Let's Make 2026 A
BREAKTHROUGH YEAR

For WaterPreneurSHIP!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We are SOOOO excited to "Step into 2026" AND to make 2026 a "Breakthrough Year" for the ENTIRE WaterPreneurSHIP Community - including WaterPreneurs themselves (ALL Stages, ALL Sectors, ALL Solutions, and ALL Startup Founder Backgrounds) AND those who work with WaterPreneurs (Investors and Funders; Accelerators and Prizes and Other Entrepreneur Support Programs; and Innovation-Seeking Client Leaders from both the Water Sector AND Other Sectors with Water Use, Water Quality, and Water Disaster Impact Challenges)!

WaterCitizen.Org is committed to our WaterPreneurSHIP(TM) Initiative and is thrilled to have the support of our NEW Board & Counsel, ALL of whom have Pitched or Reverse Pitched or otherwise supported our WaterPreneurSHIP events. We're also currently bringing on new interns and volunteers for the Spring, and have also added a special new team member. Watch for an introduction to the NEW WaterCitizen Team!

This year, we are GOING ALL IN on our Annual Event - changing the name to The WaterPreneurSHIPTM Experience (empowering WaterPreneurs to be "Captains of our SHIPS and Masters of our SOULS). Returning once again to DC Water's HQO Waterside Events Center on the banks of the Anacostia River, we are preparing for FULL BUILDOUT with a 3-day program that includes:


1. PREP DAY Presentation Coaching and 12 Clinics across 3 Tracks designed to meet the needs of our ENTIRE WaterPreneurSHIP Community (including Investors and Funders, Clients Innovation Leaders, Entrepreneur Support Programs and other WaterPreneurSHIP Supporter); 
2. PITCH DAY featuring a full 2-track WaterPitch! Water Startup Matching Extravaganza (120 Pitches and Reverse Pitches in One Day!); 
3. POLICY & PARTNERSHIPS DAY when we leave DC Water for Capitol Hill in the morning - including our Washington Insiders Breakfast and Congressional Briefing (with presenters selected from among out Keys to Water in Congress for Entrepreneurship Training Program) - followed by our NEW WaterPreneurSHIP Goes Global Workshop in collaboration with agencies and embassies/consulates and other international organizations. 

YOUR WATERPRENEURSHIP EXPERIENCE 
STARTS AS SOON AS YOU REGISTER!

In the months leading up to our May 4-6, 2026 event, we will be holding a series of Virtual Programs that you won't want to miss! 

As soon as the Super Early Bird Registration ends Friday, January 23, 2026, we will get started with our newly updated Keys to Water in Congress for Entrepreneurship Live Virtual Training that introduces the WaterPrenuership Community to "The People, The Processes, and the Ways to Participate" on Capitol Hill so you can "Track, Testify On, or Transform" Policies as an "Expert, Activist or Advocate" - while identifying your own priorities for how you want to engage with legislators and other public officials. Many of the methods we review also apply to State Legislatures, Local Governments, and Utility Boards. 

The WaterPrenuerSHIP Community Members who present at the May 6th Congressional Briefing on Day 3 of the WaterPreneurSHIP Experience will be selected from among those who complete the upcoming KWIC-E Course.

We are also reaching out to the Government Relations Offices of various water and entrepreneurship associations for their participation in this course and the May 6th events and look forward to their support!

We're also beginning to set up our Water Innovation Nation Celebration Virtual Summit, and will be setting up interviews shortly with our Pitch and Reverse Pitch Presenters as they sign up - with room for the first 20 Pitch and 20 Reverse Pitch Presenters to receive FEATURE INTERVIEWS during the Virtual Summit, to be pre-recorded in February for release in March (around World Water Day, dates TBA soon!) - with the opportunity to Live Chat and share free downloads with Virtual Summit Attendees from around the world!

We'll also be producing Video Clips and other promotional materials with our Featured Interviews to be released in the months leading up to The WaterPreneurSHIP Experience - giving months of increased visibility for you and your business or organization!

We're developing our Clinic Topics and reaching out to potential Clinic Leaders now - drawing upon the feedback we've received during conversations at nearly two dozen Water and Entrepreneurship events we attended across the US and overseas PLUS the State of WaterPreneurSHIP Surveys we completed (results to be shared at our event - and hopefully at the AWWA Annual Conference & Exposition which is returning to DC this June!).

We'll be reaching out to our WaterPitch! Alumni and Water Entrepreneurship Leaders Lab (W.E.L.L.) Members soon with information on special opportunities to join us in 2026 - including opportunities to be featured in one of the Clinics so that more experienced WaterPreneurSHIP Community Members can share their wisdom as well!

Sign up now for the lowest registration rates and maximum bonuses!!! Can't wait to see you at The WaterPreneurSHIPTM Experience!

Sincerely,

DrCat Shrier, PhD (Civil Eng), PG

CEO/Founder, WaterCitizen.Org

Washington, DC (Eastern Time Zone)

cat@watercitizen.org / watercitizen@gmail.com

+1 (202) 344-7894 (cell/text/whatsapp)

Creator of the Water Startup Matching ExtravaganzaTM, Water Entrepreneur Leaders LabTM and other Programs to Elevate WaterPrenuerSHIPTM!