Scott Harrison
- Scott Harrison is the founder and CEO of charity: water
- Charity: water has mobilized 1M+ supporters from 105 countries, raised over $330M
- Scott was recently named #10 in Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business
Travels From
New York
Scott Harrison Speaker Biography
Scott Harrison is the founder and CEO of charity: water. Through radical transparency and innovative digital practices, charity: water has mobilized 1M+ supporters from 105 countries, raised over $330M, and funded clean water projects in 28 countries for over 8.5M people. Scott was recently named #10 in Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business, and has been profiled in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and by Forbes, Fortune and INC Magazines.
Scott Harrison is the founder and CEO of charity: water, a nonprofit organization on a mission to bring clean and safe drinking water to communities in need. After spending a decade in New York City chasing the fast life as a nightclub promoter, Scott found himself to be spiritually, morally and emotionally bankrupt. He began to rediscover his faith in a different way as an adult and decided to explore a 180-degree turn in his life and spent a year serving others in Africa. Upon learning more about the world’s (then) 1.1 billion people living without access to clean water, Scott returned to NYC determined to help and started charity: water.
In just ten years’ time, charity: water has raised over $210 million to fund more than 20,000 water projects in 24 countries around the world to bring clean and safe drinking water to over 6.3 million people. Scott has received many accolades from the media for his impactful efforts and accomplishments, including Fortune’s 40 under 40 list, Forbes’ Impact 30 list, and a #10 ranking in Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business issue. He’s also been recognized as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. In 2018, Scott released Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World, his New York Times best-selling memoir, for which all the net proceeds go to fund charity: water projects around the world.
The charity: water Story.
In 2004, Scott Harrison left his life as a nightclub promoter in New York City and signed up for volunteer service with a humanitarian organization offering free medical care to the world’s poorest nations. Astonished by the conditions in his new surroundings, Harrison founded the non-profit organization charity: water, which uses public installations and innovative online fundraising platforms to fund over 22,000 water projects in 24 countries. In this visual keynote, Harrison tells the full story of how he transformed himself from a nightclub promoter into a successful philanthropist, and how his innovative value-driven movement changed the non-profit world.
Disrupting Philanthropy.
Scott Harrison believes that a combination of innovation, motivation, and radical transparency is key to inspiring generosity. He runs charity: water like a start-up by using story-telling and branding to make it one of the most recognized nonprofits in the country, and technology to prove and monitor the success of their projects around the world. In this keynote, Harrison shares the strategies that make charity:water successful, and how to overcome obstacles and challenges with creativity and innovation.
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