Who we are

Rémi has been a CBS enthusiast for a long time and joined the CBSA in 2022. He brings experience in urban sanitation, innovative finance and supporting social enterprises from WaterAid and Homeless International. An engineer by training, he is passionate about finding solutions for sustainable cities, and loves nothing more than talking crap.

Isabella has been involved with the CBSA since 2019 when she supported set-up and development of the alliance as a registered UK charity. With experience in advocacy communications and coordination in WASH, public health and civil society engagement, she is passionate about the power of collaboration, having worked with many collectives, including Freshwater Action Network, the International Coalition for Trachoma Control and Together 2030. She has a bachelor’s degree in politics and a master’s in postcolonial studies.

Madeleine manages the CBSA’s work on carbon credits as well as learning and training for members. Madeleine is also the Global Coordinator for WASH in schools and health care facilities at the World Bank. She has previously provided technical support to the Solomon Islands Government and has undertaken research on community resilience to natural hazards at Loughborough University. Madeleine studied her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and her master’s degree in water and environmental management and has been working internationally in WASH and research since 2017.

Kory C. Russel is the Chair of the CBSA and an Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Studies at the University of Oregon. His work focuses on the design, implementation, and experience of non-networked water and sanitation services specifically in resource-constrained locations around the world. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mozambique as well as helping to found both re.source sanitation and the Landscape for Humanity initiatives. Kory holds an MS and PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University.

Abigail Aruna has led Clean Team Ghana as the CEO since 2020 after playing an integral part in its growth having joined the organisation as its second employee in 2012. She has extensive experience in waste management, value chain leadership and occupational health and safety. Abigail is a 2021 Mandela Washington Fellow of the Young Africa Leadership Initiative by the US Embassy and a West Africa Acumen Fellow, 2022. She holds an MSc in Supply Chain Management and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography and Rural Development from the School of Business and the Department of Geography and Rural Development at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi.

Clarissa Brocklehurst is a water supply, sanitation and hygiene specialist, with extensive experience in international development. She is an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering of the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She previously served as the Chief of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at UNICEF and helped establish the global Sanitation and Water for All partnership. Clarissa has also played a role in the development of strategy and advocacy for the global WASH sector and serves on several technical advisory groups for sector initiatives. As a consultant, she works for a variety of clients including the World Bank, UNICEF and WHO, and has advised governments on water and sanitation sector reform to benefit the poor.

Emma Colenbrander is Managing Director at Spring Impact, a non-profit that helps mission-driven organisations to scale their impact. Previously, Emma founded and led the Global Distributors Collective, an alliance of over 200 organisations that deliver beneficial products to low-income households around the world. She is a co-founder and former Executive Director of Pollinate Group, a multi-award-winning last mile distribution enterprise in India and Nepal; an experienced trainer in social entrepreneurship and innovation; and has worked with the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) focusing on development finance and innovation. Emma is a Trustee at the climate change charity Ashden and at the investment fund Postcode Innovation Trust.

Virginia Gardiner is founder CEO of Loowatt, and the original inventor of the Loowatt toilet system. Loowatt is a CBS solution now operating in Madagascar, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Since its inception in 2009, Loowatt’s mission has been to deliver scalable circular economy sanitation that protects water resources and begins with a great toilet experience.

Dr Jeremy Gorelick is a development finance practitioner with 20 years of experience in preparing and closing transactions in infrastructure in emerging markets. He has been responsible for raising over USD$4.3 billion for infrastructure projects in emerging markets, through his origination role on Wall Street and his positions as a municipal / infrastructure finance advisor with various aid agencies and DFIs. He has served as global technical expert on climate and/or infrastructure finance lead for multiple organisations, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, the IFC, USAID, GIZ, AFD, DFID, FCDO, BEIS, and the OECD among others. He received his PhD from the University of Cape Town with a focus on financial mobilisation for infrastructure in emerging markets and has lectured at the Johns Hopkins University since 2010 on emerging markets finance.

Sasha Kramer is an ecologist and human rights advocate who has been working in Haiti since 2004. She received her Ph.D. in Ecology from Stanford University in 2006 and co-founded SOIL, a container-based sanitation service provider in Haiti, that same year. While Sasha spends the majority of her time living and working in the Caribbean, she is also a global advocate for equitable sanitation access and circular economy approaches to waste management. Sasha is an Ashoka Fellow, a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, a Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year, and the recipient of the Sarpharti Sanitation Award for Lifetime Achievement.

A chartered engineer with a second degree in Development Economics, Professor Barbara Evans holds the chair in Public Health Engineering in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds. She works in the water sector at the intersection of engineering and economics. Much of her work has relates to sanitation and hygiene with a particular focus on urban sanitation in rapidly growing cities and towns. Barbara worked at the World Bank and later as a consultant for over twenty years before joining the University in 2009. She now leads a multi-disciplinary research group working on resilient water and waste services and public health with recent work focusing on developing new approaches to estimating and mitigating GHG emissions from global sanitation.

Paul Gunstensen is a consultant with over 19 years of leadership experience in the social enterprise, philanthropy and international development sectors, with a proven track record of success in delivering high social and financial impact, especially in emerging markets. He previously worked as the Director of Water and Sanitation at the Stone Family Foundation, where he acted as the defacto CEO for seven years, overseeing the allocation of $75 million and the growth of the portfolio, impact investment, and team. He has experience of executing sector-leading innovative finance instruments, including the first development impact bond in sanitation and establishing the Cambodia Revenue Finance Facility. Prior to joining the Foundation, Paul was the Director for Partnerships & Development at Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP).

Jon Lane is the Chair of the Scientific Programme Committee of World Water Week and as founder and Chair of WINZ – the Water Initiative for Net Zero. Previously he worked as a consultant, working mainly in sanitation and water policy and strategy at the global and national levels. From 1994 to 1999 he was Chief Executive of WaterAid, the recipient of the Stockholm Water Prize in 1995. From 2007 to 2012 he was Executive Director of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, during the time it created the Global Sanitation Fund. He has served as an Independent Director of the Toilet Board Coalition and has chaired or served on various steering and advisory committees, including for Sanitation and the Water for All, the Global Water Partnership, and the World Bank Water and Sanitation Program. He holds a master’s from Cambridge University in Engineering and is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a Member of the Malawi Institution of Engineers, and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

Kate Medlicott is the Sanitation team leader within the WASH team at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. In this role Kate is responsible for translating health evidence to policy and practice through WHO guidelines on sanitation and health, safe use of wastewater and recreational water quality) and for health sector collaborations where sanitation is a critical component of risk and disease control – this includes antimicrobial resistance, neglected tropical diseases and environmental surveillance for COVID-19. Kate led the WHO guidance on environmental surveillance for COVID and is leading WHO work on investigation potential for multi-pathogen surveillance. She also sits on the WHO guidelines review committee that oversees the quality of evidence review and recommendation development across all WHO guidelines.

Virgilio “Perry” Rivera, Jr is founder and managing consultant of WatSan Analytics, a management consulting firm catering to the water and sanitation sector. He is concurrently engaged by the Global Water Intelligence as Regional Champion for the UK-based Global Water Leaders Group as well as the World Bank. He previously held various appointments at Ayala Corporation, one of the Philippines’ largest and leading conglomerates, including Managing Director. He also held key leadership roles at Manila Water Company, Inc. (MWCI) including the position of Chief Operating Officer for New Business/Subsidiary Operations and Business Development from 1997 through to 2021. His expertise includes design and implementation of large-scale water PPP, corporate strategy, public policy and regulation, price reviews, city-wide utility operation master planning, international business development and general management in a highly regulated water utility setting with P&L accountability.

Alyse Schrecongost is a Senior Program Officer for WASH at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She is an institutional economics and policy professional with experience in global and domestic water, sanitation, agriculture, and health sectors. She is collaborates with regulators, utilities, international finance institutions, and research organizations to strengthen public sanitation services in low income urban areas. She has a master’s degree in Agricultural and Resource Economics from Michigan State University.