Maude Barlow is the National Chairperson of The Council of Canadians, Canada’s largest citizen’s advocacy organization with members and chapters across Canada as well as the co-founder of the Blue Planet Project, which works to stop commodification of the world’s water. She is also a Director with the International Forum on Globalization, a San Francisco-based research and education institution opposed to economic globalization and Senior Advisor on Water to the President of the United Nations General Assembly. Maude also chairs the board of Washington-based Food and Water Watch and is a Councilor with the Hamburg-based World Future Council. Maude is the recipient of seven honorary doctorates as well as many awards, including the 2005 Right Livelihood Award (known as the “Alternative Nobel”), and the 2008 Canadian Environment Award. She is also the best selling author or co-author of 16 books, including the recently released Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and The Coming Battle for the Right to Water. Most recently, Maude has been appointed as the first Senior Advisor on water issues by Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, President of the 63rd session of the United Nations.