IWA is pleased to announce that the winner of the prestigious IWA Global Water Award 2022 is Mrs Nisha Mandani, of Our Aim Foundation, based in the USA. The prize was officially awarded during the Opening Ceremony of the IWA World Water Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark.

IWA’s Global Water Award shines a light on truly outstanding contributions to the water profession and to the world at large. A diverse judging panel evaluated extremely impressive contributions received from around the world.

In deciding to recognise the achievements of Mrs Mandani, the judges noted that she demonstrates “an outstanding profile with clear vision and leadership on the water sector, generating important impacts for vulnerable communities”. They recognised her work as a significant contribution to the provision of water and sanitation across many countries.

Mrs Mandani was born in India, where she experienced first-hand the crippling poverty and prejudice that affects much of the nation. She established Our AIM Foundation 13 years ago to serve as a beacon of light for thousands of vulnerable communities across the Globe. Providing clean water and sanitation facilities is one of Our Aim’s core missions.

Under Mrs Mandani’s leadership, Our AIM Foundation has to date built over 2,000 water and sanitation facilities across Africa and South Asia. Over 300 donors, partners and volunteers have invested time, knowledge, and resources to make this dream a reality.

Among the recognition already received, Mrs Mandani is a twice-recipient of lifetime achievement awards from the President of the United States.

Nisha Mandani, Global Water Award 2022 Winner

About Nisha Mandani

Nisha Mandani is the founder & CEO of Our AIM Foundation. She is a philanthropic leader, entrepreneur, and educator who tirelessly serves the less fortunate, particularly those living in multi-generational poverty in remote communities.

Nisha earned a Master’s degree in Special Education from Adelphi University, Long Island, NY. For over a decade, she served as an educator for the New York City Board of Education. Mrs Mandani is a proud recipient of the “Golden Choice Award”, a twice-recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from the President of the United States, the Point of Light Award from the White House, “Businesswoman of the Year” by the Indo-US Chamber of Commerce, and has received many more letters of support and recognition from various government officials.

Nisha’s journey into the water and sanitation sector began 10 years ago in Malawi when she observed a 3-year-old child drinking from a dirty puddle because he did not have access to drinking water.

Today, the foundation she leads has constructed over 2,000 water and sanitation facilities across the globe which has impacted 4,000,000+ marginalised individuals. Additionally, Mrs Mandani recruits donors and well-wishers to invest in clean water and sanitation projects and spreading the awareness of the needs and making sure to direct over 95% of donations received to the beneficiaries.

Mrs Mandani personally visits every one of her initiatives and has gathered hundreds of volunteers who are driving forces in the water, health, education and other essential sectors. Hundreds of boreholes, solar hand pumps, restrooms, washing stations, showers for women, etc. are inaugurated annually in remote villages of Africa, South Asia and many refugee camps. Under Mrs Mandani’s leadership, the Our AIM foundation was recently awarded the “Most Empowering Remote Community Support Organisation 2022 – East Africa” award by the UK Acquisition International.

Nisha, through her foundation work, actively complements many governmental and international organisation’s policies in addition to lighting the work of public services. She has made Water & Sanitation one of the core missions of the AIM foundation as she believes clean water is a fundamental right of every community and it has the power to transform lives. None of the other aspects of community development are possible without access to clean water and sanitation.

The IWA Global Water Award 2022 Judging Panel

• The members of the influential and diverse 2022 Global Water Award Judging Panel were:
• Johannes Lohaus, European Water Association & German Water Association, Germany
• Jennifer J. Sara, World Bank Group, USA
• Osward M Chanda, African Development Bank, Côte d’Ivoire
• Neeta Pokhrel, Asian Development Bank, Philippines
• Xia Huang, Tsinghua University, China
• Prof. Z. Jason Ren, Princeton University, USA
• Morten Riis, Grundfos, Denmark
• Peter Simpson, Anglian Water Services, UK
• David Flinton, Xylem, US
• Oriana Romano, OECD, France
• Jennifer Rebeiro, Greater Western Water, Australia
• Helmut Kroiss, Technische Universität Wien, Austria