Well & good
Weyessa ‘Ace’ McAlister ’20 founds nonprofit that funds wells in home country of Ethiopia
By Andrew J. Concatelli
Weyessa “Ace” McAlister ’20 won’t stop until he gets to the finish line.
His determination has been evident throughout his life, from learning English at 13 to completing a long-distance race with one shoe as a runner for Trinity.
McAlister now uses his unyielding commitment to lead a national nonprofit organization that builds water wells in his home country of Ethiopia.
McAlister founded the first chapter of H2OPE as a student organization at Trinity in 2018 (the name, a play on the chemical formula for water, is pronounced simply as “hope”). He later launched Bridge H2OPE to guide chapters across the United States as they raise funds and awareness to bring safe drinking water to rural Ethiopian communities. Bridge H2OPE was granted 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2023.
The cause is deeply personal to McAlister; he lost his father and youngest brother to waterborne illness in an area where people trek up to an hour to collect drinking water. “It’s not easy traveling that long for clean water and then carrying it back home, so we relied on dirty water sources nearby,” McAlister says. “Girls and young women were responsible for this, and so they weren’t given the opportunity to go to school. I saw the burden this had on the people in my community.”
After a childhood spent mostly with his grandparents, McAlister ended up at an orphanage and was adopted as a teenager by American parents in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. “My junior year in high school, I wanted to reconnect to my village and kept hearing that more people had died because of the water. I felt that I really needed to do something,” he says. McAlister launched a GoFundMe page and partnered with the nonprofit Sisters for Peace to bring portable water filters back to Ethiopia and to educate people about waterborne illness.
That first rewarding experience led McAlister to a new goal while he was a Trinity student: raising money to build sustainable water wells. “They cost more, but a lot of people can benefit from them,” he says. “They bring the water source closer to the people.”
McAlister expanded his knowledge of water and water conservation as an environmental science major, and he raised awareness and money for H2OPE by sharing his personal experiences. “The Trinity community has always been very generous and very kind. That’s one of the things that motivated me to keep going,” he says. “Students heard my story and wanted to help by volunteering or contributing meal swipes at the dining hall to donate.”
When John Michael Mason ’12, M’14, assistant professor of physical education and director of cross country and track and field, recruited McAlister as a runner for the Bantams, he sensed that McAlister’s drive would take him far. “Some people have ideas and they don’t know how to shape that vision, but in his case the vision was so clear,” Mason says.
As a natural leader and eventually the cross country team captain, McAlister rallied his teammates around the clean-water cause, with many of them joining H2OPE. “His energy’s infectious,” Mason says. “I think people gravitate toward Ace because of his positive essence. He has been through so much in his life, and he takes few things for granted.”
The first well funded by H2OPE was established in 2021 in the Wolaita Sodo Zone of southern Ethiopia through a partnership with Drop of Water, a nonprofit based in Addis Ababa that builds wells. “When I went there, people gathered in the street waiting for me—the guy who brought them the water,” McAlister says. “I give credit to all the people who have been part of this cause at Trinity.”
Three wells have been funded by H2OPE since 2021. In addition to building the wells, contributions are used to train community members to maintain the sites and equipment.
McAlister relates his dedication to Bridge H2OPE to his experiences as a runner. “A steady pace wins the race,” he says. “I never try to rush things; I just work hard and believe that I’ll be successful.” Before starting a new project, McAlister consults with others who know more about the subject. “I have close friends and family I rely on for a push and words of wisdom. There’s a quote I always have in my head: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.’
“I like to set achievable, smart goals for myself, but I always look ahead, and I never give up,” he adds. For example, even when McAlister lost a shoe in a rainy, muddy race at the Division III NCAA Cross Country National Championship, he still finished with one bare foot. “I worked so hard that I couldn’t end my season by stopping. I still had my foot, so I kept going,” he says. “I always try to find ways through challenges.”
McAlister occasionally shares his philosophies through motivational speeches that he gives to students, stressing the importance of leadership and what it means to be a responsible citizen. He has received accolades for his work, including the Trinity College Environmental Science Program Activism Award and the Hartford HealthCare Courage Award in 2020 and a Young, Gifted & Green 40 Under 40 Award presented by Black Millennials 4 Flint in 2023.
In addition to working as the director of community conservation at the Potomac Conservancy in Silver Springs, Maryland, McAlister focuses his attention on expanding Bridge H2OPE by applying for grants and assisting new chapters at other colleges. At the same time, Trinity’s H2OPE chapter continues to be guided by student leaders [see sidebar] with the support of the College community.
Joe Barber, director of Trinity’s Office of Community Service and Civic Engagement, says, “H2OPE fits in with our office’s mission, as raising money so that people can have safe drinking water is certainly a very important community service. Even though H2OPE started as a small college student initiative, it has had a big and positive impact on the lives of real people.”
McAlister sees that impact firsthand whenever he returns to Ethiopia to visit the sites. “More than 1,200 people have access to clean water through these wells. I’m really happy to see the joy, relief, gratitude, and the sense of hope in these communities,” he says. “It makes me feel like I can’t give up what I started. I’ve always had a passion to give back; water has been my focus and always will be.”
For more information, please visit Bridge H2ope.
H2OPE on campusWhile Weyessa “Ace” McAlister ’20 serves as an adviser for Trinity’s chapter of H2OPE, Bantams on campus continue the student organization’s work. The chapter was led this year by Tobias L’Esperance ’24, president; Colleen Quinn ’24 and Rory Trani ’24, co-vice presidents; and Kevin Rogers ’26, treasurer. “Since Ace graduated, we’ve built several hand-pump wells, which cost between $5,200 and $7,000 each, depending on location,” says L’Esperance. “To raise money, we do things like setting up tables at Trinity sporting events to sell handcrafted goods that Ace brings back from Ethiopia.” The group’s goal is to fund one new well per academic year. Beyond raising funds, H2OPE’s other mission is to educate about the need for safe drinking water in Ethiopia and around the world. Trani says, “We hold advocacy events on campus and in the Hartford community to speak to different groups. We want to make people aware of water rights issues and how they can take small steps to contribute to water security.” Active enrollment in H2OPE at Trinity has doubled in the past year, according to L’Esperance. “I love this work because I see actual effects happening and things getting done,” he says. “It’s really easy to make a connection with Ace’s vision; his idea comes across so vividly,” L’Esperance adds. “As Peter Finucane put it, where most people see a big problem and think it can never be solved, Ace saw the problem, believes it’s solvable, and gets to work. It’s something that’s really inspiring about Ace that a lot of students connect with.” |
Fundraising for H2ope: Handcrafted Ethiopian Goods
Fundraising for H2ope: Handcrafted Ethiopian Goods
