Newman's Own Foundation Renews Grant For $4 Million

Newman’s Own Foundation is expanding its funding of Safe Water Network with a $4 million grant in support of catalyzing sector implementers to adopt a market-based approach to community water supply. The project focuses on building the evidence base for a market-based approach, developing the tools for other organizations to apply the approach, improving the technical assistance skills to help other organizations adopt the approach, and communicating the results. This program, complemented by an ambitious expansion of Safe Water Stations, will help enable ~1.2 million people in Ghana and India access safe water by 2019. This commitment continues the long-standing relationship between Newman’s Own Foundation and Safe Water Network. 

Safe Water Network was founded in 2006 by Paul Newman and a group of civic and business leaders. Over the last nine years, with extensive support from Newman’s Own Foundation, Safe Water Network has developed a sustainable market-based approach that reliably supplies access to treated water for small towns and peri-urban communities in Ghana and India. The key components of the model, including local sourcing of water, local ownership, operation, and maintenance, and an active consumer base have ensured the success of the model. Past funding from the Foundation, almost $8 million, has enabled Safe Water Network to build the systems and organizational infrastructure to expand operations, improve communications, and diversify its funding. “Newman’s Own Foundation has been a catalytic funder of Safe Water Network since its inception,” says Kurt Soderlund, CEO of Safe Water Network. 

Safe Water Network’s long-term objective is to define and demonstrate an approach for sustainable community water supply that can be adopted and replicated by other, larger implementing organizations. “Clean water access is key to the improvement of lives and empowerment of communities,” says Robert Forrester, President and CEO of Newman’s Own Foundation. “We feel privileged to be able to continue our support of Safe Water Network and its critical work in building a model that can be replicated wherever the need exists.”