Staff & Board
Gemma Bulos, Founder and Executive Director
Gemma’s work as a head teacher at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, mentor for at-risk youth in the South Bronx, international volunteer and performer has helped her develop a comprehensive and entertaining approach that bridges art and activism to raise awareness of global water issues and inspire water stewardship to cultivate peace.
A Filipina American, Gemma traveled around the world as a virtual volunteer building the Million Voice Choir and sharing the interactive presentation “Water, Music and Unity: The Pathway to Peace and Global Harmony” – exploring the power of water and music in our fundamental human relations, our global interactions, and in peacemaking. The diverse audiences where she has presented span the gamut of age, cultures and belief systems. The distinguished leaders whom she has presented alongside range from Archbishop Desmund Tutu, Mrs. Kofi Annan, Dr. Jane Goodall, Chief Oren Lyons, Pete Seeger, the Honorable Ela Ghandi (daughter of Mahatma Ghandi), Meadowlark Lemon, Ann Bancroft (first woman to brave the Arctic and Antarctica), and so many more.
Like water, she continues to flow around the world as a global volunteer initiating water projects, raising awareness of the global water issues and all the while uniting peaceful voices through the healing power of music and every living being's shared need for water. Since 2002, she has lived without a permanent home and steady paycheck but celebrates everyday with the belief that she will always be taken care of. All the funds and financial rewards she receives from gracious donors go directly toward her personal mission to bring H2Ope to all people.
Kevin Lee, Director of International Program Development and Acting ASDSW Executive Director
Known affectionately as “Kiwi,” Kevin Lee came to A Single Drop via the US Peace Corps. He is a mechanical engineer by trade and one of the youngest men to ever run an American steel mill. From 2004 to 2006, Kevin served as a volunteer in the mountain barangay (Filipino for “village”) of Ambaguio on the island of Luzon. After enduring numerous storms, landslides and flooding, Kevin realized the Philippines didn’t have a water problem, but rather a water infrastructure problem.
With vast experience in project and operations management, not to mention living in the Philippines for two years, Kevin brings a realistic model for sustainable implementation and community participation. In Ambaguio, he designed a community water system project that community members implemented. Government limitations and unfamiliar cultural attitudes where a challenge, but Kevin’s flexible nature and patience in establishing harmonious relationships helped build mutual trust and respect. Kevin now serves as head of A Single Drop for SafeWater (ASDSW) – ASD’s office in the Philippines.
Mariah Maggio, Africa Program Manager
Mariah Maggio comes to ASD via the Philippines where she was working from 2005-2007 as a Water and Sanitation volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps. Her activities in the Philippines included helping to implement a BioSand Filter project in schools and evacuation centers after two devastating typhoons and a volcano eruption ravaged the region. She also conducted trainings in Ferro Cement water tank construction, BioSand Filters and solid waste management education to establish a local mother's club livelihood project using recycled materials.
As a trainer at the African Women and Water Conference (AWWC) which ASD co-sponsored with Crabgrass, Groots Kenya and Women's Earth Alliance, Mariah is currently working in several countries in Africa offering technology, organizational, HIV/AIDS Awareness and WASH workshops to support our Women Water Stewards program.
Board Members
Diane Jankord – co-creator of AquaEssence ReSource, which brings together scientific, educational, and spiritual communities to help humanity heal itself and the waters of the planet
Ray Peterson – attorney specializing in Workers’ Compensation and Personal Injury law
Bryan Fofonoff – a senior professional engineer specializing in household water treatment
Karin Aguilar-San Juan - Associate Professor of American Studies at Macalester College specializing in urban sociology and Asian-American Studies
