One Young World Summit Montréal/Tiohtiá:ke, 2024

Collective Action: Addressing Water Access Amidst the Climate Crisis (SDG 6)

• 13:44 - 14:14, 19 September
• Palais des Congrès
• Reckitt Accelerating Impact

Speakers

• Laura Stocco

  Co-founder of Openversum

  Laura Stocco

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  Co-founder of Openversum

  I'm Laura, a Swiss-born environmental engineer with an ever-growing love for water
  and its profound impact on communities. My journey through the world of water
  wasn't a straight path - I explored it all, from wastewater treatment to groundwater
  remediation. Years spent designing advanced water technologies left me frustrated
  by the gap between innovation and implementation. Witnessing these cutting-edge
  solutions falter in contexts lacking human-centred approaches and genuine
  beneficiary consideration, leading to a lack of lasting impact, was disheartening.
  Growing up in Switzerland, where water technologies are ubiquitous, I was startled
  by the numerous global communities still lacking access to safe water despite
  existing solutions. This frustration with the status quo prompted the co-founding of
  Openversum. Our mission is simple: empower communities, especially women, in
  places like Colombia, Ecuador, and Uganda with sustainable water solutions through
  microfranchising. Our vision is a world where every community boasts its local water
  expert, confidently owning its water solutions.
  Entrepreneurship wasn't a planned path; it unfolded as I saw it as the means to bring
  real change. My journey has taught me that passionate and meaningful leadership

  can move mountains and led to recognition as an UpLink Aquapreneur and a place
  among Forbes 30 Under 30. Through Openversum, we've partnered with NGOs,
  provided safe water to over 500 people, and created opportunities for communities
  to thrive. My unwavering goal is to amplify women's voices and empower them to
  shape a brighter future, solving the global water crisis.

• Noemi Florea

  Founder & Director of Laero

  Noemi Florea

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  Founder & Director of Laero

  In 2022, I founded the independent design studio LÆRO, which develops product-service systems in response to the challenges highlighted by the sustainable development goals. Day to day, I manage how the studio's product-service solutions are conceptualized and executed both in-house and with community partners. I also coordinate the material and team resources needed to successfully complete projects.
  \n Since 2020, I've led the design and development of LÆRO's leading venture, Cycleau. Cycleau is a compact greywater treatment system offering point-of-use water treatment and wastewater recycling to support marginalized communities impacted by water scarcity and contamination. While Cycleau is the first venture that I’ve founded and which has been developed under Laero LLC, in my first year as CEO I was able to secure $100,000 in non-dilutive funding while managing customer traction by engaging over 500 sales prospects and securing our first pilot contract. In 2023, I was selected as among the top 1% of youth innovators under 24 by MIT Solve, and was nominated by UNICEF as one of twenty climate youth innovators to be featured during COP28. I’ve presented Cycleau at events internationally in the U.S., Australia, the Netherlands, and the UAE.
  I first began investigating the challenges concerning water infrastructure in post-industrial U.S. cities for three years, having begun my work in 2020 during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic augmented the vulnerabilities low-income residents face in receiving basic public resources such as clean water and energy, which first inspired me to begin collaborating with local residents in her home state of Maryland to develop an alternative technology that could improve access to clean water while reducing the levels of waste also augmented during the pandemic.

• 

  Samir Lakhani

  CEO, Eco-Soap Bank

  Samir Lakhani

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  CEO, Eco-Soap Bank

  Samir Lakhani is the Founder and Executive Director of Eco-Soap Bank, an organization employing women worldwide to recycle leftover soap scrap for children in need. He is a social entrepreneur dedicated to restoring health and dignity in developing countries. Samir received a CNN Heroes Award, Forbes 30 under 30 award, Unilever Young Entrepreneurs Award, Rotary Presidential Peacebuilding Award, One Young World Ambassador, Lead2030 award winner, Duke-UNICEF Innovation Awardee, amongst others. He also recently gave a TEDx Talk. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and currently lives in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, PA.