Sarini Prabasi - Helping the Poorest of the World's Poor

Sarina Prabasi is the Chief Executive of WaterAid America, the world’s largest international non-profit dedicated to helping the world’s poorest people gain long-term access to safe drinking water, toilets and effective hygiene education.  Over the course of the last year, WaterAid and its local partners have helped two million people gain clean water, three million people gain toilets, and more than eight million people gain access to hygiene education. 

WaterAid knows the importance of WaSH education.

A tribute to her vision and leadership, Sarina was recently honored by the New York Business Journal as a 2016 ‘Woman of Influence’ and was named by both Fortune and Food & Wine magazines as one of the ‘Most Innovative Women in Food & Drink’. From the post regarding this award: "Prabasi was a driving force behind Congress's 2014 Water for the World Act, which directs water funding toward needy communities. ... "We believe clean water, sanitation and hygiene have huge ripple effects in underserved communities," says Prabasi.

Sarina Prabasi is a "woman of influence" who is helping to change millions of lives by increasing their access to safe drinking water, toilets and hygiene education.

Prabasi counts more than 20 years of experience in international development work. Prior to joining WaterAid in 2014, she most recently served as Deputy Chief of Programs at Orbis International, and as Country Representative at WaterAid Ethiopia. Prior to that, Sarina spent nearly ten years at Pact Inc., serving both in Washington, D.C. and overseas.

Water collection in Ethiopia.

Originally from Nepal, Prabasi lives in NYC where she is the Co-Founder of Buunni Coffee, a fair trade, organic coffee company. We are pleased to welcome Sarina as one of the jurors to select the winner of the 2017 OU International Water Prize.  As part of the WaTER Center Symposium on September 22, Ms. Prabasi will also be part of a panel discussion on "Critical Water Issues in Today's World".