MISSION: WATER 34 HEADLINE HURRICANE ZONE Since 2008, Watermark has invested over $17M in resources to help more than 3 million people in 27 countries. After Hurricane Maria, Watermark volunteers partnered with Planet Water to bring clean drinking water to the citizens of Puerto Rico. HURRICANE ZONE Q: What is Xylem’s Watermark program? Michael: Xylem’s program has a twofold mission: provide and protect safe water resources for communities in need and educate people about water issues. In a world where more than 650 million people lack access to water, and 2.4 billion lack improved sanitation1 , we’re using our expertise and technologies to make a difference in peoples’ lives. Q: Walkthrough how the Watermark program has developed over the years at Xylem. Michael: It didn’t develop overnight. It took years of working with our non-profit partners, learning from them, learning from our past efforts, and discovering how are we most helpful on the ground. Since its launch in 2008, Watermark has invested $17 million in resources, helping more than 3 million people in 27 countries, and has completed over 1,000 clean water projects. We have also raised an additional $2.9 million for our nonprofit partners through matched employee contributions. We want to make sure we're more than just a check- writing organization, so continuing to engage employees in volunteer work is a critical component as well. Q: How many hours have employees volunteered to the Watermark program? Michael: Our emphasis on volunteerism began in earnest in 2016. That's when we rolled out the official engagement and volunteerism aspect of the Watermark program. In our first year, Xylem employees volunteered approximately 22,000 hours to work on projects all around the world. Our goal is 35,000 hours for 2017, and we’re on track to meet that, as of this interview. Q: What are the volunteer activities Xylem employees participate in with Watermark? Michael: A majority of our volunteer hours result from relationships that our colleagues around Xylem are building with non-profits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in their own backyard. And that's our big push. It celebrates what we do at Watermark; finding organizations with similar water-related missions, and forming larger coalitions to improve the quality of rivers, tributaries, and lakes in our employees' communities. We also raise awareness of water-related issues with our Walk for Water events. Our volunteers walk throughout neighborhoods to communicate the importance of clean water and sanitation, handing out educational fliers that 1 UNICEF/WHO MAKING OUR MARK An Interview with Michael Fields, Director of Corporate Citizenship & Social Investment for Xylem Watermark