Edward D. (Ned) Breslin joined Water For People as its director of international programs in January 2006 after working for close to 20 years focused on water and sanitation development in Africa.  He was appointed Water For People's CEO in 2009.

For over two decades, Ned has seen firsthand how conventional humanitarian approaches to safe water and sanitation access in the developing world are not scalable or sustainable -- helping some but not others and often failing shortly after implementation. Finding this unacceptable, he has led innovative programmatic efforts that test new approaches to service delivery and that demand, among other things, greater accountability of water and sanitation programs.

His focus has been on tackling key sustainability challenges and trying to find creative ways to eliminate community dependence upon charitable organizations. In 2011, Breslin received theSkoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship for his commitment and proven work in the water and sanitation sector.