In 2014 as the Flint water crisis unfolded, water organizations in the Great Lakes and beyond, including River Network, had to face hard questions. As a people-centric organization with a mission to help watershed groups build their skills, why weren’t we doing more to support groups in Flint and other places struggling with access to clean, safe, and affordable drinking water?

“I felt like River Network had this great potential. I’d been to River Rally. I saw the community, I really respected the knowledge, the skill building. And on the other hand, they were completely absent from what was the biggest water moment of the decade.”

-Jumana Vasi, River Network Board Member and former program officer at CS Mott Foundation

We began soul searching. It would take a few years (read more about this period and the evolution of the Board Diversity Working Group in our Internal timeline below), but by the release of our 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, drinking water emerged as one of the four key issues that guide River Network’s programming, we hired staff dedicated to drinking water work, and we regularly convene peer cohorts and discussions to share learnings and empower local leaders, including those still fighting in Flint.