Our Team

James DeWitt Wilde
President/Founder

Having been on many expeditions to remote areas of the world, James has had direct contact with the growing global water crisis. As a result, he founded TWF & Global H2O in 2009, working to offset many of the water and sanitation problems around the world. James has an MBA in International Business & Finance from The University of South Carolina and an undergraduate degree from North Carolina State University in Marketing. James is a passionate mountaineer and successfully completed the 7 summits on October 19, 2010. His book, MOVING MOUNTAINS, documents the journey and the creation of Global H2O along with his close friends, David Simons, Chris Wooten and David Humphrey.

David J. Simons
Member at Large/Founder

David Simons grew up in upstate New York and graduated from The State University of New York at Albany with a degree in Mathematics. His career at IBM lasted over 40 years, where he held various management roles in both the USA and Europe. David has vast experience and leadership in other non-profits and volunteer-based organizations (Capital City Jaycees- Founding member, held several offices including President; American International School of Nice, France- President of Parents’ Association; Habitat for Humanity-Participated in construction of 8 houses; Christ Church volunteer; Raleigh Sail & Power Squadron- Commander, Treasurer – 5 years, Administrative Officer and Executive Officer.

Chris Wooten
Administrative Officer/Founder

Chris is a UX Design Director and manages the marketing and the storefront design teams at Ally Bank in the Charlotte, NC office. He attended Elon University and The University of North Carolina Charlotte. Before working at Ally he ran his own company Modry Design Studio for 10 years. He is an avid traveler and has always concentrated on giving back in any way he can. He has over 20 years of experience in the design and marketing field and tries to use that talent in helping to grow Global H2O. An avid cyclist he also started and ran one of the largest race teams in the east coast and also was the co-founder of the NoDa Grand Prix which is a bike race that also serves as a fundraiser for Global H2O.

David Humphrey
Founding Member

Based in Munich, Germany, David W. Humphrey is director of European research for a leading analyst firm. He was educated in North America and Europe and holds an engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology as well as a joint MBA from the Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (Vienna) and the University of South Carolina. His hobbies range from music to film-making to flying sports. A displaced New Englander, David has lived in Germany for over 25 years.

Amy Klabon
Country Manager USA

Amy is based in the United States and has been a resident of North Carolina for over two decades. 25 years ago, she began her passion to give back through the nonprofit sector, by volunteering as a Candy Striper at Brandywine Hospital in Pennsylvania. She has been involved in over 36 nonprofit projects and programs ranging from national NGO’s to the local women’s shelter. She emphasizes her passion for non-profit work by finding organizations where her two children, Elsie and Coco, can also actively become involved and create/initiate programs within their local community. Amy’s educational background in Political Science has earned her accolades such as Presidential Classroom Scholar and she was a National Dean’s List Scholarship Recipient. Her penchant for politics and law have led to enriching career experiences such as working for Steve Forbes, Dr. Walter Lackey (Political Science, North Carolina State University) and a NYC Criminal Defense Firm, Kron and Associates. In 2018, Amy traveled to Uganda for Global H2O where she fell in love with the people, the refugee camps, the beauty of Uganda and of course seeing the undeniably life saving impact that Global H2O has had on so many lives in the region.

Robert Shaw
Country Manager UK/Founding Member

Rob is based in London and has been involved in the UK arm of Global H2O since inception. Rob got to know Jamie through friends in Munich and succumbed to Jamie’s powers of persuasion to set up the UK arm in 2012. Rob is joined by Doug Rowe and Scott Lucas on the board of Global H2O UK. When not raising money for new boreholes, Rob works as CFO for a private debt fund and advisor for a global macro hedge fund. He is a Chartered Accountant and a graduate of the University of Cambridge and the University of New South Wales.

Boris Terwey
Country Manager Germany

Boris met Jamie during the first Global H2O Thanks Giving dinner in Munich. Several years later in 2018, he and his friend Arndt Gaube raised the money for a well in Africa during the Winter Baltic Sea Circle Ralley. A year later, both travelled to Uganda to experience the actual drilling of the well and decided to further support Global H2O in Germany. In April 2020, Boris was appointed as Country Manager Germany. He holds a diploma as Media Consultant of the Technical University Berlin and is the CEO of the digital agency Interone. Boris lives with his family in Munich.

Kory Wilmont
CFO – Group USA

Kory grew up in Decatur, Illinois and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelors of Art in Urban & Regional Planning. He went on to obtain his Masters in Public Administration and a Certificate in Community Preparedness and Disaster Mitigation from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For the past decade, Kory has worked for AECOM, an environmental engineering firm, in the Raleigh, North Carolina office. Focusing in the field of urban planning, Kory has worked for federal, state, and local government agencies on infrastructure projects aimed at building stronger and more resilient communities. In his spare time, you’ll find Kory traveling, hiking, or catching a movie at the theater.

Derek Drayer
COO – Group USA

Derek is currently a Financial Manager at Red e App, an early stage SaaS company. He grew up in Kentucky and has a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Elon University and a Master’s degree from The Lisbon MBA. Previously he has worked in financial planning & analysis roles at Credit Suisse and at Teamworks. In his free time Derek enjoys to travel, cook, and play soccer. He hopes that his small contribution through Global H2O can help fight the global water crisis.

Carolyn Nickols
Founding Member

Carolyn Nickols grew up in Central Illinois and graduated from The University of Illinois. With a degree in French, she was a stewardess for Pan American World Airways and subsequently worked for Air France and American Express. Carolyn has traveled extensively and has always been committed to giving back. She is a member of Delta Gamma, the focus being “doing good”, and has volunteered for the chapter at North Carolina State University for 12 years as an advisor to the collegians and on the House Corporation Board. She has been involved with other charitable organizations such as Service for Sight (a Delta Gamma initiative), Christ Church Outreach Program, SPCA Wake County, Habitat for Humanity, and Global H2O’s programs at the Raleigh Rescue Mission and Adopt-a-Shore community service for North Carolina.

Chrystal Wooten
Member at Large

Chrystal is Senior Vice President on the Enterprise Social Media team for Bank of America Corporation. She is a social media creative strategist for Signature Enterprise Marketing campaigns such as (RED) that fights to end HIV/AIDS in Africa, Military that supports financial education, hiring and career-advancement opportunities for our Veteran communities and Student Leaders that works with community-minded high school juniors and seniors on skills, employment and community service opportunities. She also oversees the Bank of America Instagram, Twitter and Youtube Accounts. Prior to Bank of America, Chrystal began her career in healthcare as a respiratory therapist at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. She was part of the air and ground transport team specializing in the Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care Units. After a few years she decided to focus on her creative side and commenced her marketing journey. Chrystal launched a small, full-service boutique interactive marketing agency in 2004. She joined the bank in 2010 and has been happily part of the social media team ever since.

Dwen Andrews
Member at Large

Dwen Andrews grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana and lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. She graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Spanish and earned her Paralegal degree from Meredith College. Fluent in Spanish, she lived in Madrid, Spain for one year. She works at Re-Entry Inc. as a Bilingual Case Manager. She is on the Board of Directors at Raleigh Sail and Power Squadron, an organization espousing community service, safe boating education, and social activities. Dwen is active in the Raleigh Ski and Outing Club and volunteers on a variety of civic activities.

Mary Clare Freeman
Member at Large

Mary Clare Freeman is a Raleigh, North Carolina native and currently works as Director of Institutional Relations at Alamo Solutions, based in Madrid, Spain. She is a former Special Educator, having worked across the United States and in Europe, with a focus on students within marginalized populations for approximately a decade. Mary Clare was a Fulbright Scholar to Spain, where she conducted research on the Gitano population’s access to disability services and educational rights. She is a proud two-time graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a graduate of Loyola Marymount University. She is a former Los Angeles Teach for America Corps’ Member (2010). She also serves as Committee Chair of the Gibraltar-Raleigh Sister Cities partnership.

Stefan Ufer
Director of Technology

Stefan was transplanted from his home town of Ulm in Swabia/Germany to Chapel Hill, NC when he was accepted to grad school at UNC. After moving to Raleigh around 2001, he met Carolyn and Dave Simons through the Raleigh Sail and Power Squadron (a non-profit boating organization), where Stefan served as Secretary and webmaster. Dave and Carolyn told him and his family about the Global H2O Raleigh Octoberfest a few years ago, which ended up being a lot of fun to participate supporting at the same time a great cause. When Dave asked for help with the Global H2O website, it did not take much arm twisting for Stefan to jump in and help.

Michael Sosnowy
Founding Member

Michael has lived in numerous states around the US and three different countries. Since graduating from the University of North Carolina – Charlotte with a BA in History and Economics, his domestic and international professional experience spans industries ranging from financial services, telecom, oil and chemicals. In his off time, he can be found hiking, fishing or golfing.