MEET THE
Team
WATERLUTION Team
Karen Kun
President & Founder
Karen Kun is the Founder and President of Waterlution. As a woman, mother, entrepreneur, risk-taker, mentor and Waterlution’s leader, she thrives sharing her global experience, extensive network, creativity and leadership skills with others across the water sector. Developing programming to build diverse skills and networks for water and climate leaders with the necessary tools to approach complex issues through innovation is a cornerstone of Waterlution’s ongoing work to drive positive change. Karen credits her time two decades ago living and working with Indigenous communities in Latin America as the inspiration behind applying water as a metaphor for everything essential in caring for and preserving ourselves and our planet. Eighteen years later, Karen continues to incorporate the practice of storytelling, building diverse partnerships, peer-to-peer learning and support networks, and empathy as fundamental tools in creating meaningful water dialogue, solving problems and creating new innovative solutions. At this stage of her career, she is most proud of the Waterlution team, based across Turtle Island, today known as Canada, as well as Brazil, Lebanon and Mozambique, and with long-time partnerships across Europe, India, Mexico, Australia and the USA. She has seen the water landscape change dramatically from a male dominant space where she was the only woman on conference panels to full female gatherings, to substantially more inclusion of Indigenous water stewards and traditional knowledge and growing diversity across the water and climate sectors. Along with her water background, she is a skilled business leader who from 2005-2012 was publisher of Corporate Knights magazine.
- Email:karen@waterlution.org
Dawn Fleming
Innovation Lead
Dawn leads innovation across Waterlution and currently leads partnerships, entrepreneurship mentoring and network building for Waterlution’s programmes in Brazil and Mozambique. An advocate for advancing female leadership in the water space, she is committed to creating opportunities for women and girls to realise their collaborative innovation ideas. Under Dawn's leadership 80% of all seed funds directed to projects in the 5 years of WIL Brasil have been to support the advancement of female-led water solutions. Recently, Dawn developed a new innovation testing approach through the Government of Canada FIT funded project “Adolescent Girl Empowerment through Capacity Building and Water Innovation in Northern Mozambique”. She has worked with Waterlution since 2010, in Canada, Portugal, Brazil and Mozambique and in 2021 was instrumental in launching the newly created water and sanitation accelerator programme “Waterlution BRK Acelera”. Dawn brings 20 years of experience as a facilitator, project manager, performer, director and designer of learning experiences to her work with Waterlution.
- Email:dawn@waterlution.org
Saarah (SJ) Rasheed
Media & Communications Coordinator
SJ Rasheed (she/her) is a recent graduate of Carleton University’s Journalism program. SJ is a fierce environmental and social Justice advocate. SJ is dedicated to uplifting and making room for the stories that often go untold and bearing witness to injustices and recording it through photography, videography and writing. She is skilled in many storytelling mediums and enjoys exploring unique ways to tell these stories and in ways that respect the holders of these stories. She hopes that the work she produces will influence the ways we interact and live with nature so we have a more harmonious relationship with the world around us. Growing up in BC, she has always had a deep love and connection with the natural wonders of the West Coast, and recognizes the need to ensure the voices of Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour are present and leading when addressing climate change, particularly the importance of Indigenous knowledge and the lived experiences of Indigenous peoples.
Niyousha Saeidi
Digital Innovation Coordinator
Niyousha is a recent Bachelor’s (Honour’s) of Computing graduate from Queen’s University. She worked in various roles at Queen’s University, as a research assistant, International Centre staff member, Marketing and Outreach Manager and IT staff. All of these experiences have taught her more about data management, web development and public relations. Niyousha really cares about being mindful of all the natural resources and how our actions could affect the future generation in many different aspects. Her experience had taught her how important resources such as water are and the impacts of water shortages. She contributes a technological perspective and technology skills to help digitize Waterlution’s data and project outputs, enhancing Waterlution’s digital presence and capacity.
Megan Cornall
WIL Coordinator
Megan has a passion for facilitating spaces for innovation, mentorship, networking and collaboration between young leaders and entrepreneurs in the water space. Megan began with Waterlution in 2019 at WIL Canada, then went on to coordinate WIL Global 2020 with 15 virtual interactive skills and capacity building workshops sessions over 5 months for 80 participants. For two years, she has led skills training for AquaHacking challenge Expedition, training Canadian entrepreneurs on 21st century skills on water innovations. Most recently, Megan led the evaluation process on testing a new innovative approach focused on adolescent girl empowerment through capacity building and water innovation in Northern Mozambique. Megan enjoys developing water-centric programming that bring people together across sectors, and creating space to break down and address complex problems.
Kawthar Esseili
Facilitator
Kawthar is on a mission to unearth the team-player and nature-ally within each of us. Both professionally and in her volunteer endeavors, she commits her time to realizing this mission.
She holds a postgraduate certificate in project management from Georgian College, a MS in Environmental Science from the University of Toledo and a master's in applied animal biology from the Lebanese University. With over a decade of diverse professional experience, Kawthar's expertise seamlessly navigates the intricate realms of water resource management, community engagement, and environmental advocacy.
Since 2016, Kawthar has worked on cultural and social projects as a project manager with Sabt Baalbek Al-thaqafi, in Baalbek, Lebanon. Emerging During this period, she excelled in mobilizing stakeholders, managing impactful social and environmental events, and nurturing the growth of the organization's volunteer community.
Kawthar took on the position of a mentor and facilitator within the team in 2020 after attending WIL Lebanon the year prior. Her distinctive attributes, including innovative problem-solving, effective communication, and the ability to inspire and motivate others, makes her a valuable asset to the team.
Carley Vinkle
Youth Liaison
Carley is a naturalist and environmental educator based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. As Waterlution’s Local Youth Liaison, she works closely with youth through the Youth for Resilient Communities (Y4RC) program, guiding youth through the program and their service projects that build resilience to climate and water challenges in their communities.
Carley holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies and has a background in education and nature-based learning. She’s passionate about helping other youth connect with the natural world and believes water is at the heart of everything—connecting people, ecosystems, and communities.
Always curious and eager to learn, Carley approaches her work with a mix of knowledge, creativity, and relationship-building. Outside of work, she loves paddling, gardening, and exploring the outdoors with her playful puppy.
Laurence Ethier
Project Lead - Youth Programs
Laurence Ethier obtained her diploma in dance teaching from Université du Québec à Montréal in 2017 and is now completing a master’s in dance. Since she started studying this artform, she was always a fond believer that dance was for everybody, regardless of the body type, capacity, or heath state, which is why she started working alongside atypical population. Seeing pedagogy as a wonderful tool for creativity, she taught dance in an elementary school from 2017 to 2021 and led three funded arts projects involving the kids from her school. During those four years of teaching part time, she took on many outside roles; from coordinating a multidisciplinary research lab for her university to being a pedagogic artist for Cirque du Soleil, she has also been giving her time to a Montreal based integrated dance company named Corpuscule. Always looking for a new challenge and a way to enjoy her work life, she was welcomed in the Waterlution team as youth engagement coordinator for their recent project À la rencontre du fleuve. This will be a new take on working with schools and engaging youth by connecting with them through art, and represents a fantastic opportunity for her to be part of an organization that aligns with her values, both artistically and environmentally speaking.
Disa Crow Chief
indigenous Youth Lead
Oki niistowannakoak Iitspinaomahka.
My english name is Disa Crow Chief. I am from Siksika Nation, my clan is called Sa'yiiksi, it means aggressive/fierce clan. Traditionally we patrolled the borders of our territory. These days I apply that to creating safe spaces for communication, artistic creativity and to educate, engage and empower my people and those that we have relationships with. Along with my role at Waterlution, I am the co founder of the National SevenGen gathering. My focus is on innovating on prespectives regarding policy changes and the way entities include and exist with indigenous people across Canada and addressing Climate change through social change. To unlearn in order to problem solve while reintergrating my cultural practices into the spaces I work in. I love the opportunity to express myself through art, such as film making, writing, painting, hand building clay and creative directing showscases and gatherings. If you find yourself reading this I hope today brings you good things.
Christopher McLeod
Artistic Director
Christopher McLeod is a multidisciplinary social practice artist, educator and researcher. He has a BA in Studio Art from McMaster University and an MFA from Emily Carr University in Vancouver, BC. His work has been featured at Nuit Blanche Toronto, the Art Gallery of Hamilton, and at Supercrawl 2018 and 2019. He has taught at McMaster University, Dundas Valley School of Art, and was Artist in Residence for 2 years at the Art Gallery of Mississauga. He joined Waterlution as the Project Lead for the Great Art for Great Lakes project commissioning artists and artists teams on 17 participatory based public art projects. As the Artistic Director for ART+WTR, Waterlution, Christopher investigates community engagement through art as a way of knowing, problem solving, healing and transforming our relationship with water.
Sara Dia
Sara is the project lead for Water Innovation Lab Lebanon at Waterlution from 2019. She has over six years of experience in surface water quality monitoring, analysis and treatment. She graduated with a Master’s degree in Environmental technology from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon in 2016. Currently, she is pursuing her MBA at emlyon business school in France. Sara worked as an assistant researcher at the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the American University of Beirut on monitoring the Qaraoun reservoir’s water quality in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, contributing to the historical dataset. She also worked with the Dutch company World Waternet on the “Strengthening Lebanese Water and Agriculture Sector” project as a water quality specialist. Throughout her career, Sara offered expertise on different environmental projects, as an independent consultant, for several solid waste and WASH related tasks.
Sara’s leadership skills are also promoted through her active role as the vice president of Lebanon Youth Parliament for that aim to empower young professionals, promote innovation, and advocate inclusion in national water decision making processes. Sara participated in Waterlution’s H2O Global Leaders and Water Innovation Lab Canada 2018. WIL Canada’s empowering and remarkable training in tackling complex water issues enthused Sara to be part of the WIL Lebanon team and deliver the same rich and motivational experience with the youth in Lebanon and the region.
- Email:sara.dia@waterlution.org
Helena Vallée Dallaire
Project Manager
Helena is an artist and educator who loves to create spaces for discovery and connection between people of all ages and backgrounds, and believes in the power of storytelling to awaken deep care and understanding towards all forms of life. While her role at Waterlution will be working in both official languages, she will assist the team on francophone youth engagement. She is excited to join Waterlution and contribute to new possibilities for reconnection and learning.
- Email:helena@waterlution.org
Rewa Assi
Rewa graduated with a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Engineering from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon in 2019. After graduating, She joined UNDP as an Individual Consultant with the LHSP unit to support the "Forest Management" and "Employment and Peacebuilding" projects.Her motivation to encourage youth to be innovative is highlighted in her role as a Youth Leadership Advisory Board Member with the UNDP and her past role as a WIL Lebanon Alumni Mentor. She is also working with her team on their water innovation project as part of a WIL Global Alumna.
Rewa's environmental background,leadership skills, experience in innovation, and her youthful enthusiasm empowered her to join the WIL Lebanon team in order to develop the next Water Innovation Labs in Lebanon.
George Gharios
Georges is a PhD Candidate in Water Law at the University of Dundee in Scotland, UK. His work focuses on ancient water laws, traditional knowledge, sustainable development, legal pluralism, and social water arrangements. He is particularly interested in customs and practices of water conservation in Lebanon and on water diplomacy in the Levant. Georges held teaching posts during five years at the American University of Technology in Halat, Lebanon, and is an active member of the International Water Association (IWA), the Arab Integrated Water Resources Management Network (AWARENET), the Mediterranean Water Youth Network (MedYWat), and the Lebanon Youth Parliament for Water (LYPW).
- Email:g.gharios@dundee.ac.uk
Elodie Rabenantoandro
Network Developer
Elodie is from Madagascar. She decided to continue her studies in the legal field in Canada because she has always admired this country as well as its magnificent landscapes (mountains, forests as far as the eye can see but especially the thousands of lakes and rivers). Passionate about nature, she is especially concerned about its preservation and protection. Being a member of a few organizations working in education for sustainable development in Madagascar, she also wants to contribute to educating young people and children about the importance of the environment and water in Canada.
- Email:elodie@waterlution.org
Melissa Gonzalez Soto
Melissa is a program designer and process facilitator. Melissa participated in WIL Netherlands in 2015, joined as facilitator for WIL Mexico 2019, and joined again as facilitator for this intercultural experience. Her goal is to open spaces for cooperative learning, collaboration and co-creation, particularly around topics of environmental sustainability. To make it happen, Melissa designs and facilitates programs based on methodologies such as LEGO(R) SERIOUS PLAY(R), Oasis Game, Business Modelling, Ontological Coaching. She has designed programs such as “Campamento: La Ciencia del Fútbol Americano”, CampIdeas Mexico and Scape Rooms for Science Learning. Melissa has extensive experience working and living abroad (Canada, Germany, China, Finland and Brasil). She is based in Mexico City and enjoys visiting the neighboring mountains.
Karla Daniela (Dany) Veloz Borjo
She is a Biochemical Engineer with 13 years of experience specializing in Environmental Technology and Engineering for private and public organizations. Daniela has been working on water research and projects for 13 years, and spent 7 years collaborating with PEMEX, CONAGUA, PROFEPA and non-government offices on soil and water remediation projects for hydrocarbon contamination. She is interested in participating in projects with social, cultural and environmental impact to guide more systematic approaches to collective benefits. She holds a Master degree in Environmental Technology and Engineering through an Erasmus Mundus joint program at Ghent University (Belgium), UNESCO-IHE (Netherlands) and ICTP (Czech Republic). She had the opportunity to live and study in several countries in addition to the ones mentioned above, including Japan and the USA. Living abroad has been one of her most enriching learning experiences and she is keen to share her work and learning from around the world. She is also keen to support establishing a water innovation ecosystem for young professionals and young leaders in Mexico and especially in her homebase, the state of Nuevo León.
Tatiana Glad
Co-Founder
Tatiana is a social entrepreneur, sustainability practitioner and change strategist. She works across sectors and cultures to develop life-affirming and resilient leadership for whole systems innovation. She is passionate about systemic change, sustainability, water, enabling start-up initiatives/enterprises, creating synergies, good questions and meaningful conversations.
Along with her role at Waterlution, Tatiana is also a partner of Engage! InterAct, collaborator with The Hub and involved in The Art of Hosting fellowship. Tatiana holds a M.Sc. in Responsibility & Business Practice (University of Bath, UK). As a skilled and enthusiastic designer and facilitator of learning processes, she draws on participatory practices such as Circle, World Café, Open Space Technology, Appreciative Inquiry and other social technologies to enable transitions to new futures. She is certified as a FlowGame host, experienced in cross-functional process improvement and trained in CSR reporting assurance.