Zach Fenster is currently VP of Business Development and previously Chief of Staff to the Chairman at Watergen, the revolutionary Israeli company bringing drinking water from air to people everywhere. Prior to that, Zach served in the Defense Ministry’s Coordination for Government Activities in the Territories unit, working directly with Israeli, Palestinian, and international governments and organizations in order to address critical civilian issues in the Territories. Zach previously served as deal-flow analyst at Sadara Ventures, and was the Founding Director of the Palestinian Internship Program (NGO). Zach is a graduate of Middlebury College (BA) and Tel Aviv University (MA

Andrea Guerrini is Member of the Board of ARERA, the Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment (www.arera.it), and President of WAREG, the Association of European Water Regulators (www.wareg.org).

From 2016 until his nomination in ARERA in August 2018, he was President of the Public Operator of the City of Livorno (www.asaspa.it).

Mr Guerrini is professor of Performance Management, Planning and Control in the Department of Business Economics at the University of Verona, where he has been researching and teaching water utilities and regulation. He is the author of numerous publications, including monographs and articles for international reviews. In 2014 he wrote a book on “Water management in Italy: Governance, Performance and Sustainability” and in 2018 a book on “Management of water services companies. An operational manual for management and control”.

He has been leading research projects financed by the EU, and was one of the founders of the Water Management and Technology Research Centre.

Prof. Guerrini has been drafting the tariff methodology for drinking water services for the City of Bolzano.

Michelle Harding has 30 years’ experience in the water infrastructure sector, mostly in pipe projects in Southern Africa; the largest being in Angola, valued at around $10m.

Michelle held various senior positions at local and international pipe manufacturers as well as some of the largest construction companies in Southern-Africa e.g. General Manager responsible for factories, Sales & Marketing Director, Business Development Director for Africa & Australia and Managing Director for Southern Africa & European listed pipe companies

She is passionate about finding and implementing business opportunities in Southern-Africa as a means to see the continent grow to its full potential.

After many years in listed national & international corporates, mostly number one in their respective sectors, she decided to establish an entrepreneurial company to explore business opportunities in water.

 She founded Legacy Water Solutions a few years ago, adding energy solutions & business analytics to the scope in the last year as it gained momentum in line with the Food-Water-Energy Nexus 

Legacy Water & Energy is focussed on the key sectors of Agriculture, Mining and Industrial.  

Michelle is married to John and has 2 sons that are married with children.          

Ms. Ayelet Karp, leads Israel’s Trade and Economic mission in Ghana and West Africa. Prior to her appointment in Ghana, Ayelet worked at the Ministry of Economy and Industry in the Strategic Planning Department, leading various projects aimed at enhancing innovation and growth of the Israeli manufacturing sector.

Ayelet is an Alumni of Israel’s prestige civil service cadets program, and holds a Master's degree in public policy as well as an BA in Psychology and Biology and MA in Synthetic Biology.

Rochi currently leads global partnerships for the 2030 Water Resources Group (2030 WRG), World Bank, driving coalition building and alliances with key stakeholders for sustainability leadership. In the past, she has led the development of public-private engagement models and innovative financing mechanisms, resulting in many first-of-its-kind programs and projects.

Prior to the 2030 WRG/ World Bank, she worked with International Finance Corporation (IFC), championing strategies for private sector stewardship with leading corporates, and with McKinsey and Company, advising capital markets and investment banking clients. 

Rochi holds a Master’s in Financial Economics from University of Oxford, UK.

Steve Kloos is a Partner with True North Venture Partners, a Chicago-based firm that invests in early stage disruptive innovations in cleantech and supports those companies on their journey to transform and lead global industries over time.

Steve is the Chairman of the board of Current, a non-profit platform for water innovation, he serves on the ImagineH2O Advisory Board, and is as a judge for the Global Cleantech 100. Steve has also advised the Singapore government on water issues, trends, and research.

Prior to joining True North, Steve worked in various R&D roles at General Electric in the US and Asia, including serving as Advanced Technology Leader, being an active member of GE’s venture capital team, founding and leading GE’s Singapore Water Technology Centre at NUS and founding and leading GE’s water R&D team in Shanghai.  Steve started his career at Osmonics doing membrane R&D and he holds a PhD in Chemistry from North Dakota State University.

As an international environmental lawyer, Ms. Krchnak has worked to improve policies and procedures related to environmental management and resource conservation worldwide for over 25 years.  She has spent the last 15 years in leadership positions around improving water resource management. This has included managing initiatives focused on advancing corporate water stewardship, water security, and building better governance through increased transparency, rule of law and institutional strengthening.

She currently leads the 2030 Water Resources Group, hosted by the World Bank Group. Ms. Krchnak received her B.A. in Political Science from Duke University and her J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law. She has published extensively in international environmental policy and sustainable development, particularly on freshwater issues. She has served on numerous steering committees, including the Board of Governors of the World Water Council (WWC), and currently serves as Vice-President of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA). 

Head of the Water Security and Emergency Division Israeli Water Authority

Today

Responsibility and regulation for all The issue of economic security and emergency water in State of Israel. Responsibility Areas: Human Resources, Budget, Procurement and Logistics, Tenders, Security and Information Systems

Senior VP to the Israeli Water Authority of Administration and Human Resources Logistics Organization.

2010—01\2013

Responsibility Areas: Human Resources, Budget, Procurement and Logistics, Tenders, Security and Information Systems.

Director of Security and Emergency at the Water Administration in local authorities

2003 –\2010

Liability of water systems protection, Preparation of the urban and the municipality water crisis and emergency situations, Water Crisis Event Management practice, writing a professional turn, responsibility for monitoring, review and execute training exercises in conferences, training of security managers of the water and sewage corporations, Initiation of Technologies measures development in emergency water supply protection. Serves as chairman of the upper protection committee includes representatives of the Israel Police, the Ministry of Health, emergency management and other bodies

IDF Military service at the combat engineering corps

Variety of field roles, Training and Headquarter, At the role of company commander in the battalion operations and an officer of the Engineering Operations Division Central Command. Also I'm an Active reservist I was the battalion commander and the Second Lebanon War as engineer officer and currently serves as the division rear command of Lt. Colonel gradually.

Education

B.A. In political science and public administration from the Bar-Ilan University (1995).

M.A In political science and public administration from the Bar-Ilan University (2004)

Ernesto Rodriguez Leal is Head of Research, Development and Innovation for Rotoplas Group, where he is responsible for new product, service and business model development.

Ernesto holds a degree in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from Tecnológico de Monterrey. He completed master’s degrees in Mechatronics and Global Technology Management from the Technische Universität Hamburg-Harburg. He obtained his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from King’s College London. He participated in the Graduate Program at Singularity University and is certified in Strategy and Innovation by MIT.

Ernesto has been recipient of prestigious scholarships and research grants from the Governments of Chile, Kazakhstan, Mexico, and Peru. He is a member of the National System of Researchers in Mexico (SNI) Level I, author of the book entitled "Evolutionary Design of Parallel Mechanisms" and more than 30 other peer publications. He has filed 5 patent applications and co-founded 3 startups that participated in high-impact incubation and acceleration programs.

Ernesto is a frequent speaker and keynote lecturer in several forums, winner in competitions such as Hacking Medicine, The Venture Chivas Regal Mexico, and World Cup Tech in Health and Robotics/AI. He served as Associate Professor in Robotics and as Director of the Academic Program of Innovation and Development at Tecnológico de Monterrey

Current Position

As Global Manager of Business Development for Bechtel’s Water & Pipeline Business Line, Robert supports the development of projects globally in the areas of desalination, industrial water treatment, and conveyance of oil, gas and water. Robert is based in Santiago, Chile, the headquarters of Bechtel’s Mining & Metals Global Business Unit.

Previous Assignments

Prior to his current position, Robert was the Commercial Manager for the construction of Google Fiber in three US cities. Robert has been involved in the Water & Pipeline Business Line since its formation in 2015.

Before joining Bechtel, Robert worked in engineering and management roles in Schlumberger. As a field engineer, Robert worked in hydraulic fracturing operations in Russia and Mexico. In a management consulting role based in Mexico City, Robert supported operating companies in solving operational and strategic planning challenges across Latin America and Europe. For three years prior to joining Bechtel, Robert was the market analyst for Schlumberger Brazil, based in Rio de Janeiro.

Education

Robert holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Science & Engineering, a Master of Science in Civil & Environmental Engineering, both from Stanford University, and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is fluent in Spanish & Portuguese.

Amir is the Founder & CEO of TaKaDu, a global leader in Central Event Management (CEM) solutions for water utilities. TaKaDu provides utilities with a cloud-based analytics software for detecting and managing the full life cycle of all network events and incidents (leaks, bursts, faulty assets, data issues, water quality, and more), changing the way utilities work to provide higher operational efficiency, reduce water loss and generate strategic insights.

The TaKaDu solution is a mature SaaS product and is deployed in leading utilities worldwide: Australia, Europe, Israel, South America and the US.

TaKaDu was honored as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum of Davos and featured as a Harvard Business School case study. In addition, Amir is a CoFounder of SWAN, the Smart Water Networks Forum, a global industry organization bringing together stakeholders in the smart water space.

A serial entrepreneur, Amir founded YaData in 2005, serving as CEO until the company’s acquisition by Microsoft in 2008. Prior to that, he founded Cash-U in 1999 (later named Unipier).

Amir holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MBA from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.