Leadership
Encompassing many years of experience across a diverse set of disciplines, Planet Water Foundation’s leadership team plays a key role in ensuring the organization continues to make a key impact in the fight against water poverty.
Leadership
Mark Steele
Founder & CEO
Before establishing Planet Water Foundation in 2009, Mark resided in the Asia-Pacific region for 18 years where he worked to establish the operational footprint and regional business for two global companies – most recently as Chief Operating Officer, Tele Atlas Asia-Pacific – the digital mapping subsidiary of leading navigation systems provider TomTom, and prior to that as President, ITT China – a global leader in water and wastewater products and services.
During his time in Asia, Mark also led ITT’s emergency response efforts in Sri Lanka in the wake of the 2004 Tsunami and served as a member of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and as Chairman of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. Mark holds a degree in International Studies (Business) and Japanese from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (USA) during which time he also studied at Shizuoka University in Japan.
Kristen Steele
President
Education has been a big part of Kristen’s life for the past 16 years. With a degree in Education from Creighton University, her career path has led to teaching elementary school, developing corporate training programs, and then operating her own company while residing in Scottsdale, Arizona. Taking a dive into Planet Water as our Director of Education was a natural move. Her passion for education has enabled her to develop and implement our Water-Health & Hygiene Education Program into elementary schools in rural villages across nine countries in the developing world.
May Heyamoto
Chief Financial Officer
May joined us in June 2021 with over ten years of experience in various financial capacities in previous roles as Assistant Director of Finance and Financial Controller. May holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from Whitworth University (US), and a Master’s degree in Accountancy from Gonzaga University (US).
John Deotrakul
Chief Development Officer
John joined Planet Water Foundation in July 2020 and brings over 15 years of experience in senior marketing roles, having worked most recently in regional and global roles at Expedia and Starwood Hotels & Resorts. John holds a Bachelors degree with honors from SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London.
Regional Leadership
Sergio Frias
General Manager, Latin America
Sergio is a Mexican native and joined Planet Water Foundation in 2019. He currently manages our regional operations in Latin America. Sergio’s experience managing and coordinating multidisciplinary and multicultural teams, and finding process improvements has driven his passion into working to provide clean, safe, drinking water for society’s common good. Sergio holds a Degree in Industrial Engineering with a Black Belt and TPM Instructor Certifications.
Tieu Duc Cuong
General Manager, Southeast Asia
After graduating in 2007 from Hanoi University with a degree in Civil Engineering, Cuong held various engineering and commercial management positions in Cimas Engineering Co., Ltd. including a two year assignment in Taipei, Taiwan. From Cimas, Cuong joined Organo Vietnam as Sales Manager where he focused on expanding the company’s business in Vietnam before moving into a Project Management role where he applied his engineering and project management experience in overseeing two wastewater plants in Greater Hanoi.
King Melchor Sison
Global Disaster Response
King joined Planet Water Foundation in June 2022 to lead our Philippines operations and disaster response work.
A civil engineer with many years of experience in the field, he has gained extensive experience in disaster management, having led deployments of emergency water filtration systems in response to natural disasters. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he was the lead in the establishment of molecular laboratories of the Philippine Red Cross, which played a significant role in helping the government address the challenges of the pandemic. At Planet Water, King oversaw our response work in Turkey after the deadly earthquakes that occurred in February 2023.
King Melchor Sison
Philippines and Global Disaster Response
Before establishing Planet Water Foundation in 2009, Mark resided in the Asia-Pacific region for 18 years where he worked to establish the operational footprint and regional business for two global companies – most recently as Chief Operating Officer, Tele Atlas Asia-Pacific – the digital mapping subsidiary of leading navigation systems provider TomTom, and prior to that as President, ITT China – a global leader in water and wastewater products and services.
During his time in Asia, Mark also led ITT’s emergency response efforts in Sri Lanka in the wake of the 2004 Tsunami and served as a member of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and as Chairman of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. Mark holds a degree in International Studies (Business) and Japanese from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (USA) during which time he also studied at Shizuoka University in Japan.
Ishak Kasum
Indonesia
Before establishing Planet Water Foundation in 2009, Mark resided in the Asia-Pacific region for 18 years where he worked to establish the operational footprint and regional business for two global companies – most recently as Chief Operating Officer, Tele Atlas Asia-Pacific – the digital mapping subsidiary of leading navigation systems provider TomTom, and prior to that as President, ITT China – a global leader in water and wastewater products and services.
During his time in Asia, Mark also led ITT’s emergency response efforts in Sri Lanka in the wake of the 2004 Tsunami and served as a member of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and as Chairman of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. Mark holds a degree in International Studies (Business) and Japanese from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (USA) during which time he also studied at Shizuoka University in Japan.
Prashant Deshpande
India
Before establishing Planet Water Foundation in 2009, Mark resided in the Asia-Pacific region for 18 years where he worked to establish the operational footprint and regional business for two global companies – most recently as Chief Operating Officer, Tele Atlas Asia-Pacific – the digital mapping subsidiary of leading navigation systems provider TomTom, and prior to that as President, ITT China – a global leader in water and wastewater products and services.
During his time in Asia, Mark also led ITT’s emergency response efforts in Sri Lanka in the wake of the 2004 Tsunami and served as a member of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and as Chairman of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. Mark holds a degree in International Studies (Business) and Japanese from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (USA) during which time he also studied at Shizuoka University in Japan.
Board of Directors
Mark Steele
Chairman and CEO
Before establishing Planet Water Foundation in 2009, Mark resided in the Asia-Pacific region for 18 years where he worked to establish the operational footprint and regional business for two global companies – most recently as Chief Operating Officer, Tele Atlas Asia-Pacific – the digital mapping subsidiary of leading navigation systems provider TomTom, and prior to that as President, ITT China – a global leader in water and wastewater products and services.
During his time in Asia, Mark also led ITT’s emergency response efforts in Sri Lanka in the wake of the 2004 Tsunami and served as a member of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and as Chairman of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. Mark holds a degree in International Studies (Business) and Japanese from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (USA) during which time he also studied at Shizuoka University in Japan.
Nick Hill
Vice Chairman
Nick is a native of the UK and has resided in the United States for the last 10 years where he most recently was President of ITT Corporation’s Motion and Flow Group and Senior Vice President of ITT Corp. Prior to this, Nick headed up a number of businesses within ITT where he first became aware of the crisis around water quality and its affect on underdeveloped countries. Nick was the initiator for ITT’s successful philanthropy program Watermark which has pledged millions of dollars to support NPO’s in their struggle to bring clean water to those most in need. Nick also headed ITT’s Emergency Relief Program designed to respond quickly to natural disasters where ITT’s equipment and expertise can rapidly bring much needed help to the affected areas. Nick is a graduate of the Farnborough Institute of Technology.
Kristen Steele
President and Secretary
Education has been a big part of Kristen’s life for the past 16 years. With a degree in Education from Creighton University, her career path has led to teaching elementary school, developing corporate training programs, and then operating her own company while residing in Scottsdale, Arizona. Taking a dive into Planet Water as our Director of Education was a natural move. Her passion for education has enabled her to develop and implement our Water-Health & Hygiene Education Program into elementary schools in rural villages across nine countries in the developing world.
Mainor Vega
Director
Mainor is a native of Costa Rica and moved to the US at an early age. Mainor has over 35 years experience in consultative water treatment sales, engineering, and design. He is currently the Director of Water Treatment for Water Equipment Technologies, a brand of Motor Controls Inc., headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Mainor has also worked as the Special Projects Sales Manager for Doosan Hydro Technologies, directing multi-discipline water treatment solutions. In addition, Mainor has held several key positions with Xylem’s water treatment groups as Treatment Sales Manager, Latin America Northern Region for Filtration, Biological, and Disinfection engineering solutions. Mainor has also participated in several voluntary missions to assist Planet Water Foundation through Xylem’s Watermark program. Mainor was on the ground in Puerto Rico directing relief efforts after Hurricane Maria and also traveled to Lombok, Indonesia, after the 2018 earthquake to assist Planet Water’s disaster relief efforts.
