Behind every great organization is a great Board of Directors. Their guidance and wisdom ensure that we stay true to our mission, vision, and values. Charlie Young was one of Global Water Center’s (GWC) first board members. In fact, he was involved before the organization even began.
Charlie remembers his friends, Dr. George and Molly Greene, hosting a meeting in a conference room overlooking the Cooper River in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. This was when they first put together their thoughts on the initial strategy for the future GWC. More detailed GWC efforts developed at a meeting in Charlie’s home as George and the team shared their vision to create an organization to end the global water crisis.
Five years later, Charlie is amazed at how far GWC has come. Referencing GWC’s water technician training program in Ghana and regional capacity development work in India, he remarked, “We haven’t solved the global water crisis, but we are making progress. It can be discouraging to see a problem without seeing the solution, so it’s rewarding to see all this progress.”
The first time Charlie started to understand the magnitude of the global water crisis, he felt called to get involved. As he explained:
“I have been blessed with safe water all my life. Growing up, we had a deep well that provided my family with safe water, and we didn’t get waterborne diseases. I served in the Navy on submarines and we always had safe water. Then I visited Honduras and realized that they don’t have what I’ve always had. When you have 2,300 people dying a day from unsafe water, that’s just not right. This is a heart and soul issue for me.”
GWC is so grateful for how Charlie pours his heart and soul into our mission. His passion, hard work, and generosity have been instrumental in getting us where we are today. With his leadership, we look forward to making even more progress in the future.