Well Aware Impact Awards

Chris Long is an NFL legend, two-time Super Bowl champion, and the 2018 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award winner. He launched the Chris Long Foundation and its signature initative, Waterboys, in 2015. The idea was sparked during a chance meeting at a hotel bar in Tanzania, where Chris, fresh off climbing Mount Kilimanjaro during the NFL off-season, discussed the country’s water security challenges with sportscaster Joe Buck and Doug Pitt, Goodwill Ambassador to Tanzania. Chris was struck by how clean water is a catalyst for so many other things, including health, women empowerment, education, as well as agricultural, and economic growth. Waterboys mobilizes athletes and fans to raise awareness of the global water crisis and support lasting solutions. Through Waterboys, the Foundation has funded over 135 solar-powered, deep borehole wells in East Africa and 39 clean water projects across the United States, bringing water to 570,000 people—with a goal of reaching 1 million. Chris has tremendous respect for Well Aware’s exceptional technical expertise, commitment to community engagement, 100% success rate, and deep passion for this work.

Since the beginning of this partnership in 2023, Well Aware and the Waterboys have brought clean water to more than 17,000 people. Chris’s dedication to true sustainability and his use of his platform to create meaningful change in the world are just a glimpse into why he has been named Well Aware’s 2024 Global Impact Award winner.

Turk and Christy Pipkin are the co-founders of The Nobelity Project, a global nonprofit working to bridge gaps in education in Kenya, Latin America, and at home in Texas. Building on their careers in film and television, The Nobelity Project began with Turk and Christy making three award-winning feature documentaries on global problems and solutions. They continue to make short films chronicling their ongoing work building preschools, primary and secondary classrooms, libraries, kitchens, and more at 50 rural Kenyan school locations, and highlighting their work with major conservation partners. Known for his work as an actor on HBO’s The Sopranos, The Leftovers, and other television and film roles, Turk is also the author of a dozen works of fiction and non-fiction.

“We love it when we can partner with Well Aware at a new school site. They work with the community and administrators to be sure they are meeting their water needs” says Turk. Christy adds, “It’s been exciting to watch them grow over the years into the crack team they are today.”

Salva Dut was born in a rural village in southwestern Sudan to the Dinka tribe. At 11 years old, the Sudanese Civil War reached his village and separated Salva from his family. He joined thousands of boys, famously known as the “Lost Boys,” on their journey by foot to seek safety in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. After living in refugee camps for 10 years, Salva was given the opportunity to move to the United States. Several years later, Salva learned that his father was still alive in Southern Sudan but was suffering with disease caused by waterborne parasites. His father’s illness inspired Salva to help both his father and his country by bringing clean water to those in need. So, he began Water for South Sudan, a nonprofit focused on doing just that. Since then, he has transformed many lives and inspired people across the globe. Salva’s incredible story is told in the New York Times bestseller A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park.

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Amy Poehler’s work on SNL earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Starring as Leslie Knope on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, she has been nominated for three Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, two Golden Globe Awards, and one Screen Actors Guild Award.

Amy is also a humanitarian, active in women’s issues, and serves as Ambassador for the Worldwide Orphans Foundation. On-screen and off, Amy believes in empowering women and girls everywhere. She co-founded “Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls,” an organization dedicated to helping young people cultivate their authentic selves. Her dedication to helping young women has gained her numerous accolades, including Glamour’s Woman of the Year. Through her digital series Smart Girls at the Party, Amy continues to acknowledge and support girls who are “changing the world by being themselves.”

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Meredith Walker is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls, the online community dedicated to helping young people cultivate their authentic identities. Since its inception in 2008, the organization’s website and YouTube channel have become destinations for inclusiveness, positivity, intelligence, and imagination. Walker travels the globe to promote the mission of Smart Girls, from serving as the journalism envoy for the U.S. State Department Bureau of Culture and Education’s program at the Al Za’atari and Emirates Refugee Camps, to visiting remote primary-care clinics on global aid delegations to Haiti and Malawi.

She serves on the Advisory Council of The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, Michelle Obama’s Girls Opportunity Alliance, The Common Sense Advisory Board for Gender Equality, the UN Women Global Innovation Coalition for Change (GICC), and the CARE Action Advisory Council.

Meredith currently lives in Austin, Texas.

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Born and raised in Meru, Kenya, Dr. Karambu Ringera is a visionary, activist, committed leader, formidable force for change, and an inspiration to all who meet her. She is known for her cutting-edge work in innovative and sustainable models of development, peace-building, women’s rights, and global leadership programs around the world.

“My desire is to stand with communities as they learn to listen deeply to the inner knowing of their hearts, identify their needs, craft their own solutions and inspire actions to meet those needs.”

In 2002, Dr. Ringera met a group of mothers living with HIV/AIDS in 2002 who were having difficulty supporting themselves and their children. They asked her for help sending the HIV/AIDS orphans to school, and even though she was still a student at the time, she organized a dinner in Denver that raised enough funds to send the first seven orphans to school, and thus International Peace Initiatives (IPI) was founded.

In 2018, Well Aware partnered with Dr. Ringera to bring clean water to her community of Kithoka, Kenya, including the IPI Amani Children’s Home, nearby primary and secondary schools, and the surrounding community. Through this partnership, Well Aware and IPI were able to successfully bring clean water to 10,000 people in Kithoka.

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As a humanitarian, community activist, journalist, and author, Dr. Obama has launched many initiatives throughout her career to support the growth and development of young people in East Africa. Dr. Obama founded her own organization, the Sauti Kuu Foundation, to further empower children and adolescents from underprivileged backgrounds in Kenya. Apart from her work at Sauti Kuu, she also has worked for CARE International, where she established the ‘Sport for Social Change’ initiative, bringing together organizations from different countries of East Africa, as well as Egypt and Bangladesh, in order to familiarize young girls, in particular, with sports as a means for improving their own social situation.

Dr. Auma Obama is also a member of the World Future Council, the Board of Trustees of the ‘German Reading Foundation,’ the Advisory Board of the Bayreuth Academy of Advanced African Studies, and the Governing Council of the Kilimanjaro Initiative in Nairobi. She is a well-read author and speaker and active in numerous events worldwide on topics of socio-economic development. Her book, And Then Life Happens: A Memoir, was published in 2010.

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Mary Elizabeth Ellis is a Hollywood actress and producer. She began her love for acting as a child in the local theatre of Laurel, Mississippi. That love drove her to attend the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. After graduation, Mary Elizabeth moved to Los Angeles.

Most recently on TV, she played “Lisa” on the Netflix series Santa Clarita Diet and is also known for her recurring role as “The Waitress” on FX’s hit show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. On the feature front, she has starred in Licorice Pizza, Masterminds, The Free State of Jones, and the indie The Last Time You Had Fun. She co-wrote and starred in the independent film, A Quiet Little Marriage, which won The Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance Film Festival.

In addition to acting and writing, Mary Elizabeth loves drawing, being a super-involved Mom, and organizing “crafternoons” with the ladies. She is very involved with charity work, and has been an influential advocate for Well Aware’s work for years.

Apart from her commitment to transforming lives through clean water, her charity work mostly includes partnering with P.S.Arts, The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for kids, The Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood, Oceana, and St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Marsh Lavenue, PhD, has served as the CEO and Chairman of the Board of INTERA Incorporated, an Austin-based water resource and environmental consulting firm, since 2008. After starting his career in 1985 as a Staff Hydrogeologist, Marsh has served in numerous technical and managerial positions, working on important waste isolation and water resource projects and serving in pivotal leadership roles that have grown INTERA to the successful company it is today. Marsh has been privileged to guide the INTERA leadership team in execution of its core mission of Innovation and Stewardship for a Sustainable Tomorrow. Since taking over leadership, INTERA has grown significantly in headcount, geographical locations, revenue, and profitability through the establishment and execution of a corporate growth philosophy and strategy, an adherence to key performance indicator best practices, and the establishment of an intentional corporate culture based on stewardship.

Even though he is from Arkansas, Marsh has a Texas-size philanthropic heart, and he has exhibited this in many ways at INTERA. He has implemented corporate donations and matching programs for Well Aware, Central Texas Food Bank, Meals on Wheels, the Trevor Project, and numerous other charities that have benefited communities locally and across the world. Under Marsh’s leadership, INTERA has sponsored Well Aware for more than 15 years through numerous shower strikes, possibly to the temporary dismay of nearby colleagues, and generous monetary donations. Although retiring as CEO at the end of 2024, Marsh’s legacy of philanthropy will live on at INTERA through our continued support of deserving charities like Well Aware and through the Ron Lantz Stewardship Award. This award, created by Marsh in 2018 in recognition of our duty to stewardship and named in honor of INTERA’s founder, allows for a $10,000 stipend and a one-month sabbatical for the winning staff member to contribute to a non-profit project of their choice. In 2023, the RL Stewardship Award winner collaborated with Well Aware to implement practical geophysical survey methods for use in optimizing water well drilling locations in Kenya, improving the cost-effectiveness of Well Aware funds into the future. To date, INTERA has impacted more than 10,000 people with access to clean water in East Africa, and with these new geophysical survey methods introduced by his team, Marsh’s impact will live on for generations.

Marsh’s huge heart for stewardship and giving back personally and professionally has and will continue to leave a lasting legacy at INTERA and in the local and worldwide communities benefiting from his ongoing generosity.

Hetal was born and raised in Kenya. She has a fondness and love for the wildlife and people of Kenya. It is this that motivated her to work for Ol Pejeta Conservancy and apply herself fully to making a difference to the causes that are so close to her heart. Having graduated from Cass Business School, City University in London (UK) in 2001, she then worked in various organizations in the private and public sectors. With her breadth of experience and deep understanding of the culture and challenges faced in Kenya, she is determined to help make a difference that would see people have access to basic rights, and opportunities and develop a deep sense of appreciation and commitment to protecting the natural world.

“Working with partners like Well Aware has been instrumental in bridging the much-needed access and resource that allows communities, habitats, and wildlife to co-exist and thrive.”

Ian is in charge of community development projects at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, supporting the inclusion and support of community members living around the conservancy. Projects range from conservation, education, agribusiness, community health, alternative energy, infrastructure projects, and community mobilization. Ian collaborates with community leaders to identify new potential Well Aware water projects, assess water needs, mobilize community support, and manage relationships with the local government. He is a father of two kids, a conservationist who loves literature, hiking, and everything that has Africa and Development in the same sentence.

Born in Green Bay, Wisconsin to Reginald and June McKenzie in January of 1997, Kahlil spent the majority of his childhood there before his father accepted the General Manager position for the then Oakland Raiders. The family then moved to Concord, California his Junior year of high school and in 2015 he was Ranked the #1 high school player in the country by Scout. Kahlil decided to attend the University of Tennessee, the very school his father and uncle played for. Kahlil married his wife Alyssa in May of 2020 and were joined by their son Tre’ (Reginald Kahlil Mckenzie, III), who was born in March of 2021. When he isn’t in-season or working on his philanthropic endeavors Kahlil is definitely cooking BBQ, golfing, playing video games, and is an avid anime and movie fan.

Kahlil currently plays for the Baltimore Ravens, who he joined in 2021. In his fourth season in the NFL, Kahlil was originally drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

“Working with Well Aware is important to me because, ever since I was younger (about 7th grade), I vividly remember learning about how much money we spend on Christmas gifts versus how much money is spent on helping solve world problems. In that moment, that drew me into how to help service and get access to clean water for everyone. Once my wife and I moved to Texas I was really looking for an organization to get connected with in a hands-on fashion. That’s when I discovered Well Aware reached out to me, when finding out they were located in Austin it was a true blessing. Since then, my family and I have tried to do as much as we can to help push Well Awares goals forward and continue to fight for and educate as many as possible to help bring clean water to all those in need.”

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Nav is a co-founder of Silicon Labs, a tech entrepreneur, and a global philanthropist who has supported Well Aware’s work since the very beginning. He demonstrates an inspiring dedication to removing barriers for the most vulnerable populations and has contributed greatly to reducing the suffering from water scarcity in last-mile communities. Nav also believes that access to education can be the single biggest factor in an individual reaching a level of full self-sufficiency, and he is committed to empowering others by opening doors to better educational and economic opportunities both here at home and across the globe.

Nav has amplified Well Aware’s mission in many ways over the years, and we are honored to celebrate his incredible commitment to the cause.

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Alan Blake is a co-founder and CEO of Nuclein, LLC, an early-stage molecular diagnostics company that is developing a platform for rapid, inexpensive, and portable infectious disease detection.

Alan was previously a co-founder and CEO of Yorktown Technologies. Yorktown is best known for GloFish®, brilliantly colored fluorescent fish, which are the world’s most visible example of consumer biotechnology and the only widely-marketed biotech animal. GloFish was sold to Spectrum Brands (NYSE: SPB) in 2017, by which point it had grown to drive an estimated 15% of all dollars spent in the U.S. aquarium fish market.

Additionally, Alan currently serves on the board of Falcon Structures, and he is a mentor at Capital Factory, as well as an Advisory Partner for Trinity Private Equity Group. He has formerly served as the Austin chapter president of the Entrepreneur’s Organization, and as a board member of the Boys & Girls Club of the Austin Area, PrideBites, LLC, and Well Aware, as well as a mentor for Incubation Station (now SKU). Prior to co-founding Yorktown Technologies, Alan founded ClassMap, a venture-funded online learning company that ultimately served professors at 75 universities. Alan is also a winner of the prestigious Austin Under 40 award and holds 21 U.S. patents.

Alan graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, where he received a BBA with Highest Honors.

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Since graduating from the University of California with a degree in Aquatic Biology, John has spent most of his career managing brands and products for Tetra, United Pet Group, and now, Spectrum Brands.

Starting in 2017, John has been managing the GloFish® R&D facility in Tampa, Florida, and is now leading the charge for Well Aware’s GloFish® partnership. Early in 2018, John traveled to Kenya with Well Aware for the first time to document the impact of the company’s donations. He has since led Spectrum Brands employees to raise and donate nearly $200,000, returned to East Africa in November 2019 to further monitor the progress and impact, and continues to set lofty goals for the partnership’s success.

“I was so moved and inspired by the incredible impact that this small but passionate team was having in these communities and I knew that I had to help in some way. I have spent most of my career working with aquariums, which would not be possible without our access to clean water. Working with Well Aware to provide clean water for communities in East Africa seems like a great way for myself, GloFish, and Spectrum Brands to give back.”

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The Patt Christopher Project (TPCP) has raised more for clean water than any other group in our history. TPCP was created by brother and sister team, Newton Hopkins and Caitlin Bonner, and their spouses Blake Bonner and Monica Hopkins, to honor the life of their mother, Patt Christopher, who lost her battle with cancer in 2000.

In her 48 years, Patt Christopher touched the lives of all she met and had an enormous impact on her family and her community. Through TPCP, her legacy lives on. With the support of an amazing community, they have been able to provide clean water to more than 20,000 people and have shared the cause with hundreds of people who otherwise may not understand the importance of this work.

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Greg is a National Geographic Creative photographer and filmmaker.

He has traveled to Kenya with Well Aware multiple times to document our work in communities and help us tell the story of the people impacted by water scarcity and contamination issues.

“The photographs give a voice to those in need. I hope these images will also give people a better understanding of the issues at hand and inspire them to get involved and support the great work that Well Aware is doing. Education, healthcare and disease-free water can be a way of life instead of a rarity.”

In addition to being a National Geographic Creative photographer, Greg is also a founding member of the Austin Center for Photography and a Texas Photographic Society member. MSNBC.com, Professional Photographer magazine and multiple exhibitions throughout the U.S. have featured his work.

“The purpose of my work is to serve as a reminder to us that we are all part of something greater than ourselves. At a faster rate than ever before, our world is shrinking and traditional cultures are at risk. It is imperative that we be aware of and respect the diversity of our planet as well as our unprecedented need to preserve it.”

Mary Elizabeth Ellis is a Hollywood actress and producer. She began her love for acting as a child in the local theatre of Laurel, Mississippi. That love drove her to attend the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. After graduation, Mary Elizabeth moved to Los Angeles.

Most recently on TV, she played “Lisa” on the Netflix series Santa Clarita Diet and is also known for her recurring role as “The Waitress” on FX’s hit show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. On the feature front, she has starred in Licorice Pizza, Masterminds, The Free State of Jones, and the indie The Last Time You Had Fun. She co-wrote and starred in the independent film, A Quiet Little Marriage, which won The Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance Film Festival.

In addition to acting and writing, Mary Elizabeth loves drawing, being a super-involved Mom, and organizing “crafternoons” with the ladies. She is very involved with charity work and has been an influential advocate for Well Aware’s work for years. In 2022, she raised an incredible $16,500 for Well Aware’s clean water projects through Shower Strike.

Apart from her commitment to transforming lives through clean water, her charity work mostly includes partnering with P.S.Arts, The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for kids, The Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood, Oceana, and St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Terry “TK” Kowalicki, an employee of Well Aware partner Spectrum Brands, has been a fierce and dedicated advocate for our mission and Shower Strike over the last couple of years. He has helped recruit his colleagues, served on the committee, and has spread awareness of this powerful fundraising campaign throughout his network in Austin and beyond. This year, he raised an astounding $14,000 for our clean water projects in under a month, enough to provide nearly 1,000 people with this vital resource and earn him the honor of 2021 Striker of the Year Award.

Colleen Quinn is a retired child clinical psychologist who dedicated her career to underprivileged families. She began her career in an urban minority mental health setting offering in-depth diagnostic testing and connecting families with services. Later, she partnered with Ohio State University to help develop the first empirically supported treatment for children with bipolar disorder. She later designed a longitudinal study teaching adolescents in residential treatment mindfulness and radical presence. Though retired, Colleen spearheads many projects close to her heart for the benefit of children and families globally.

During the 2019 Shower Strike, Dr. Colleen Quinn became the highest individual fundraiser in the history of the campaign, raising over $20,000 for Well Aware in just one month. We were so inspired by her dedicated work that we had no choice but to create this award to honor her efforts and the efforts of other astounding Strikers to come.