© 2010, Voss Foundation.  All rights reserved.

The Voss Foundation is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

Board of Directors

Knut Brundtland, President

Jan Eystein Saeboe, Treasurer

Emily S. Lange, Secretary

Jeanette Dyhre Kvisvik

Sanjay Rawal

Belinda Kielland

Partners

AED: AED is a nonprofit organization working globally to improve education, health, civil society and economic development--the foundation of thriving societies.  In collaboration with local and national partners, AED fosters sustainable results through practical, comprehensive approaches to social and economic challenges.  AED implements more than 250 programs serving people in all 50 U.S. states and more than 150 countries.  In the Dogon region of Mali, AED and the Voss Foundation work together along with Sahel Eco and a local branch of Caritas to execute the projects on the ground.

CHF International: CHF International is a nonprofit development organization dedicated to helping people improve their economic conditions from the bottom up. CHF International's mission is to be a catalyst for long-lasting positive change in low- and moderate-income communities around the world, helping them to improve their social, economic and environmental conditions. CHF International has been working with communities abroad for nearly 50 years, helping them to identify their greatest needs and attain their goals. CHF International has worked in over 100 countries around the world. CHF International and the Walt Disney Foundation are Voss Foundation partners in rural Ethiopia.

Georges Malaika Foundation: The Georges Malaika Foundation is dedicated to the advancement of African communities by providing educational opportunities to young girls, aged 5 to 18. Its vision is to mobilize the resources necessary to overcome the insurmountable obstacles a young girl faces to obtain an education in the Democratic Republic of Congo. GMF will provide assistance that paves the way for opportunity, generates greater choice and empowers girls to make informed decisions. GMF endeavors to permanently alter the cycle of illiteracy and poverty within the D.R. Congo. Voss Foundation has partnered with GMF to build a well at their first school for girls in the Kalebuka village of the Katanga province.

Milgis Trust: Milgis Trust aims to conserve the wildlife, habitat and pastoral people's way of life.  The Milgis Trust core area is located in northern Kenya within the drainage of the Matthews Range, Ndoto Mountains and Karisia Hills and spreading out towards Oldonyo Mara, Mount Nyiru and Mount Kulal.  The Trust covers approximately 8,000 sq kms and supports a diverse range of flora and fauna and the pastoral livelihoods of several different ethnic groups including the Samburu, Turkana and Rendille.  Voss Foundation partners with Milgis Trust in implementing projects in Samburuland, Kenya.

Project Clean Water: In 1997, recording artist, author, and philanthropist Jewel founded Project Clean Water.  The non-profit charitable foundation is working to improve the quality of life for millions of people by helping to provide clean water on a global scale.  The foundation targets villages around the world with clean water problems, and works with the communities to find sustainable solutions to provide them with safe drinking water.  To date, Project Clean Water has helped more than 30 communities overcome their individual drinking water problems in 13 different countries, on five different continents.  Project Clean Water has partnered with the Voss Foundation on the Give A Drop campaign that raises money for projects implemented by the Voss Foundation.

Virgin Unite: Virgin Unite is the non-profit foundation of the Virgin Group.  They unite people to tackle tough social and environmental problems in an entrepreneurial way.  Their aim is to help revolutionize the way businesses and the social sector work together -- driving business as a force for good.  This is based on the belief that this is the only way we can tackle the scale and urgency of the challenges facing the world today.  Virgin Unite’s overheads are covered by Sir Richard Branson and the Virgin Group, meaning that 100% of donations received go direct to the frontline where they are needed most.  Virgin Unite has partnered with the Voss Foundation on the Give A Drop campaign that raises money for projects implemented by the Voss Foundation.

The Voss Foundation was founded with generous support from Voss water in 2008.  Voss water has aligned its company and philanthropic operations with the same values inherent in its product: pure water from pure resources.  Voss has adopted a holistic, sustainable approach to bringing its products to market, while striving to protect the very resources from which its product flows. Voss is committed to reducing its carbon footprint from the moment it sources its artesian water to the moment the consumer recycles the bottle. Voss water's support of the Voss Foundation ensures that more of each dollar contributed to the foundation can be allocated directly to projects.

Knut Brundtland founded the Voss Foundation in 2008 after a trip to Africa where he saw firsthand the magnitude of the global water crisis.  As then-CEO of Voss of Norway ASA, producer of one of the purest bottled waters in the world, Mr. Brundtland felt he had a responsibility to provide access to clean drinking water to those in need.  Though Mr. Brundtland has since passed the baton at Voss, now serving as one of the corporation’s board members, his successor remains committed to the Voss Foundation. 

“Voss water is honored to be associated with the Voss Foundation and its vital work saving and changing lives in Africa. We remain devoted to the mission and are proud to continue our support of the Voss Foundation,” says Voss CEO Jack Belsito.

The Voss Foundation is grateful for the generosity of Mr. Brundtland, Mr. Belsito, and the Boards of Directors of Voss water and Voss Foundation. With the help of these visionaries and other partners, the Voss Foundation is able to bring clean water, the most basic element of survival, to the rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa that need it most.

Download our 2009 Year in Review to learn what the Voss Foundation accomplished in our first full year of operation.

Photographs by

Stuart Franklin/Magnum Photos, (top)

Danielle St. Laurent (middle and bottom)

Voss Foundation is dedicated to providing access to clean water to rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Since its inception in 2008, the Voss Foundation has helped to build 18 water access points in 4 countries, changing the lives of over 100,000 people.