This profile is part of the 2016 Global Citizen March Madness Challenge. The challenge asks you to vote for your favorite global citizens, as we match them up “tournament style” from a “Sweet 16” starting round, all the way down to a champion on April 4th.
Vote now in the Sweet 16 Round for all of your favorites HERE
Name: Matt Damon
Hometown: Cambridge, Massachusetts, US
Profession: Actor
Issue division: WASH
Quick facts:
- Before his breakthrough film Good Will Hunting he and bestie Ben Affleck were so broke they shared a bank account
- He has four daughters
- He’s a Libra
- Damon used to breakdance in the Harvard Square
- He was shocked to learn more people have mobile phones than toilets!
Matt Damon co-founded Water.org, an organization helping people in rural areas access clean water. They do more than just deliver water to villages without access, they provide the opportunity for underprivileged households to manage their own water supply with WaterCredit. These are small loans in exchange for water connections. Literally changing lives with a tap.
Water.org also focuses on giving the control over water access to women, furthering female empowerment.
"The sense of dignity that these women have when you talk to them and they've paid their loans off and maybe taking out a second loan for a toilet, the sense of empowerment you know, the sense that their life has been altered in this way, that they are now in control of their destiny," said Damon.
The father of four girls, Damon knows how important girls are in changing the world. He also knows no family can survive or thrive without access to clean potable water and proper sanitation.
Matt Damon brings together gender equality and WASH. He’s the player to bring clean water and sanitation to the world and end extreme poverty.
First round match-up
