Our Team
Evelyn Wendel
FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Evelyn Wendel founded WeTap in 2008 to improve appreciation, access and use of public drinking fountains as a means to reduce dependence on single use plastic water bottles and improve public health. She is a devoted mother of two and discovered the lack of consistently appealing and functioning drinking fountains while bringing her kids to parks around the City of LA and elsewhere. Since WeTap was introduced in 2009 at Maria Shriver’s Women’s Conference in Long Beach, CA, she developed technology to map and access drinking fountains and filling stations. WeTap continues to grow to include a large group of supporters and partners. WeTap initiated the launch of Tap Water Day in 2015 with the CA State Resource Control Board, AWWA, LADWP and Mayor Eric Garcetti who declared “clean drinking water is a basic human right.” Prior to devoting her energy to WeTap, Evelyn worked at Paramount Pictures for close to 10 years and produced the historical and culturally significant documentary “The Spirit in Architecture: John Lautner” that has screened in museums and universities around the globe. A lifelong resident of Los Angeles, Evelyn attended Fairfax High School, graduated from UCLA and has been a yoga practitioner for 3 decades. Evelyn@WeTap.org
Adam Weston
TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANT
Adam Weston has many years of experience developing, creating, maintaining, consulting with a variety of companies on website, apps, games and overall tech support. Weston has an Apple Technician certification and runs his own app development company called PalisadianApps as well as being a technology director and teacher at Atam. For further information about Atam and PalisadianApps, please click here. Weston is born and raised in Los Angeles, graduated from Palisades High School and loves the ocean and hiking.
Brian Sheridan
ADVISOR
Brian Sheridan is an experienced nonprofit professional with over 10 years in the field. He is currently the Development and Marketing Manager for the Council for Watershed Health, Southern California’s trusted hub for watershed education, research and analysis. In his role, he spearheaded the growth of outreach, funding and events. Brian was the founder of the Environmental Funders and Media Forum. Prior to joining the team at the Council, Brian was the Development and Marketing Manager for Heritage Square Museum. In this role, Brian oversaw the growth of the museum from a sleepy outpost to one of the Los Angeles’ landmark historic destinations. Heritage Square was named the number one museum in Los Angeles three years in a row on Fox 11. While at Heritage Square Museum, Brian co-founded the LA Heritage Alliance, an effort to bring together the museum, history and preservation community around issues of mutual interest. LA Heritage Day, the culminating event of the LA Heritage Alliance, annually brought together thousands of visitors to celebrate the region’s history. Brian currently serves on the boards of the Lummis Day Community Foundation and WeTap.
Susan Wrenn
ADVISOR
Susan Wrenn has spent her professional career devoted to the strategic marketing of film, television, music and new media content. In her twenty-year tenure at Paramount Pictures, as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Media Director for the film group, she created and executed the media campaigns for 300+ feature films, including Titanic, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Runaway Bride, What Women Want, Wayne’s World, Save the Last Dance, Jackass, Rugrats, Kings of Comedy, Juice, Beavis and Butthead and many, many more. As Media Director, she was responsible for all investments in television, radio, print, new media, and out-of-home assets. In overseeing the planning and execution of $300+ million a year in media and promotional activities, Wrenn developed and executed upfront market strategies as well as individual film strategies for all releases. Sitting on the Viacom Marketing Council for many years, she brought the NBA into movie marketing with Mission Impossible and conducted Viacomʼs first cross-company audit of media assets. Wrenn is currently CEO of emPOWERme.tv and theStream.tv, and Chief Strategy Officer of Zylogic Media. An experienced event organizer and strategist, she helped design and launch the Producerʼs Guild of Americaʼs annual Produced By Conference in Los Angeles. She co-produced KTLAʼs 75th Anniversary, which garnered a local Emmy nomination and she has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1994. Last year she was nominated for a Streamy Award for Secrets of the Red Carpet which she created and executive produced. Wrenn teaches and lectures for USC, UCLA and Columbia College Chicago where she has been an instructor for seven years in the undergraduate and graduate programs. She is a passionate advocate for creativity and the power of storytelling, and a firm believer that content is king.
Jonathon Parfrey
ADVISOR
Jonathan Parfrey is executive director of Climate Resolve. Appointed in 2009, Parfrey just wrapped up a tenure as a commissioner at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He is also a visiting lecturer at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. Parfrey is immediate past-president of the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters. He is a founder and Vice Chair of CicLAvia, the popular street event. He is also a founder of the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability and the statewide Alliance of Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation. From 2007-2011, Parfrey served as director of the GREEN LA Coalition. From 1994 to 2007, he served as Los Angeles director of Nobel Peace Prize-winning organization, Physicians for Social Responsibility. In 2003, Mr. Parfrey was appointed to Governor Schwarzenegger’s Environmental Policy Team. In 1992, Parfrey received the Paul S. Delp Award for Outstanding Service, Peace and Social Justice. In 2002 he was awarded a Durfee Foundation Fellowship. In 2010, Parfrey received a Stanton Fellowship. In 2011, he was appointed a Senior Fellow at the USC Marshall School of Business. In 2013, he was a visiting lecturer at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.
Christine Ow
Director of Campus Relations
Christine Ow is a third-year student currently studying at the University of California, Los Angeles, majoring in political science, while concurrently pursuing minors in Environmental Systems and Society, Korean, and Global Studies. She is an international student from Singapore, which is where her water story begins. Coming from a country that does not have a naturally abundant freshwater source, water scarcity is a concept she is familiar with, but water security is one she took for granted. She became aware of the issues of water scarcity after coming to Los Angeles and learning about the inequities of water access in the state of California. She was further exposed to the power of water when she interned for a Culver City-based nonprofit the Samburu Project where she witnessed how access to water can transform lives and bring about development to less developed communities. These experiences have fueled her passion to advocate for the power of water and work towards one day entering the water industry to continue harnessing the power of water for change. As the Director of Campus Relations, Christine's main role is as the main liaison for students and campus institutions to further WeTap's reach into campus communities all over the country. Christine is very active outside of her coursework, being heavily involved in various extracurricular activities. She is the current President of the United Nations Association at UCLA, an Event Coordinator at UNICEF at UCLA, is also an Intern with UCLA's Burkle Center for International Relations.