IWA Young Leadership Award

The IWA Young Leadership Award is granted to an exceptional water professional age 35 or younger who has demonstrated significant achievements in his/her career. The awardee has demonstrated outstanding leadership potential and the ability to play a large and influential role in the water industry in the future.

Throughout the two-year tenure as Young Leadership Award holder, he/she takes also the office of Young Leadership Ambassador for the International Water Association and the IWA Young Water Professionals Community.

2020 / 2021

20 APR

1st Nomination deadline

28 MAY

top 5 candidates selected

21 JUN

Full submission deadline

24 AUG

Winner notification

MAY 2021

Award ceremony at

#WorldWaterCongress

Nominations are open to everyone, but the nominee must meet the Eligibility Criteria. All applications are made on a confidential basis. Nominations must be submitted via the IWA’s platform.

How to Submit a Nomination

Round 1:

Nominator needs to prepare the template
Nominator and Nominee – Ensure they are 35 or below
A Motivation (300- max 500 words) – explaining why your nominee should win the award, addressing all judging criteria.
A Biography of the nominee (150 words) – describing the nominee
Go to IWA Awards platform and submit before

Round 2:

Detailed description – 1200 word limit addressing the judging criteria (as sections)
Biography – 150 words
Attach documents (max 3) that proof the achievement of the criteria (newspaper, an article, a link to a website, a project report, one letter of reference focusing on addressing judging criteria)
Two photos (high Resolution)

6 April 2020

Criteria

For the Young Leadership Award the following judging criteria apply:

Vision (25%) – The individual works towards contributing to the water sector and sustainable development and sets goals that are beyond him/herself.

Initiative (25%) – The individual has taken initiative and responsibility to contribute to sustainable water management and practices by developing new ideas and or opening new possibilities and opportunities

Motivator (25%) – There is evidence of (voluntary) work/ projects that demonstrates how the individual has motivated (a broad group of) professionals within or beyond the water sector and across disciplines to act towards achieving a common goal and positions the individual as a role model among peers and the wider community.

Impact to water sector (25%) – The individual has made an impact with his/her work to influence the water (related) sector – professionals, practices, solutions

Nomination process

1st Round Nominations – 20 April
First-round submissions will comprise a biography and 500 word motivation on why you think this young water professional needs to win the award.

Top 5 Candidates Selection – 28 May
The judges will assess all submissions and pick the top 5 candidates for full submission.

2nd Round of Nomination – Full Submission Deadline – 21 June

Winner will be informed – Second half of September

Award Ceremony at IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition – May 2021

Award winners will be announced at the President’s dinner during the IWA World Water Congress and Exhibition and be announced during the Congress.

Eligibility

The YLA is open to water (related) sector professionals who are 35 years or younger and is open for public nominations*. Nominees can both be members and non-members of the IWA.

*Self-nomination is not allowed.

THE PRIZE

The Young Leadership Award receives a trophy and certificate at The IWA World Water Congress & Exhibition – in front of an audience of water leaders from around the world. She or he will be introduced to IWA Leadership Committees (IWA Board, Strategic Council, Governing Member Committees, Emerging Water Leaders Steering Committee) during the President’s Dinner before the start of the World Water Congress & Exhibition.

It is an extraordinary opportunity to be profiled and introduced to the IWA network and being known as the IWA Young Leadership Award Winner 2020 forever. The position of IWA Young Leader Ambassador, throughout a tenure of 2 years. encourages more young water professionals to get to know the IWA, and understand its opportunities. A personalised IWA induction, invitations as Inspirational Speaker during the opening of the International Young Water Professionals Conference, the option of joinning the Emerging Water Leaders Committee meetings and represent IWA YWP community at (IWA) Water related events worldwide are some of the highlights that are part of the IWA Young Leadership Award.

Past Awardees

2018 IWA Young Leadership Award

Jacob Kwasi Amengor is the winner of the IWA Young Leadership Award 2018. As Assistant Water Quality Officer at Ghana Water, Jacob Amengor combines academic, professional and personal achievements to emerge as the most exemplary role model of his generation, a promising individual motivated to empower young water professionals within and beyond Africa.

Professionally he is an Assistant Water Quality Assurance Officer, where he is responsible for the water quality operations at Kpeve Headworks. In 2015, Jacob brought a group of young people together to start the Water Satellite Programme with the objective of sensitizing people on best practices in water and sanitation. As a result of his continuous passion in the Water Sector, he was selected as a Young Water Fellow by the Young Water Solutions and he has been equipped with both technical skills and funding to help accelerate access to clean water and sanitation in rural communities with an entrepreneurial approach.

Jacob served as the first General Secretary of the Water and Sanitation Students’ Association of Ghana. He has also been instrumental in forming the IWA Young Water Professional Chapter in Ghana and voluntarily serves as its Co-Chair. Jacob volunteers as a content creator for Siro 360 (media website), where he writes articles on environmental sustainability. He loves to mentor, inspire and motivate young people to find solutions to challenges existing in the water sector because he believes that the successful realization of the Sustainable Development Goals depends on the abilities of young people.

Jacob has secured a land as a first step of achieving his vision of setting up a water research and management institute that will focus on carrying out research studies, training young professionals on varied areas within the water sector, organizing professional development courses and engaging industries and policy makers to implement the outcomes of research studies for the sustainable development of the water and sanitation sector in Africa. Ultimately, Jacob wants to see an Africa, where access to clean water and sanitation is no longer a reserve for the privileged few; rather, a human right realised for all regardless of place, class and status.

IWA Young Professionals Awardees

2018 ▩ Jacob Kwasi Amengor, Ghana

2016 ▩ Rianna Gonzales, Trinidad and Tobago

2014 ▩ Inga Jacobs, South Africa

2012 ▩ Norhayati Binti Abdullah, Malaysia

2010 ▩ Rita Henderson, Australia

2008 ▩ Enrique Cabrera, Spain

2006 ▩ How Yong Ng, Singapore

2004 ▩ Till Merkel, Germany

2002 ▩ Daniel Deere, Australia

2001 ▩ Lin Wang, China

2000 ▩ Matthias Maier, Germany

1999 ▩ Urs von Gutten, Switzerland