As Senior Manager of Strategic Alliances, Lebec develops and manages Water.org’s portfolio of strategic partners and donors, forging high-impact partnerships to drive revenue growth and support the expansion of the organization’s programs and ventures worldwide. Lebec also leads Water.org’s funding efforts in Haiti.
Lebec comes to Water.org with nearly a decade of experience in international development and communications in Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the US. Prior to Water.org, Lebec worked at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) where she applied her expertise in forging innovative partnerships to design CGI’s first strategic communications program and to build and manage a portfolio of education programs engaging organizations from all sectors. Her work focused on post-conflict and disaster countries such as Liberia and Haiti.
A French national, Lebec grew up in Paris, South Korea, and China. After college, she joined the World Bank as a consultant, initially in Paris and then in Southeast Asia, where she developed and managed communication initiatives for human and social development programs. Working with a team of local Cambodian film makers and a Senegalese director, Lebec launched a documentary film project in Cambodia to highlight the impact of a World Bank community development program on local villagers. She also developed an education initiative for street children in the north of Thailand, mobilizing local NGOs and education policy makers. Following this experience, Lebec pursued her graduate studies at the London School of Economics, conducting research on child poverty and education in post-conflict countries.
Commitment to Water.org
“While my work in Southeast Asia and graduate studies opened my eyes to the water and sanitation crisis in the developing world, it was during a trip to Kenya with CGI that I realized just how dire the situation was. When visiting urban slums and rural villages and interviewing beneficiaries there, I learned how the lack of safe water and clean sanitation facilities in homes hindered childrens’ ability to go to school and led young girls and women to walk for hours to fetch water for their families.
“I quickly realized that ensuring these communities have access to safe water and sanitation was key to achieving other development objectives. Without water or proper sanitation facilities, children would never be able to meet their full potential.
“I was exposed to a large portfolio of innovative development programs during my work at CGI and I quickly became fond of organizations such as Water.org. I was introduced to the concept of WaterCredit during CGI’s 2008 Annual Meeting and admired this organization’s drive to look outside of the box and work with local communities to find sustainable and effective solutions to the water crisis. I believe that Water.org’s entrepreneurial and demand-driven approach can have a lasting impact in the developing world.”
