Ornit Avidar
Founder and Managing Director

Ornit Avidar founded WaterWays in light of the growing need for clean water in off grid and rural areas and the understanding that everyone is entiteled to clean drinking water. Since then she has promoted this issue and the issue of sustainable water projects. She is also promoting the concept of "Water First", bringing to the consciousness of society that clean water provision impacts a variety of development challenges including food security, health, education and gender equality, thus it should be prioritized by the international community.

Currently she is a PhD. candidate in Ben-Gurion University, writing her dissertation on "A Regional Analysis of Sustainable Access to Clean Water in Siaya County, Kenya", Supervised by Prof Lynn Schler.

Ornit Avidar is an experienced former diplomat, investor and mediator with over 15 years of experience in developing international strategic partnerships, deal closing, investments, solving delicate business issues involving conflicting interest groups and getting people and technology together to address their needs and common goals.
She has extensive experience working with foreign and local government entities and agencies. Ornit began her career as CEO of Delta Three Israel, the first Internet telephony operator,a start up that was later listed on NASDAQ.

Later, Ornit joined the Ministry of Industry Trade and Labor of the State of Israel, as a cadet and served as Economic Representative of the State of Israel to the Gulf States of Qatar and Oman and Commercial Attaché for the State of Israel in Hong Kong and Macao, initiating JVs and investments, facilitating and encouraging bilateral trade between Israeli, Hong Kong, and Chinese companies.

In recent years Ornit has been a Partner in CIVC Private Equity Fund, which invested in 8 Chinese companies.

Currently she is a Board Member of the International Women's Forum, Israel Branch, and on the Advisory Board of the Israel-Asia center.

She has a BA Cum Laude in Political Science from Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and an MBA from Temple University in Philadelphia, USA.