Our Esteemed Advisers

If you are, or know, a faith leader who would like to be a part of our advisory team, please let us know. Faiths for Safe Water welcomes all.


Rabbi Jack Bemporad, FSW co-founder; Executive Director, Center for Interreligious Understanding (New Jersey) and Director, The John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Rome)

The Very Reverend Dr. James A. Kowalski, Dean, The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine (New York)

The Most Reverend Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, Armenian Church of America and past President, National Council of Churches (Washington, DC)

Laila Muhammad, African-American Muslim Church leader and daughter of W.D. Muhammad (Chicago)

Rinchen Dharlo, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama of the Americas and President of the Tibet Fund (New York)

Rev. Dr. Katharine Henderson, President Emeritus, Auburn Seminary (New York)

Rev. Jennifer Crumpton, author/blogger, Park Avenue Christian Church (New York)

Imam Mohamed Magid, Executive Director, All Dulles Area Muslim Society; Past President, Islamic Society of North America (Washington, DC) 

Rev. Dr. Galen Guengerich, Senior Minister, All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church (New York)

Rev. Fletcher Harper, Executive Director, Greenfaith (New Jersey)

Imam Abdullah Antepli, Chaplain, Duke University (North Carolina)

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, Founder and President, Uri L'Tzedek Orthodox social justice (Arizona)

Rev. Brian D. McLaren, Christian author/speaker/leader, emerging church movement (Florida)

Rev. Cameron Trimble, Director/Convergence and CEO/Center for Progressive Renewal (Atlanta)

Rabbi Burt Visotzky, Jewish Theological Seminary (New York)

Rev. Al Bailey, New Psalmist Baptist Church, Faith in Water, (Baltimore) 

Sr. Mary Bellekom, Faith in Water,  (Bristol, UK)

Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Lewis, Senior Pastor, Middle Collegiate Church (New York)

Rev. Dr. Alice Hunt, Executive Director, American Academy of Religion (Atlanta)

Rabbi Ari Hart, Co-Founder, Uri L'Tzedek Orthodox social justice (New York)

Lisa Sharon Harper, author and founder, Freedom Road LLC (Philadelphia)

Mary Louise Stubbs, Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, directs the community's International Project Services office (Detroit); member of the committee for WASH in health care facilities under the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (Rome)


Susan Barnett, Founder, Faiths for Safe Water: An Emmy-nominated investigative journalist (ABC News magazines Prime Time Live, 20/20, and Dateline NBC), Susan now consults with a diverse ranges of nonprofits and leadership on advocacy through media/communications as founder of Cause Communications. She is deeply committed to global health and development, heading communications for Faith in Foreign Assistance, and Global Water 2020. So moved by the global water crisis as the linchpin to solving the world's biggest problems, she thought it only made sense to create Faiths for Safe Water, a nexus for faith-in-action around the single symbol shared by all religions. She is easily reached at [email protected]

Special THANKS to our fiscal sponsor, H2O for Life, an impressive service-learning nonprofit that offers FREE curriculum and support to students across North America, raising awareness about the global water crisis and taking action to provide funds for a water, sanitation, and hygiene education project for a partner school in the developing world. Over the past 10 years 550,000 US students have participated in H2O for Life service learning projects. These US students have raised 3.2 million dollars which has been matched by our implementing partners for a total impact of 6.4 million dollars to provide safe water and sanitation for over 295,000 students in the developing world.