Neil Gupta

Neil understood the vast inequity of water access from a young age, when he traveled with his family to visit relatives in India. He saw how many people could not simply turn on a tap to get the water they needed, which meant much of their daily lives were shaped around whether or when they could get water.

“Knowing that there are millions of people around the world who can’t get the water they need, while at the same time major corporations exploit and exacerbate that crisis in order to profit is infuriating,” he said. “All of these years later, it’s still difficult for me to wrap my head around.”

Neil came to Corporate Accountability with a biochemistry and medical research background.  He conducted research on urologic cancers at UT Southwestern Medical Center and studied biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology at the University of Tennessee. He spent his time prior to joining the organization studying treatments for kidney and bladder cancers, which led him to learn that the impact of tobacco use stretches far beyond the lungs and harms the entire body.

“I knew from that point that I wanted to spend my career taking on the forces that benefit from such intense suffering,” he said. He appreciated how Corporate Accountability’s campaigns expose and challenge those forces. After completing a research internship on the tobacco campaign and supporting the food and climate campaigns’ development, Neil joined the water team as a researcher, where he closely monitored the industry and gathered critical information to shape the campaign’s strategies and tactics.

As the water campaign director, Neil leads a team of campaigners challenging water privatization in close partnership with allies around the world. He’s proud of the impact that he’s been a part of — from exposing the role that Veolia played in the ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan to supporting the movement to challenge water privatization Lagos, Nigeria — a campaign that now serves as a model for stopping privatization on the African continent.

One of Neil’s fondest memories at Corporate Accountability is when he joined fellow team members in moving national parks to go bottled water free. The team camped out, held tap water challenges, and moved thousands of park-goers and dozens of park staff to support bottled water free national parks.