Mentorship is one of the most powerful, and underutilized, tools in professional development. For women working in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), it’s especially critical. Despite decades of progress, the WASH sector continues to skew male in leadership, technical roles, and visibility. Women entering the field often find fewer role models who look like them, fewer networks built with their advancement in mind, and more structural barriers to navigate alone.
That’s exactly why the Women in WASH Mentorship Program exists – and why we’re excited to announce that applications for our fourth cohort are now open through March 20th.
Why mentorship, and why now?
Mentorship doesn’t just help individuals, it shapes sectors. When an experienced professional shares hard-won knowledge with someone earlier in their career, they’re shortcutting years of isolation, confusion, and missed opportunity. For women in WASH, who statistically have fewer senior role models in the sector, access to that kind of relationship can be transformational.
Our program is completely virtual, free, and built to work across time zones and languages – we operate in English, French, and Spanish.
What’s new in 2026: going local
This cohort marks an important evolution for the program: for the first time, we’re integrating dedicated local cohorts from the start.
- In Guatemala, we’re partnering with USAC’s EPSUM Program, through the country’s largest public university, to create a structured pipeline connecting students and early-career professionals into the global network.
- In Ghana, we’re collaborating with Ghana Water Ltd. and a national Women in WASH network, run alongside CONIWAS, to anchor the program in existing professional ecosystems.
- In Ethiopia, we’re teaming up with Drop of Water, which is already engaging 8,000 students through their Aware–Activate–Change Youth for WASH project — preparing the next generation of water leaders through training, mentorship, and networking.
- And in Cambodia, we’re partnering with the Center for Sustainable Water, whose longstanding Young Professionals Program connects college students with hands-on water and development projects, with deep ties to national university engineering programs.
These aren’t just add-ons. They reflect a deliberate shift toward locally-led mentorship infrastructure, where the program doesn’t just touch a country, but grows roots there.
Whether you’re an experienced WASH professional ready to give back, an early-career practitioner looking for guidance, or somewhere in between, there’s a place for you in this cohort.
Apply here | Final applications due by March 20th!