Shilpa Alva (she/her)

Organizational Website 

   

"I am committed to helping women and girls have access to clean water to empower them to accomplish their dreams."

Water Experience

My motivation to start Surge for Water began when I was a child visiting family in India. I saw children my age who didn’t have the luxury of playing; instead many were fetching water. Even as a seven year old child, I saw the inequity – children should not have to bear this kind of responsibility for their family’s survival. The founding of Surge in 2008 was in response to this essential need and a calling. And so I started to spend more time in the communities where we work. This is how Surge’s community-led, women-centered model came to be. I listened to and learned from the locals and understood that in order to drive sustainable change it had to be them driving the agenda on their terms and timeline. Today, a global team of talented staff and volunteers run Surge, and together with the local communities where we work, we are making a transformational difference.

Opportunities of Interest

• Speaking engagements (e.g., conference panels, keynote addresses)
• Leadership roles (e.g., board member, committees)
• Public outreach (e.g., media interviews, podcasts)
• Youth engagement (e.g., K-12 school presentations)
• Volunteer opportunities (e.g., community based projects)
• Consulting (e.g., government, industry, not-for-profit sector)
• Research (e.g., academic, not-for-profit, government)
• Being a Mentor
• Having a Mentor

Opportunities Offered

• Student internships