Our Story

SINCE OUR FOUNDING IN 2016, CURRENT HAS PUT WATER INNOVATION FRONT AND CENTER AS AN ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND SOLUTION TO A DEEPENING CLIMATE CRISIS.

We’ve helped raised over $58M dollars to support water innovation and economic development; launched 11 technology pilots; supported 40+ water tech startups and companies; and educated more than 40,000 people through our events and convenings. 

Chicago is our sweet, freshwater home, but our partnerships stretch across Illinois, the Great Lakes region, and the world.


— Rahm Emanuel, former mayor of Chicago 

Kalindi Parikh of Current speaking at Chicago Water Week event held at 1871.

Companies and communities on the forefront of preventing water crises will win. Our job is to ensure that the Great Lakes region becomes a global leader in protecting our abundant, but finite, fresh water resources from both pollution and misuse.



Staff

Strategic Advisers

Technical Advisers

Venkat Atluri
Richard Assmus
MarySue Barrett
Michael Fassnacht
Dr. Joanna Groden
Randy Connor
Paul K. Kearns
Dr. Steven Kloos
Andy Martin
Dr. Susan Martinis
Dr. Nadya Mason
Brian Perkovich
Dr. Eric Perreault
Andy Richardson
Thru Shivakumar
Dr. Steven Kloos
John Robinson
Dr. Lindsay Birt
Mark Bertler
Michael Reardon
Dr. Terry Mah
Dr. May Wu
Todd Fein
Chris Sosnowski
Dr. Dev Gavaskar
Dr. Rafael Simon
Pierre Côté, Ph.D.
Dr. Kam Law

Current and the NSF I-Corps Hub: Great Lakes Region are partnering together on a water specific cohort for the I-Corps JUMPSTART Program.

Please review the complete Program Overview, which includes a program description, selection criteria, and expectations outlined below before completing this application.

he I-Corps Program is time-intensive, as is the application process itself. Applicants should be confident in their ability to fully commit to the program before applying. The schedule for the program will be five virtual classes on 9/27, 10/13, 10/27, 11/10, and 11/17 from 10 AM to 12 PM Central Standard Time on Zoom.

Applications are due by September 19th. If you have any questions, please contact: ndudnik@currentwater.org and jgoodell@currentwater.org


Current seeks proposals from qualified financial professionals or firms to provide full-service accounting and fractional CFO support.

Key priorities include: payroll cost allocations, grant invoicing and reporting, monthly/quarterly financial reports, monthly and year-end closings, bookkeeping oversight, financial consulting, process improvement, and oversight of federal contracts. 

Submission details
Proposals (PDF format preferred) must be emailed to Brian Spangle (bspangle@currentwater.org) by Friday, September 26, 2025, 11:59 PM CST.

Info session:

Join us for an information session on Thursday, September 18 at 1 PM CST. We’ll walk through Current’s accounting RFP and answer questions to support proposal development. Register here.