners range from Fortune 100 companies and water technology start-ups to the Executive Branch agencies, private foundations, and multi-lateral donor organizations. 

A primary focus of GETF’s work is helping to build sustainable communities through clean water and sanitation.  To that end, GETF manages a $100MM plus portfolio of clean water and sanitation programs in over 32 developing countries.   GETF manages the Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN), an effort funded by The Coca-Cola Company and its partners to bring safe water to at least 2MM people in Africa by 2015.    The Foundation also manages the Water and Development Alliance, a global water stewardship-focused partnership between USAID and The Coca-Cola Company.   Ms. Ellis has worked with The Coca-Cola Company on its water risk and stewardship platforms since 2004.

Ms. Ellis also serves as CEO of Global Water Challenge (GWC), an action-oriented coalition of major corporations, NGOs and other organizations committed to achieving universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation (WASH).  GWC’s mission is to accelerate the delivery of safe water and sanitation throughout the world.  GWC has sponsored path-breaking WASH projects in Africa, Central and Latin America and India.

In 2012, GETF launched the US Water Partnership under the leadership of then Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.  The Partnership is a public-private coalition that is mobilizing the best of U.S. expertise, resources and ingenuity to address global water challenges, with a special focus on developing countries where needs are greatest.

Active in the sustainability arena for over 20 years, Ms. Ellis has worked throughout the world on global natural resource issues, with particular attention to the clean water and energy sectors.  Her passion is helping communities in the developing world gain clean water, sanitation and ultimately, economic opportunity.  She is the creator of numerous organizations and partnerships dedicated to clean water and sanitation. 

Ms. Ellis is a founding member of GETF, helping build the Foundation’s programs since the early 1990s.  She is also the founder of a small business which offers sustainability, communications and government relations expertise. Prior to starting her own company, she helped establish a successful Internet software development company which was sold in 1997.  

In her early career, she worked as a journalist and then as a speechwriter and strategic planner for the Chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  While at the Corps, she was responsible for developing the World Engineering Partnership for Sustainable Development, an international coalition representing 12 million engineers dedicated to sustainable economic development.  For this effort, she developed and published a book on the topic entitled, “The Role of Engineering in Sustainable Development.”    

Ms. Ellis and her husband have three children and live in Virginia.  She serves on a variety of boards, including that of GETF, Water For People, the John Hopkins University Global Water Advisory Board and the IRC Triple-S International Advisory Group.  Ms. Ellis is a graduate of the University of Missouri – Columbia.