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In the marshlands of Mindanao, entire villages float on water yet struggle to drink it. For Augustus Nicko Bas, a civil engineer turned social entrepreneur, this paradox became his life’s mission: building water resilience where it is most urgently needed.
As co-founder of O1nnovations Rainwater Solutions Corp., Augustus designs rainwater harvesting and sanitation systems with and for climate-vulnerable communities. His work addresses not only the water crisis but also questions of dignity, equity, and survival.
Today, as a 2025 Global Fellow in Courage, Augustus is deepening his leadership and scaling impact, ensuring that communities once overlooked are now shaping their own solutions to thrive.
His courage lies in choosing persistence over ease, and community transformation over profit — trusting that true success is measured not in money, but in lives changed.
Even before mentoring begins, I already feel a significant shift in my leadership. The fellowship has helped me strengthen self-awareness and better understand how to engage with others. By strengthening me as a person, GFiC has also strengthened my passion for impact.
Courage means choosing to get better by even just 1% every day. It’s focusing on one community to create lasting change rather than chasing short-lived “big impact.” To me, courage is accepting the risk that if our communities thrive, our work may no longer be needed. Losing money but gaining change, to me, is an act of courage.
I am addressing the water crisis. In Agusan Marsh, families live surrounded by water yet lack safe access to it. Without clean water, health, education, and livelihood all suffer. Water is the first step to unlocking opportunity.
We work with floating Indigenous and marginalized families in Agusan Marsh. Solutions are co-designed, with the community trained to manage and sustain systems. It’s not just about providing technology, but building ownership.
I’ll never forget when we taught families to build simple water filters. For the first time, they saw clear water — and their joy was unforgettable. In that moment, I knew this was the work I wanted to dedicate myself to.
I often canoe through the floating community and imagine a future where people are happy, healthy, and thriving. That vision keeps me moving forward.
Augustus’s leadership reflects the essence of GFiC: courage that transforms systemic challenges into community-driven solutions. From the floating villages of the Philippines to the global stage, he is proving that even the most overlooked communities hold the blueprint for resilience.
