Albert Cho (Al) is an advocate for equitable access to water and wastewater services. He currently is on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board, advising the agency on ways to lower costs while increasing investments in environmental and public health protection, and has also served on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Environmental Technologies Trade Advisory Committee. He has been a Millennium Fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and is a member of the Stimson Center’s Loomis Innovation Council. Al currently serves as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Reserves, providing expertise on environmental issues essential to social stability and prosperity.

Al is currently is Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy and External Affairs Officer at Xylem. In this role, he leads global strategy and business development, government and industry relations and communications and public affairs. Working in partnership with customers, colleagues, communities and shareholders, Al and his team develop strategies to achieve Xylem’s vision to create both social and economic value. His over 20 years of experience with leadership and policy include positions as: Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary at the U.S. Department of State, where he was a White House Fellow and served on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff;  Executive at Cisco Systems, where he led innovation efforts related to energy and the environment; and positions at McKinsey & Company, where he helped launch the Sustainability and Resources Practice, and the United Nations, where he worked on a global plan for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Within the water sector, Al is on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Water Alliance, the Canadian Water Network, and the Rural Community Assistance Partnership, as well as on the Programme Committee for Singapore International Water Week. He is an Honorary Research Associate of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

In addition to his work in water, Al is an advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, serving as executive sponsor for Xylem’s LGBTQ+ and Allies Network.