Seth Maxwell started his career on stage, but soon left acting for activism. He began the Thirst Project as a way to raise awareness about the global water crisis, but never imagined the successful organization it turned out to be. With over 3,000 projects the Thirst Project has helped over 500,000 people around the world gain access to clean drinking water. Seth also created Legacy Youth Leadership which is a non-profit organization that provides students with the tools to reach their academic and philanthropic goals. Jejune got a chance to chat with Seth about his inspiration and hopes for the future generation.

Where are you based?
Los Angeles, CA.

You started off acting at a young age, do you still enjoy stage life?
I do a fair bit of public speaking at conferences, keynotes, and schools; so, I still get to spend a good amount of time on stage, but I do not actively work in entertainment these days.

What inspired you to switch from acting to activism?
When I first learned about the global water crisis, I couldn't not do something about it. I was struck by how massive in scale the issue was, but also how solvable it is. Everything is impacted by water. Everything. Health, education, and food security. I didn't necessarily wake up one day and say to myself, "I'm going to start a charity today," but my entire worldview changed when I learned how many people in the world lacked access to safe, clean drinking water. Suddenly my professional goals seemed less pressing. As I started out in the journey of doing this work, and as we began building the organization, I found that I got to use what I loved about acting - telling stories - to tell this REAL story about this very real issue. And, if I tell that story well, the end result is that people get clean water, which is pretty remarkable.

What first started as a need to educate people about the lack of clean water in the world turned into the Thirst Project. Can you tell us a bit about this story and what inspired it? Did you have any idea what it would turn into as a young kid in college?
When we first started, I had no idea that Thirst Project would become what it is today. The inspiration came when I met with a friend of mine for coffee. She was the first person to educate me about the global water crisis and the reality of what it means when someone doesn't have access to safe, clean drinking water. At the time that was the reality for over a BILLION people. I was stunned. No issue had ever resonated with or moved me as this one did. I just started talking to anyone who would listen. I enlisted my college friends to help me organize events around town to raise awareness of the crisis and funds to help. But we never imagined our efforts would grow to what the organization is today.

There are so many issues out there, what was it about the lack of clean water that really impassioned you?
Water is literally life. Water impacts every aspect of life. PREVENTABLE waterborne diseases kill millions of people every year. Walking long distances to collect dirty water means that children are often unable to go to school or get an education, and women are often unable to get jobs. Without sustainable water supplies, you cannot develop agricultural initiatives to combat food insecurity and hunger. If you care about health, you care about water. If you care about education, you care about water. If you care about hunger, you care about water.

Clean water is a bigger issue than we want to think it is, all over the world. What helps you decide where to help and what is the process once you decide on a location?
All of Thirst Projectʼs implementing activity is overseen and managed by the organization’s Water Project Technical Board. This group of five individuals is made up of leading experts in the field of water and sustainability (civil engineers & hydrogeologists). The Water Project Technical Board meets Quarterly to review and approve the selection of upcoming projects to be implemented by the organization in the coming Quarter. The Board reviews and approves Site Assessments, Quotes, and Planned Action before a project is funded. After projects are complete, they review Completed Reports, Pump Tests, and Water Quality Tests for each site. You can find out more here.

The pandemic really highlighted the issue of lack of clean water, especially among the indigenous people in the US. Has the Thirst Project had a chance to work with these people?
As Thirst Project only focuses on building clean water projects internationally, we have found a number of organizations for those looking to make an impact here at home including Dig Deep H20 and Waterkeeper LA.

The pandemic was a tough time for many people, how did it impact the Thirst Project? How was the organization able to help others at this time?
Please read about the impact of COVID-19 on our organization, here.

Not only are you working on saving the world through clean water, but you have more recently started the Legacy Youth Leadership program. Can you tell us about this project?
Legacy Youth Leadership is building the leaders who are going to build the world we all want to be a part of. Legacy provides free programs to high school and college students that help students develop the skills they need to succeed in their academic careers, professional careers, and to tackle the world's biggest problems. These roughly six-week-long programs teach students how to use their TIME, their MONEY, their VOICE, and their VOTE to change the world around them. These programs are half digital content and half live sessions facilitated by our team of educators and mentors. Our programs are designed to help students develop communication and public speaking skills, organization and strategic planning skills, fundraising skills, social/emotional development, and more.

What prompted you to take part in youth leadership, and why do you think focusing on the younger generation is important?
What makes Thirst Project unique in the water space is our work with students and young people. There are lots of great organizations addressing water, sanitation & hygiene around the world; none are powered by as many young people as Thirst Project. But, our primary objective in working with students at Thirst Project was to raise as much money from them to fund water projects. After more than a decade of working with hundreds of thousands of students every year and coaching those students to be better fundraisers, we realized that we were teaching students other skills. We were teaching students to be better communicators and public speakers, how to organize, plan, and market events, build teams, and so much more. We realized that these were skills that students could use not just to make an impact on the water crisis, but so much more. And all of this was happening by accident.

We thought if we could be INTENTIONAL about designing programs, not just to see how much money we could raise from students, but rather, how we could develop these skills and develop THEM, the long-term return for them and the world would be incredible. And, perhaps most importantly, we realized that the students who needed this kind of investment the most - these kinds of opportunities to develop these skills - were probably the students we were working with the least: students from low-income communities (and predominantly communities of color) who might not have the capacity to raise the most money. So, we created Legacy to do just that: To help students develop these skills, become leaders TODAY, and change their world. Our world.

Can you tell us about the opportunities you provide through the Legacy Youth Leadership program?
Legacy provides free year-round program opportunities like our Leadership and Speaking Programs, which are roughly six-week courses that run all school year long from August through June. These programs teach students how to use their TIME, their MONEY, their VOICE, and their VOTE to change the world. We also offer our Mentoring program where students who have completed one of the two aforementioned courses have the opportunity to be paired with badass adult mentors who are real working professionals (often senior leaders from incredible companies) who meet with them for nine months to help students reach their goals. We also offer shorter opportunities like our annual two-day Legacy Summit, which is one part Summer Camp, one part Festival, and one part United Nations General Assembly! This conference-style event brings together world-class Keynote Speakers, skills-based Workshops, art installations, music, performances, and community service into an incredible 48 hours. Students in our programs are also eligible for academic scholarships and more.

We are in a weird political climate where we do have youth who are more interested in the world and activism, but our government continues to be run by old white men. How do you see this changing in the future? How can we get more younger voices into the mix?
We're already seeing it happen! From newly elected officials like Maxwell Frost (the first ever Gen Z Member of Congress) to the fact that we have more Asian American representatives and LGBTQIA+ elected representatives than we ever have before (certainly more than when I was growing up). The landscape of government IS becoming more youthful and diverse and more and more people can see themselves reflected back in our leadership. We have a long way to go, but as crazy as it sounds, I am actually optimistic about young people's voices in the mix of politics and how that movement will undoubtedly continue in the future. To your question of how to get more younger voices in the mix, though, I think we need to continue to educate young people about the power they have NOW (not just when they're older) and continue to invest in programs and movements working to make participation in government more accessible to young people.

What is some advice you wish someone told you when you were younger?
Don't wait. Start now. Fail earlier. Learn faster. You don't have to be older, you don't have to have more money, and you don't have to have a higher education to change the world.

Where do you see yourself several years down the road? Do you have any other projects you are itching to start?
There are SEVERAL projects I want to work on. You'll just have to wait and see. ;)

What are some ways people can get more involved in the water crisis and Legacy Youth Leadership within their community?
Bring Legacy's programs to your school! They're free! Start a fundraiser for Thirst Project. Just $25 gives one person clean water for life!

It has been a crazy past few years, how have you been staying positive?
My family, my friends, my dogs, and my faith have all been lifesavers these past few years. I would be nowhere without my community. And my dogs. <3

We see that you are obsessed with sharks and have caged-dived with them! So cool! What started this obsession? Do you have a favorite experience from this?
I have just always been obsessed with sharks. Ever since I was a little kid I have been fascinated by them. I actually got to host this activism-based news show called "Aspireist" for HLN where I got to dive WITHOUT a cage with tiger sharks, lemon sharks, and reef sharks in the Bahamas to work toward shark conservation. That is one of my favorite life experiences.

What is your motto in life?
Love with reckless abandon. Leave others better than you found them.

To know more about Seth Maxwell follow him via the links below:
Instagram: @sethmaxwell1
Instagram: @thirstproject
www.thirstproject.org
Instagram: @legacyyouthleadership
www.legacyyouthleadership.org

Seth Maxwell - Saving the Planet One Drop at a Time