Dr Nick Hepworth to begin a new chapter after more than 17 years leading Water Witness
After 17 years leading Water Witness, our founder and CEO, Dr Nick Hepworth, has stepped down from his role to take up a new research position at University of Edinburgh.
Nick founded Water Witness with a determination to stand alongside people at the sharp end of the global water crisis, expose its root causes and help deliver lasting change.
Under his leadership, Water Witness has grown from its beginnings in east Africa, into an international organisation with a head office in Edinburgh, Scotland, and teams and partners across Africa and beyond.
His research and advocacy work has helped bring water justice into debates about climate change, global supply chains and corporate responsibility.
Nick also co-founded the Alliance for Water Stewardship, whose international standard is now used by major global companies, and authored the Glasgow Declaration for Fair Water Footprints.
Water Witness subsequently helped shape the £39 million Just Transition for Water Security programme announced by the UK Government at COP28.
Going forward, Water Witness will adopt a shared leadership model.
The new Water Witness leadership team is:
Lexi Parfitt, Executive Director (Public and Political Engagement)
Charles Wight, Executive Director (Research and Policy)
Dorcas Pratt, Executive Director (Operations and Impact)
Helen Greene, Executive Director (Corporate Services)
Although stepping down as CEO, we are grateful that Nick will remain part of the Water Witness story. He will continue to contribute his expertise, learning and relationships in a strategic capacity, supporting the organisation’s mission and future development.
On leaving, Nick said:
“Having founded Water Witness as a Scottish charity almost two decades ago, it has always been my ambition to build an organisation that one day thrives without me and that continues to grow and find ever more effective ways to tackle the global climate and water emergencies.
We have an exceptional team delivering outstanding work, a committed and experienced Board of Trustees, and a highly capable and trusted Senior Leadership Team. Together, these foundations make it the right time to evolve our leadership model, while enabling me to pursue new challenges in my own career and to support Water Witness in new ways.”
We are enormously grateful to Nick for the vision and conviction with which he has led Water Witness!
His contribution has helped establish the organisation as a respected voice for a fairer and more water-secure world, as well as building a strong foundation for the work still to be done.
Go well Nick, and thank you!