Marla Smith-Nilson is the Founder and Executive Director of Water1st International and a recognized leader in advancing sustainable water and sanitation solutions worldwide. A civil engineer by training, she brings more than 30 years of field experience designing and implementing water supply and sanitation systems across Latin America, Asia, and Africa.

Before founding Water1st, Marla worked as a consulting engineer, including roles with USAID in Honduras and with CH2M HILL, where she led a team developing the Water Master Plan for Cairo, Egypt. She also co-founded WaterPartners International (now water.org), helping shape early innovations in community-based water programming.

Throughout her career, Marla has focused on a simple but transformative idea: lasting change happens when solutions are designed around the daily realities of the people who use them. She has overseen the implementation of thousands of community water projects benefiting hundreds of thousands of people and has championed an approach that prioritizes household water access, local leadership, and long-term sustainability.

Known for her ability to connect technical expertise with human stories, Marla works closely with locally led partner organizations and communities to bring water and sanitation home — improving health, expanding opportunity, and helping families move beyond the cycle of poverty.