Gosh, they changed their name just a couple of days ago.
Now, officials at EDGE Outreach – now WaterStep – are announcing they’ve signed on Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh as a full-time, high-profile volunteer.
WaterStep is an evangelical-oriented global clean water assistance effort, based in Louisville.
Tina Ward-Pugh
The release includes Ward-Pugh’s observation about how in the Developing World, hauling clean water all day generally falls to women:
“In most countries around the world, providing water for the family is the girl’s and woman’s responsibility, which often can mean lack of education for women and health problems caused by transporting heavy water over long distances regularly. I have always been a strong advocate for girl’s and women’s issues, and this just strengthened my motivation to get involved with WaterStep. “
On Tuesday, WaterStep founder and CEO Mark Hogg said he was dropping EDGE Outreach in favor of WaterStep to better position the organization in the competition for donor dollars. “WaterStep” also refers to the organization’s main fundraising mechanism, a shoe recycling program.
CurrentMarketing oversaw the EDGE-to-WaterStep rebranding and logo creation.
Here’s the release in full:
Tina Ward-Pugh, Louisville’s 9th District Councilwoman, is taking leave from her part-time home remodeling business in order to assume a volunteer position at WaterStep, a local organization that works to save lives at risk from waterborne illness around the world. In her role as Global Partnership Strategist for WaterStep, Tina will spend approximately 30-35 hours per week working to expand WaterStep’s partnerships on a global level and introduce potential funders and supporters to the organization’s work. The experience she has gained and relationships she has built over the past 20 years as a legislator and activist uniquely position Tina to bring a broad network of valuable connections to WaterStep. She aims to leverage her relationships to build awareness and support of the organization’s work to fight the global water crisis, which is responsible for the death of more than 3.5 million people each year. Tina will remain active as Councilwoman for the 9th District.
Tina first took notice of WaterStep in 2008 (at that time the organization was known as EDGE Outreach), but it wasn’t until January of 2010 after the devastating earthquake hit Haiti that she realized the significance of their work. WaterStep’s team was one of the first groups on the ground with relief efforts, and since then they have installed over 40 water purification systems in Haitian communities.
”Seeing how WaterStep responded to the disaster in Haiti really opened my eyes to the desperate need for their services, not just in disaster areas, but in communities around the world,” says Tina. “That, coupled with my trip to India in January 2011, compelled me to look for ways to help the organization. Since my role as Metro Councilwoman is part time, it allows me to become involved in other things, and I’m excited to spend more of my time and energy to expand WaterStep’s reach.”
Tina’s inherent quality of being a “connector” is at the heart of her efforts to help WaterStep, and she has already acheived success in her short time in the position. With the help of one of her colleagues living in Miami, Tina was able to secure free housing and transportation for a WaterStep team member who was passing through Miami on her way to Haiti for a water training trip.
In addition, Tina is leading WaterStep’s petition to become an official partner in Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton’s recently launched U.S. Water Partnership, a public-private partnership that seeks to mobilize U.S.-based knowledge, expertise and resources to improve water security around the world – particularly in those countries most in need. It was through the petitioning efforts that the State Department became familiar with WaterStep and invited them to bring their WaterBall and participate in the Annual 6k Walk for Water in Washington D.C.
”The WaterBall was seen as such an innovative game changer for transporting water, that different groups of walkers paused and asked to be photographed with it so they could say that they were some of the first to see it,” explains Tina. “They recognized its potential right away, and it was that visit that led to several long conversations with State Department personnel about WaterStep becoming a partner of the U.S. Water Partnership.”
Tina says the more educated she became about the global water crisis, the more compelled she was to do something about it.
“In most countries around the world, providing water for the family is the girl’s and woman’s responsibility, which often can mean lack of education for women and health problems caused by transporting heavy water over long distances regularly. I have always been a strong advocate for girl’s and women’s issues, and this just strengthened my motivation to get involved with WaterStep. “
About WaterStep: WaterStep is a Louisville-based 501(c)(3) organization that provides solutions to the root causes of waterborne illness through an approach that combines unparalleled training and readily-available technology to empower self-sufficiency for people in crisis around the world. WaterStep is currently working to establish training centers in India, Costa Rica, and Haiti. To learn more, call 502-568-6342 or visit www.waterstep.org.
Gosh, they changed their name just a couple of days ago.
