Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25253
Global Water trust Rob Kramer has been a high-tech guru, an entrepreneurial wiz- ard, and was most recently the CEO and chairman of Uprizer, Inc., an Intel funded high-tech software company. Steve Reiss has spent the last 18 years making media deals of all kinds, and producing videos for Lauryn Hill, Michael Jackson and BMW's "Drive" commercials. One year ago, these two got together and turned their attention to another world opportunity: creating a nonprofit entity to deliver water infrastructure to those global communities without it; with a goal of reaching 5 to 10 million people in 5 years. BLUE explores. What inspired two guys like you with so much professional opportunity in the private sector to divert your energy toward the global water crisis? Steve: Being so heavily involved in the commercial area didn't offer me one-hundred per- cent fulfillment. Life can't be all about making money-there had to be some aspect of giv- ing back. There comes a time when you \vake up and ask, does money bring happiness? The answer in my experience is no, not necessarily. It makes many choices a lot easier , but truly on a humanistic, soulful level, this is much more invigorating, inspiring and passionate work. Rob: I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world, to have had the opportunity I've had: the businesses I've started, the funding I've gotten for those businesses and the success that they've brought me and other people along the way. But I felt it was time in my life to do something that was about giving back. I thought I was a fairly well- read, informed per- son, and when I realized that a billion and a half people don't have access to clean drink- ing water on a daily basis-that was it. I knew I had to act. Why water? Was there a specific experience that put you in touch with the global water crisis firsthand? Steve: What triggered it all for me was a trip to Bali-part surf trip, part yoga retreat. I found the Balinese community to be engaging and loving, yet the environment was highly polluted. It pained me to see it. I couldn't even swim in the ocean, there was so much plas- tic and crap in the vlater. It was there I realized that the paradises of our planet are being destroyed by commercialization and I decided to focus on something more heartfelt than commercial. This decision evolved into my commitment to the Global Water Trust. Did you ever consider working with another already established nonprofit or NGO, already immersed in water issues? Rob: When \'Ie started seriously planning Global Water Trust, we said, let's see what other folks are doing because we don't want to duplicate efforts. But one of the things we qUick- ly discovered is a lot of the NGOs only create short-term solutions that, we feel, result in institutionalized poverty. It's the old adage, if you want to help someone, teach them how to fish-don't drop a bucket of fish on their doorstep and then, never come back again. 64