GW Alumnus, Robert Steiner, MPH ’00, is a water expert, entrepreneur, and investor. When asked to describe himself he said “I’m a mixture of Forest Gump, Walter Mitty, and Teddy Roosevelt.” He continues to say, “When you make good things happen, good things happen to you in return.”
His career has been transformative in the fields of water and public health. It all began in 1997 when he graduated with his Bachelor of Science in Environment Health and Policy from the University of Michigan. After graduating, Rob embarked on his journey to pursue his passion for the environment. His first stop was Brazil. He lived like a local and made strides to immerse himself into the native culture to understand the country’s environmental challenges. Rob reminisced by telling the story of his first significant epiphany and the moment when he realized his “idealistic American perspective” was skewed and “saving the rainforest” was not the real concern of the majority of the population.
The story began serendipitously when Rob was hitchhiking through South America and was picked up by a local ambulance driver. The driver said he would give Rob a ride if he helped to make emergency deliveries to a local clinics along the Uruguay River that had previously flooded some small towns. At each stop, Rob unloaded eagerly the expensive medicine, antibiotics and various other medical supplies into the clinic. The driver followed him carrying jugs of water. Rob was struck by how the staff ran past him and his expensive deliveries to greet the driver who carried the clean water. In that moment, he realized the medical supplies were secondary and not nearly as essential and sought after as clean water. As a result, Rob realigned his mission in life to focus on safe drinking water—intersecting environmental health and public health.
He returned to Washington, D.C. after his experience in South America to pursue his newfound mission. While working in the Senate (and bartending at The Grill from Ipanema), he enrolled at The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health to pursue an MPH in International Health and Policy.
“I can not think of a better place to immerse yourself in public health policy than GW. Blocks away from PAHO, the State Department and USAID,” Rob said. He continued, “It was so rewarding to spend your day in classrooms with fellow students and professors and then step outside to be surrounded by leading edge policy and programs.”
Rob continued his career in the public sector as an officer in the U.S. Public Health Service and served within the Department of Health and Human Services, as a special assistant to Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and a special assistant and advisor to Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona.
“Within 3 years of graduating from GW I basically met and worked with every public health leader in the United States,” Rob stated.
He advanced his career by taking a new position in the Office of Global Health Affairs at HHS, a role in which he envisioned working in while living in Brazil so many years before. With this job he was deployed with the U.S. Navy to Banda Aceh, Indonesia following the devastating tsunami of late 2004.
Following Indonesia, Rob transitioned from public health service to co-found the non-profit, WaterLeaders Foundation in which he provided safe drinking water systems in China and Mexico. Today, he continues his focus on safe drinking water through an advisory board role at Splash.org. Currently, Rob is a senior investment advisor for Summit Water Capital Advisors, a leading water investment firm. Rob also serves as a strategic advisor for a company he co-founded, WaterSmart Software. This is a software-as-a-service company focused on water conservation by utilizing behavioral science and customer engagement to increase water efficiency in households throughout the world.
This summer Rob launched another venture focused on water rights development. It’s in California’s Central Valley with a focus on the ecological needs of the state’s wildlife and river systems, marrying environmental and public health.
Rob reflected, “From that first moment delivering clean water to clinics in South America, I knew that I would pursue a career in water.” He went on to say, “I’ve since installed safe drinking water systems, advised governments on water policy, consulted with multi-national corporations and VCs on water technologies, and cofounded a water venture and starting another now.”
Rob’s inner grit in combination with GW’s resources propelled him to dream big, which is what he does every day.