529: Ending the Cycle of Poverty with Safe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene with Shilpa Alva

What can we do to help end the cycle of poverty in the world?

In this compelling episode, host Nicole Jansen sits down with Shilpa Alva, founder and executive director of Surge For Water. Committed to breaking the cycle of poverty, Shilpa shares how her organization delivers safe water, sanitation, hygiene, and menstrual health solutions to communities worldwide. Through her inspiring journey from management consulting to non-profit leadership, Shilpa demonstrates the significant impact of investing in fundamental human needs and championing women's voices.

Discover how prioritizing clean water and effective sanitation solutions can lift entire communities out of poverty. Shilpa's story of leaving a successful corporate career to pursue her passion offers valuable insights for anyone looking to make a meaningful difference in the world.

Key Takeaways

• The crucial link between water, sanitation, and poverty reduction.
• The impact of empowering women in community-centric projects.
• The logistical and emotional aspects of transitioning to a purpose-driven career.
• The importance of partnerships with local organizations for sustainable change.
• Overcoming fear and taking courageous steps towards your passion.
• Understanding the sacrifices and rewards involved in social entrepreneurship.
• The power of daily rituals to maintain focus and drive.
• Why team engagement and celebration are critical in sustaining growth and impact.
• How to contribute to Surge For Water's mission or identify your own path for social impact.

Podcast Timestamps

0:00 - Safe Water and Sanitation Impact

4:19 - Global Water Crisis: A Worldwide Issue

7:50 - From Corporate Ladder to Social Purpose

13:23 - Embracing Minimalism: Leaving Corporate Life

15:41 - Crab Mentality and Breaking Through

18:55 - Excellence Even When Departing

22:16 - Togetherness, Inspiration, and Rituals

25:11 - Rediscovering Motivation and Purpose

28:55 - Inspire Action, Explore Possibilities

Favorite Quotes

Commitment & Courage: “The fear is just this little thing, and you can get over it... It's this ripple effect.”

Passion with Purpose: “Do something that you're really passionate about because it's going to be necessary to fuel you during those difficult years.”

Episode Resources: https://leadersoftransformation.com/podcast/health/529-ending-poverty-with-safe-water-sanitation-and-hygiene-with-shilpa-alva 

 

Check out our complete library of episodes and other leadership resources here: https://leadersoftransformation.com

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the leaders of transformation podcast. The number one
show for business leaders and entrepreneurs passionate about uplifting
others and making a greater impact in the world. Now here's
your host, transformational coach, speaker, and business
advisor, Nicole Jansen.

(00:21):
How can we help end the cycle of poverty around the world? Our guest
today is Shilpa Alva. She is the founder and executive director of
Surge For Water, which invests in communities with safe
water, sanitation, hygiene, and menstrual health solutions to
help end the cycle of poverty. Surge has actually
impacted over a 1000000 people through programs and water solutions in

(00:43):
community schools and health centers, as well as creating 2,000
field jobs. She's formally a management
consultant. She left her high paying job to use her leadership skills for greater
good. And today, we're gonna talk about her initiative, how she
made the leap, and what she's learned. And how even if you wanna
get involved, how you can get involved, or how you can find something

(01:06):
that you love in a way that you wanna you can make a difference in
the world as well. So, Shelper, welcome to the leaders of transformation. We're glad you're
here. Thanks for having me, Nicole. My pleasure. Well, tell us a
little bit more about surge and what you do there. I
know initially it's like surge for water, but you do more than just
provide clean water solutions. Yeah, absolutely. So,

(01:27):
yeah, the primary focus is water. But when you think about water, right,
it affects so many areas of life. So we always say
that by investing in safe water solutions, you're
truly, like, impacting the overall well-being of a
community, right, starting with education, jobs. So that's
income, infrastructure. And as well as thinking

(01:50):
about water, when you think about like how illness is spread, you need to
have decent toilets because there are situations in the world
where the most situation in the world right now is over 4,000,000,000
people don't have access to a toilet, like a decent toilet,
a safe toilet. So, you know, for us, it's water and
sanitation, and that's primarily toilets in schools and healthcare facilities.

(02:12):
And then when you consider the, again, the holistic angle of
it, what happens when you leave a toilet? When you're gonna you know,
hand washing, like, we recently had a global pandemic and the
biggest way to stop the spread was washing hands with soap, and 3,000,000,000
people don't have a way to wash their hands, right, with proper way to wash
their hands with soap because they're either lacking the water or the soap.

(02:34):
So again, water, sanitation, hygiene work really well
holistically together when you can provide all of those solutions. And
then because of Surge's focus on the girl
and woman, that's how we center all of our solutions. We're a woman led
organization, but that's not meaning just me. It's
also ensuring that we listen and we

(02:56):
learn from the women and the girls in our community. And when you do
something like that, you very, very quickly understand that
menstruation is a big part of this overall, like, water sanitation
hygiene situation. So that's the 4th pillar of our work where
we've ensured that girls, adolescent girls, have the
education, resources, and just overall, like,

(03:18):
dignity to have their cycles in a way that can be
managed and doesn't, like, limit them from achieving things that
13, 14 year old girl needs to achieve. So that's what we do.
We work in rural remote communities around the world. We're typically
the only NGO working in a sustained way in
partnership with a local organization and the local government,

(03:40):
really helping them achieve their vision for those communities. So we're
not coming in with our mandates of like, you need this many wells
or toilets, really listening to them, centering women's
voices, and through that, serving the entire community with these
solutions. So now you're right now are based in Dubai or that's where at least
you're where you are right now. And you go to different countries, so maybe talk

(04:02):
about that. So it's Haiti, Uganda, Philippines Indonesia.
Indonesia. Yeah. So those are very different
markets. How did you start this maybe back up and let's talk about how you
launched this initiative and how you ended up in those particular countries or chose
those particular countries to focus on? Well, I always tell people when you're
talking about 1,000,000,000 of people impacted by this global

(04:25):
crisis, you can kinda work in most parts of the world because there is an
issue. I mean, even the United States has an issue. I'm in Dubai right now.
It's one of the most water stressed countries in the world or cities, but
there's finances that don't make it an issue. So there
is a global water crisis, and people are impacting different ways, and you can
see it through climate change and the aquifer is drying off and

(04:46):
rivers drying up, but, you know, the issues we hear about in the United States
as well. But for us, it was we've worked in 12 countries,
first of all. So, like, not being in 3, you're actually quite active, only in
3 at this moment, Indonesia, Haiti, and Uganda. It was really about
identifying partners that align with us from a values perspective,
working in environments where we were needed and where we

(05:09):
could have stable governments and, you know, just open
mindedness for a true partnership versus it being
something that's one way. Like, we really believe in this sort of this hand to
hand partnership. Other things that come into play, we respect all
religions, but we don't our work is not evangelical, so that's really important. So
making sure that even if the partner that we're working with could be a religious

(05:31):
org, that we're serving everybody because we really truly believe that water is
for everyone, not because you're a certain faith or a belief system, and it shall
not be used to convert anybody. So it's like once we started to think
about the values of how we want to work, that helped
us, like, hone into finding the right partners. I wouldn't
say it was so much about the countries, was more about the partnerships that we

(05:53):
were able to find in those rural communities because so many countries
need water. So it's like when you have the right people on the ground
working with us and being on representation and us being theirs, that's the
magic. That's where we found the way to actually grow and
scale. Yeah. So how did you get into this in the first
place? I mean, you left a big paying job, management

(06:15):
consulting. I think you were based in the US at the time.
And this is a big shift. And I know you kinda did a gradual transition
where you're kinda doing both for a little while. So maybe talk about that
that process, why and how you did it. Well being in Dubai right
now, I want to start the story there. Like, I was born here and
I grew up here, and every summer from like 8 months old

(06:37):
till teenage years, we'd go to India and we'd be with my
grand grand grandmother because that was childcare. And at a very
young age, I recognized that I was privileged,
that I had the ability I would say ability because you don't
know what I had at 7 years old, but I had more. Right? I had
just more things and pretty dresses, and we got to travel in air conditioned

(06:59):
cars. And I noticed on the streets of Mumbai that other children my age
didn't have that. So from a very young age, I understood with my
own eyes that there was injustice, but didn't know how to solve it. I knew
there was something wrong. So fast forward, when I was in university, I
moved to the United States. I studied in Baltimore. It was my first time
coming to the US. And in my junior year of college, when most people,

(07:21):
like, get internships, I convinced my Indian parents that I needed to go and
volunteer in a village in India. And I managed to do it as like an
academic credit thing. And when I was in this village in India, my job was
to teach English and math. And very early on on that
assignment, I noticed that the children were not coming to school and it was
always related to something to do with water. It was either water

(07:42):
related illness or it was a farming community and they didn't have water
for the farms. It was associated to when the government would bring tankers for
water. And then, you know, the local hospital had very unsanitary
conditions and that would make illnesses spread faster.
And I started to realize that it was water was
so fundamental to everything that a community needs. So that's the

(08:04):
foundation of Surge, although the organization hadn't started. I moved back to
the US after that for a few months, 3 month assignment, graduate
university, and go and get a corporate job, right? I was working in
supply chain. I moved into management consulting and
I was moving very fast up that corporate ladder, and I was enjoying it. I
was living the life, having a lot of money at a young age and traveling

(08:27):
the world at a global role, which is super exciting in your twenties,
manage global teams. And I'm really fortunate, Nicole, that
my 7 year old, like people talk about that inner child, right? That 7 year
old in me that understood what injustice was like, never stayed
silent and really was like, Hey, you're not doing what you're
supposed to do. You have a different purpose in life and you need to

(08:49):
do that in whatever capacity, in whatever way. So when I finally heard
that voice that led to the founding of Surge, but even
once I started Surge, I started Surge in 2,008, I only left the
corporate world in 2014. So there was a long period, you're right,
that I was doing your nights and weekends. And there were multiple reasons. You know,
I'm an immigrant in the U. S, so I couldn't leave the job. You can't

(09:11):
stay in the country without it. So there's that logistical reason. But I will tell
you the bigger reason was fair. You have a stable income. And
also, I was raised in a way that I needed to be CEO. It was
a very And in the corporate world, I'm a CEO now, but in a different
world, right? So it wasn't a career possibility or an
opportunity that I would have ever considered. So it was a lot of

(09:33):
the cultural part of it, how I was raised, what I thought
my opportunities were, and then of course, my own security. And then just
insecurities, right, that you have in general. I think there's a lot of
people that can relate to that. We have that inner child, we see something,
but we don't act upon it because fear
creeps in. And it's like we need to go do the thing that

(09:56):
everybody else it's kinda like get the good education, get the good job, get the
high paying job, make the money and all that. And that's why I think there's
so many people that are empty inside and longing because
imagine if even just like 20% of people
who actually had a dream and a desire to do something that would make
a difference in the world actually did it, what we could accomplish. I mean,

(10:18):
it's pretty 10%. Shoot. It would be extraordinary.
So in that process, I'd love to hear a little bit about, from a
practical standpoint, how you managed it. Right? So here you are. You've got a
global position. You're busy. You've got lots of
commitments because this is one of the things that you hear as an objection.
As a coach myself, people say, yeah, but I don't have time. I love to

(10:40):
do this, but I don't have the money. I don't have the resources
or I don't have the time. And so you were somehow able to
figure that out. Talk a little bit about how you were able to manage both
of those things. And that probably meant there's a lot of sleepless nights. But
I was just gonna say, when I talk about this part of my story, I
always recommend it's like, you know, don't do this at home. Yeah. When you see

(11:01):
those mornings, that should be the disclaimer first. But I mean, there were
years I probably slept 3 to 4 hours a night. And I was younger then
and I was able to do it. We're invincible. We're in our twenties. It's like
we can just do whatever. Yeah, absolutely. And it's crazy. I think I was
just so driven and the fire in me was so strong that I just kept
going and I just and there was a period in my life. It wasn't just

(11:22):
that I was working full time. My job was had my corporate job required
international travel. I was doing my MBA part time and I
was in this public policy fellowship and that's when I started Surge. It was
all happening together. And on top of that, like a very crazy,
very full social life. And when I look back at it, I mean, everything happens
for a reason and that needed to happen to get me to where I am

(11:43):
today, but I don't recommend that same process for anybody, but
that's what happened for me. And I think eventually, I think it was my
dad who was like, you're never going to achieve anything of significance if
you spread so thin. You need somebody to call you out. Because it was, I
was breaking at points where you'll miss things, you don't show up somewhere, or
something's gonna break when you're doing that much. Nothing significant happened to me

(12:05):
physically, emotionally. All of that was fine. So I'm really blessed, and I'm grateful for
that. But I think that that message of look at every leader
at that point. I mean, my the leaders I aspire to be now is different
from back then. I'm in very much of a corporate mindset still because it was
in the corporate place, but they focused on one thing and they went in it
fully. And I think once I started to understand that I could not do

(12:26):
anything to everything. And if I did, I wasn't going to do it in a
way that was great, that I've accomplished something. That was when
I had the first spark of, like, I need to transition out of it. Then
you get to the part of, like, okay, how am I gonna afford to do
this? So the time part don't I didn't sleep. But then the practical
part of how I can afford to do this or, like, just even change my

(12:46):
life. I mean, the first thing that I did was trying to bring my family
and friends along because that was my original tribe. I mean, they still
are very much my tribe. But, like, just have the people who love me and
care about me know that I'm serious about them and kind of hold me accountable.
And I remember by the end, a really good friend of mine was like, You've
been talking about this for 2 to 3 years. You need to do something. So
people hold you accountable. Like if they know, but, you know, and the other

(13:10):
people were like, Hey, just do it for a few years and get out of
your system. So there's many people who had different opinions, but it all
helped because I had that network of support. And then the financial
angle was probably the one that I took the most sacrifice for. When I
knew I was going to leave the corporate world was when I decided, okay, if
I need to stop living this kind of life I'm living, buying all the designer

(13:30):
clothes, going out the way. I moved out of my apartment, put everything in storage,
right? I did a lot of things. I didn't have a place to live in
for many years. And in between, I had places to live with friends
and family and things, but so I was very fortunate and I just made a
life change, realized I didn't need all this stuff. I had lived out of the
few things I had not put in storage for a very long time and I

(13:51):
just made the sacrifices. And in the end, I don't even think of it as
a sacrifice because what I got was so much more. And what I always say
to people is I had the privilege to do this because I
was did not have any significant had no
financial, like, obligations besides supporting myself, besides living
with family and friends. I really wanted to do it on my own, so I

(14:11):
didn't take money from anyone. And I also did do it in a way as
a founder of this organization, a founder of Surge, I invested
my own money to go into all the communities we were in and to build
the operations because there was no funding to do that. So not only did I
have no income, I used a lot of my savings to help set up the
org. So a lot of myself, my money, passion,

(14:33):
energy, sleepless nights went into the beginnings of it. I mean, it's paid
off a 100 times more. But I think once you understand that
the fear is just this little thing and you can get over it, it just
catapults. It's just this ripple in the water world. I could say that, the
ripple that just keeps growing. And that's what happened. Yeah. Well,
and there's a conviction that you had to have had to do it. Right?

(14:54):
Like you said, there was a fire, there was a passion, there was something burning
inside of you. And I think there's a really important lesson there is
like, don't just do something that you're lukewarm about. But do
something find something that you're really passionate
about because it's gonna be necessary to
fuel you during those difficult years when

(15:16):
or difficult seasons or however long it takes or challenges
in terms of energy when you're tired, energy when you're you know, things
aren't going the way you want it to go. People say no or whatever or
don't support you. And I think there's a great lesson. What I also heard in
that was association is associating with people
that will hold you accountable, that will challenge you

(15:38):
to step up and do the thing that you're called to. And we are who
we associate with. And so if we're around a bunch of people go, oh,
you don't wanna do that. Why don't you just come hang out with us? Then
which I think a lot of people find themselves around
and struggle because they've got this big dream, but it's like that crab
mentality. It's like, no, just stay here with us and just keep doing the

(16:01):
same old thing. Whether that's in corporate at, you know, a high
level or somebody who's not as successful and just starting out or
whatever, It happens that you can get very comfortable in
your associations and in that environment and get
stuck there. Then there's like that person is that story of the crabs. Right? It's
like the one that says, no, I'm gonna climb out and I'm gonna do it

(16:22):
whatever it takes. So was there a defining moment where you were
like, I don't know if I wanna keep going and I'm just
tired, but there was maybe something that pushed you through that
because I think it's like that breakdown, you know, the breakdown before the breakthrough when
you're like Yeah. I know you know because it always hap there's we
all go through it. Yeah. So there wasn't a single defining

(16:44):
moment. I think it just kept building up because I am also
very practical. I used to be much more, especially coming from that
engineering corporate sort of background. But I think what started
to happen is I was using all my vacation and my free time
to go into the communities and work with the partners and, like, build
infrastructure and then go back into the corporate world. And I would say that what

(17:06):
started to happen, and I'm really into just reading energy and just being very
sensitive to energy around me. And I started to not have the
energy for the corporate side of things because while I could do it all
physically and mentally, emotionally, it was being tugged in very
different directions. So I would say it wasn't authentic to me to be
doing the work I was doing in his management consulting. And I wasn't doing bad

(17:28):
things. It was just the job that I was doing, but then the excitement and
the passion and the drive that I got from the other side and what was
happening was it was draining. So it goes back to that breakdown
part because when you know you're not being authentic to yourself. And then again, I
had the privilege and the luxury to be able to walk away from that. Not
everyone does. A lot of people need to live this life for the paycheck. So
I think that was it, like with the energies not aligning, like where my heart

(17:52):
was, it was very obvious that was in the daytime role, in the
corporate role. And so I really just started doing less and less in that
space while I was fully employed. And even then, it was really
interesting. I tried to quit multiple times. Every
time they were like, Oh, we'll pay you more. You know? The very last time
the company I was at was like, Okay, leave for 2 months on a

(18:14):
sabbatical. We'll pay you fully. Because that was the like, get it out of your
system kind of thing. And I was like, I don't think it's going to get
out of my system. It's only going to get stronger. And that's what happened. But
they were willing to invest in that just to try in case I'd want to
come back. So it was a whole process. Like now, it just
seems like I can talk about it so easily, but it was definitely a lot
of reflection. And and also, to me, I didn't have the meditation

(18:36):
practices then that I have now, but I think I've always been a very reflective
inner child, that voice, that little spark or whatever it is, and
just paying attention to them in the quiet moments and when the life is not
happening to you and you take control of your life. Yeah. There's something else

(18:56):
that I wanna pull out of there as well is
that for you to have been offered more money to stay,
that tells me that you were still operating even
if your heart wasn't in it the way it was before, but you were
still giving your all to the career
to the company that you were employed with and operating at a level

(19:18):
of excellence that would cause them to say, hey, we'll pay
you more. We'll pay for 2 months for you to get this out of your
system. Right? But, like, well, there's a lesson in there. Because
sometimes when we think about, like, I wanna go do something
else, we think in either or, like, I'm gonna put all of my
attention there, and I'm just gonna wait in the water here. But we're called to

(19:39):
actually do everything that we do with excellence. Because if you don't do it here,
then because if you
don't do it here, then that's also not being authentic to
yourself. So it's showing up. Like, I think about that with, you know, people that
are successful, people that make it. I know a lot of times people ask, like,
what is the difference between somebody who is successful? There's lots of
people that have thought about doing something similar,

(20:02):
but just didn't make it happen. Now there's many reasons why
that could be. But one of the things is just like in business and any
business, there's a difference of the way that people show
up and I'm listening to you. And I'm listening for behind the scenes
what's not being said as well, which is how you
actually showed up and played full out and committed yourself

(20:25):
to it. And I think there's a lesson in there because I think sometimes that
may be the first lesson is to say, hey, whatever you do, do it well.
And then it leads to the next thing that you can do well because
it's like how you do anything is how you do everything. Yeah. I fully resonate
with that, that, and I didn't think of it that way. But you're right. I
think it's just the work ethic I have, right? And it transfers to everything that

(20:45):
I do. Show up. I mean, perfectly, you need to show up and fulfill the
obligations you've made. Yes. Right? That's what it's about. So what are some of
the daily habits for you that help you to keep focused, to stay
motivated now that you have the organization is successful?
Obviously, you're still loving to do all of the things. You know, you had a
fundraiser, your most successful one. So congratulations on that.

(21:07):
But then you how do you get in the day to day? How do you
stay motivated, focused, and maintain your energy? You still
have a lot of commitments are just now all in one bucket, if you will.
Absolutely. Yeah. Our commitments are, you know, you're still running as a
founder, ED. You're still running every aspect of the organization. Right?
We're still growing, but we're still a small organization. And you're like the duck

(21:27):
on water and underneath the wheel, the legs
are going. Exactly. I would say that my biggest drive and my
motivation comes from our communities that we partner with. And
I'm going to Uganda on Thursdays, in a couple of days. And even when
I'm not in those communities, I'm in daily communication.
There's pictures, there's videos, there's conversations about challenges,

(21:50):
about successes. So I'm really deeply integrated with
what's happening and not from a micromanagement perspective, from a pure,
we have that relationship and they're sharing this and we have those
communication paths and vice versa. Like if I have a challenge or a joy,
I'm sharing that about the Surge structure and what's happening
in Chicago and Dubai. We just had the gala. We're sending them pictures and videos.

(22:12):
So it's just this beautiful relationship that I think we keep each other going and
motivated and we share. We talk about sharing successes, but also sharing challenges and crying
together and celebrating successes, but also sharing
challenges and crying together and celebrating together. So that's
amazing, amazing drive. Because if I'm tired, I just sort of pick up my
phone and look at my WhatsApp messages and there's a bunch of things to
motivate me. Beyond that, I am human and I need separation. And I actually,

(22:35):
because I'm so obsessed with what I'm doing with Surge and it really can be
all consuming, I have to make an effort to create rituals
and space. So for me, I'm going to obsessed with fine
Chinese teas and the whole tea ceremony and the ritual associated with that. So I
start every my mornings with an amazing cup of tea, and that's a very
special thing. And depending on where I am, in Chicago, I live

(22:57):
summer of the year, like it's a morning walk. I live across the street from
a park and don't start working until, like, you know, I've walked in the park
and, you know, it's been Pilates classes or yoga and just the
physical element because our emotions are held in our body. So
being able to release that, release that energy and that tension and that
stress. And then when there are spaces and time,

(23:18):
just the social connections and all of the other pieces. But for me, it's really
been the daily rituals of meditation, yoga, Pilates,
tea that have really helped ground me. I'm just walking
barefoot. It was this week, I was like feeling really, really not grounded
and nervous and like took my shoes off and walked on the ground. I just
connected to the earth and understanding. There's so much energy and power in

(23:40):
this world. We just have to sometimes listen for it and feel it, and
that helps as well. But whether, whatever religion, you know, you can do it through
God and through your religion, there's other ways, you know?
Whatever works for each person, understanding that we're not alone and
there is divine power in whatever that means to anybody.
Everyone has a different version of that, but also I feel very connected to that

(24:02):
larger force and that larger energy that just me going for sure because I'm not
doing this on my own. Oh my God. It's everywhere. It's funny because when people
say about struggle with scarcity, and that there's, let's say,
no opportunity around, or there's not enough or whatever, you look
around, you just look at nature and nature is abundant. And I was like, just
go take a walk in nature. And you'll see that there

(24:24):
is an abundance around you. And it just change
your perspective on it. So yeah. Well, and I think those daily
habits are so important. And I love what you said there about
the in the beginning when you're talking about the celebration and
motivation. So often we can get caught up in the day to
day that we forget the reason why we're doing it. And I was

(24:46):
telling a client recently that the testimonies, you know, like the
testimonials that you put on, they say it's for 3rd party
endorsements and all that. Sure. Okay. That works. Right? It's
helpful because people can see that you're making an impact. It's also for
you to go back and read your own testimonials
to remember when you're having those tough days, to remember that what you do

(25:08):
makes a difference. And I know that I've done that. And then sometimes
because you can be like, I'm not doing anything that that and whatever. And then
it's like you go back and you're like, oh, man, this story or wow, I
remember this. And that can give you that motivation or like you
said, celebrating those wins when you have a team is celebrating those wins.
Because just like as a founder and ED, you can get caught up in

(25:29):
the day to day, the work, the task of it, your team can
too. And so they need to be reminded all the time. This is
why we do what we do. This is why you're coming to work, you're not
coming to work because and you probably work with some volunteers as well. But regardless,
whether you're paid or not paid doesn't matter. Well, you're going there.
Why? Remember the why? That's so so important. As we finish

(25:49):
up, I wanna give you an opportunity to share with our audience
how people can get involved. And or if this is not it, I mean,
obviously, if they can find something to do, but there's a lot of great initiatives
out there. But if they were to get involved in your organization, or you're looking
at building your leadership team, you're looking at expanding. I
think you said that over last year to this year, 70% growth.

(26:12):
That's 70. That's a lot of growth. And so looking for people
that if this inspires them and they wanna get involved, yeah, they can start their
own thing. That's great. But why not help and work
within an organization? You can learn, you can grow, you can be mentored,
and maybe that becomes an incubator for something down
the road or whatever. But, yeah, talk about that. Yeah. I would go back to

(26:34):
the first thing you said, Nicole, which would be everybody should
find what's in that their heart and follow that. That's the most important of the
whole like, 10%. If 10% of the people in the world did it, I'm like,
I resonated with that so much. So first of all, whoever is listening to this,
find what it is for you. And if it happens to be woman led,
water, transforming communities through those solutions, then, yeah, reach

(26:56):
out. I know the show notes have my information, the organization's information.
We are actively recruiting for our governing board and as well as
our junior board, our associate board. So there are opportunities from
a leadership perspective. And then we also accept skill based
volunteers. So specific things that we would need, like graphic design, for
example. You know, there's other things that we have on our list. So that would

(27:18):
be the way to reach out to us. And, yeah, we can have a conversation
about how that could be. But larger picture, I would highly
recommend that everybody looks within it and finds what that is for
themselves. Yeah. And you just finished a fundraiser, and it
was very successful. Getting support is always welcome, I'm sure, at any
time of the year. So they can go to your website as well and

(27:41):
donate. So it's for larger organizations if they wanna support, but also
individuals, right, can support the organization. It is a nonprofit, so you
can go and donate there. Yes, absolutely. Please go to
our website and there's all the information. We accept crypto, DAF,
stock and we call it good old fashioned dollars as well. Yeah.
That sounds good. Well, Shilpa, thank you so much. I love your

(28:03):
heart and your passion and your focus. You know,
there's great lessons in this. And I know for you, it's like this is just
my story. This is what what I did. But there's so many lessons to be
able to pull out of that, which can help other people to who
wanna be leaders of transformation because it starts with who we're
being, right? Showing up as and then what we do. And then of course,

(28:24):
that creates results over time. You know, it's that diligence and that patience of
just forging through forging the path ahead. So I love
that. And I always say that leaders of transformation take action.
So as a leader of transformation, anybody who's listening out there or
aspiring to, I would encourage you, number 1, yes, it's in the show notes. I'll
give it to you now as well. Surgeforwater.org. Go check out

(28:46):
what Shilpa and her team are doing. And so you can see some of the
testimonies, some of the success stories, the impact that they're making, maybe that can
inspire you and what you wanna do. Maybe that can also inspire you that you
wanna take the next step in even getting involved or supporting what they're
doing. You know, maybe it's following them for a little while and just watching what
they're doing, getting on their newsletter, whatever that is, take action on something. And

(29:09):
then if you have something that inner child is reminding
you on a regular basis of something that you
wanted to do but you haven't done yet, you know what? To start off
with, grab a journal, start writing it down, start
go walk in nature, go get grounded. If you're feeling
frazzled and in your busyness of your day, go get quiet and

(29:31):
start journaling the idea down. It starts in your mind, then you
translate it down into paper or a computer screen,
and you start to explore the possibilities. Start to
explore the possibilities of what you can do to make a
greater impact in the world and leave a legacy for
generations to come. We'd love to hear your stories as you

(29:53):
do that, what you decide to do, or what you're maybe currently doing. You can
reach out to us, leaders of transformation.com, of course, our website,
all on social, whatever. We'd love to hear what you're doing. We'd love to hear
what you're planning to do. And if there's any way that we can support you
in that, we're here for you or we can point you in the right direction.
So thank you for being here at Sherpa. Again, thank you for being here.

(30:15):
And, yeah, we look forward to hearing all the things that are gonna come out
of this and look forward to seeing you next week on another episode
of the Leaders of Transformation. Thank you for listening to the Leaders of Transformation
podcast with Nicole Jansen. If you're enjoying this show, please
click the follow or subscribe button, and leave a rating and review
wherever you listen to your podcasts. And remember to join us

(30:38):
on social and get connected. Together, we can make this
world a better place for everyone. We'll see you next time.