Xiaoyuan Ren
Xiaoyuan “Charlene” Ren is the founder of MyH2O Water Information Network, a crowd-based data platform that connects clean water resources to rural communities. MyH2O works with young student teams around China and supports them to conduct fieldwork and awareness campaigns across communities in need. Water and sanitation data from over thousands of villages have been collected since 2015, and solutions have been delivered to over thousands of beneficiaries. She received her B.A. in Physics from Vassar College and dual M.S. in Environmental Engineering & Technology and Policy at MIT, with a thesis focused on the water and sanitation monitoring policy structure in rural India. She was selected as 1 of 4 Chinese representatives for Homeward Bound 2018 fellow, an initiative focused on raising profiles of women leaders in STEM, ending in a 3-week training expedition in Antarctica. She’s also a 2016 Echoing Green Fellow, Forbes “30 Under 30” (2019) in the Social Entrepreneur category, and UN Young Champions of the Earth (2020).
