Scott Harrison (born September 7, 1975) is the founder and current CEO of the non-profit charity: water. Harrison is the author of ''Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World''.
Hunterdon County
Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,New Jersey. Harrison began working as a nightclub and party promoter in Manhattan. He spent the next 10 years organizing parties for the likes of
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
,
VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
, Bacardi and '' Elle''. In August 2004, after a shooting at a nightclub he promoted in Uruguay, Harrison quit his job and volunteered as a
photojournalist
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
for the Christian charity
Mercy Ships
Mercy Ships is an international charity that operates the largest non-governmental hospital ships in the world, providing humanitarian aid like free health care, community development projects, community health education, mental health programs, ...
, which operates a fleet of hospital ships offering free healthcare, being inspired by his father’s gift of
A.W. Tozer
Aiden Wilson Tozer (April 21, 1897 – May 12, 1963) was an American Christian pastor, author, magazine editor, and spiritual mentor. For his accomplishments, he received honorary doctorates from Wheaton and Houghton colleges.
Early life
Toz ...
’s book, “The Pursuit of God”.
Charity: Water
During his two years with Mercy Ships, Harrison was exposed to the conditions of the impoverished in
Liberia
Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...
. As a response, Harrison founded charity: water in 2006. The charity is a non profit organization that works to bring clean water to people in developing nations through its use of public donations, which directly fund water projects such as building wells and sanitation facilities. While charity:water has claimed to spend 100% of its funding on programming costs, in 2017 Harrison received $325,278 from the organization.
Personal life
Harrison is married to Viktoria Harrison, who was previously involved in design and branding for charity:water. They have two children: a son named Jackson and a daughter named Emma. Harrison is a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...