$1 million for Three Finalists and a Winner

A winner and three finalists from the Changemakers/Global Water Challenge are sharing a $1 million gift from the Coca Cola Foundation. The grants will bring clean water and sanitation to people in developing nations. 

“With Coca-Cola’s $1 million grant,” said Paul Faeth, President of Global Water Challenge, “we are able to further fund projects that we believe will start a ripple effect in their communities and create scalable, replicable and sustainable models that can be applied around the world.” 

The four organizations that have split the grant are: 

• Nandi Foundation: $500,000 for clean drinking water for underserved populations in India. Nandi was a competition winner.

• Ecotact: $200,000 for treatment systems that safely transform waste into fuel and fertilizer for Kenyan communities

• Manna Energy Foundation, $200,000 for water treatment plants to create fuel for families in rural Rwanda

• Clean Shop, $100,000 for public education to support clean latrines for South African schools

More than a billion people worldwide lack a consistent supply of clean water and 2.6 billion do not have access to a safe toilet. But solutions abound.

“While these four projects are among the most inspiring of the applications we received, all of our submissions from this competition for water and sanitation solutions have evoked discussion and helped to build community in the sector,” said Charlie Brown, the Executive Director of Ashoka Changemakers.

The competition, “Tapping Local Innovation: Unclogging the Water and Sanitation Crisis,” received 265 entries from 54 countries. “This collaborative competition tapped the power of human ingenuity and demonstrated that solutions exist to local water and sanitation issues,” said Faeth.