Rachel Peletz

Rachel oversees Aquaya’s strategic direction, sustainable growth, and execution of its mission to build the evidence base for water, sanitation, and hygiene development. She joined Aquaya in 2012 and led the team in Nairobi, Kenya, for five years before returning to the United States. She has extensive water and sanitation experience, having collaborated with partners from more than 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

Prior to joining Aquaya, Rachel was a research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and an international technical advisor for the Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology in Canada. Her doctoral research included a randomized, controlled trial of a safe water intervention to evaluate health impacts on young children born to HIV-positive mothers in Zambia. With more than 30 peer-reviewed publications, she brings an interdisciplinary research approach that combines engineering, public health, nutrition, microbiology, and economics.

Rachel holds a PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, an MEng from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a BS in environmental engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.