A good, solid foundation

When Nermine Khouzam-Rubin (BS Chemistry ’83, Master of Health Science ’86, MBA ’86) was younger she used to tell her parents that she wanted to grow up to be “queen of the world.”

“Because if I was queen of the world, then I could save the world,” she said.

Her father was a surgeon in Egypt and tended to those impacted by the Six-Day War between Israel and a coalition of Arab states, including Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Two years after the war, her family immigrated to the United States for a better life.

In the United States, her parents pushed for their children to pursue higher education. As the youngest of five, two of her siblings have M.D.’s, one has a J.D. and another sibling has a Ph.D.

As her father used to say: “Education is something they will never take away from you.”

With that mindset, she decided to pursue a dual master’s program to receive her master’s in business administration and her master’s in health science simultaneously.

“I had a heart for medical,” she said. “[And I thought]: two degrees are better than one.”

After graduating from the University of Florida, she worked in the healthcare industry combining her business and health background to help implement critical programs, including BayFlite, TampaBay’s life-saving helicopter emergency response service.

Eventually, she became “super mom” of the Rubin Household, raising two children, Samantha and Nathan, now ages 27 and 28 who are also proud Gators.

A devout Catholic, Khouzam-Rubin has been heavily involved in her local church. One night, she invited a visiting priest from Tanzania over for dinner. There, he spoke to her family about the struggles and hardships endured in many parts of his country.

Her daughter was inspired by the story.

The Rubin family instilled in Samantha that love, so much so that she kept saying: ‘I want to go and volunteer,’” she said.

While Khouzam-Rubin was hesitant for years, eventually Samantha convinced her to volunteer, first in 2014 at an orphanage near Mount Kilimanjaro and again in 2017 in Dodoma, Tanzania. There in Dodoma Region’s remote communities, what they witnessed firsthand, left a lasting mark, which became the catalyst to create Water 4 Mercy.

On her trip, she witnessed women walk for hours a day to collect water that was often dark and contaminated. Families suffered due to the burden of water collection with women redirecting hours of their day to finding water rather than focusing on schooling, studying or their families.

Unlike many short-term aid efforts, Water 4 Mercy is built on a sustainability-first model that prioritizes long-term impact. Each project emphasizes local ownership, training and accountability to ensure communities are equipped to manage and maintain their water systems well into the future.

By combining infrastructure with education and economic development, the organization focuses not simply on access, but on lasting transformation. Each project is remotely monitored, live and in real-time, assuring 100% success rate, eliminating the common issues faced by many aid organizations, such as breakdowns, vandalism and theft.

The organization’s name reflects Khouzam-Rubin’s belief that clean water is more than a resource — it is an act of mercy that restores dignity and hope. For her, providing water is not about charity alone, but about affirming the inherent worth of every person and giving communities the foundation they need to thrive.

“The best way to empower a woman is take a burden off of them,” she said. So, she was inspired to establish a sustainable clean water system in Tanzania.

But Khouzam-Rubin didn’t want to stop there.

“Water is noble, but water is the beginning,” she said. “When we bring in food and hope, it’s the hope that gives [them] dignity.”

Khouzam-Rubin wanted to build a good, solid foundation in villages that would allow them to become self-sustaining.

Her philosophy is this: “Don’t give a man a fish; teach them to fish.”

However, she also recognizes that you can’t fish if you are hungry.

“You need to feed the brain first,” she said.

Through her nonprofit she partners with Innovation Africa, CultivAid and Don Bosco to offer a three-step solution:

1. Through Innovation Africa: Bring in Israeli technology to establish a clean water system that ensures long-term project sustainability.
2. Through CultivAid: Establish knowledge-based development to advance food security, climate resilience and agricultural-led economic development.
3. Through Don Bosco: Offer world renowned agricultural education to train the next generation for the future of water, food and nutritional security.

So far through Water 4 Mercy, Khouzam-Rubin has transformed nearly 100,000 lives across 39 communities in Tanzania, Zambia and Kenya.

Through her nonprofit, families have been strengthened, women have been able to tend to their children and education, and men have the means to learn trade skills and build their own businesses.

Khouzam-Rubin was featured in Inc. Magazine’s “5 Best Iconic Business Leaders to Follow in 2025” among other various magazines and news outlets across the world.

She appreciates the education she received from the Warrington College of Business years ago.

Through the Warrington College of Business, she learned grant writing, budgeting, developing profit-loss sheets and more – all skills that have been instrumental in running a nonprofit.

“[At Warrington] we had to have that good, solid foundation, but build upon it and use that as a means for critical thinking,” she said.

After she founded Water 4 Mercy, she climbed 19,341 feet up Mount Kilimanjaro wearing a Gator scarf alongside her daughter who was a UF student at the time. There, she did a Gator chomp and has since chomped with dozens of others in Tanzania, Zambia and Kenya.

Since starting Water 4 Mercy, her perspective on water stewardship and nonprofit work in the African continent has shifted. Through her nonprofit, she hopes to offer more than a blanket or band-aid solution.

Water 4 Mercy’s true goal is to empower people to thrive and transform their lives and future. 

She encourages those interested in contributing to this mission to visit her nonprofit’s website: water4mercy.org.

While her faith continues to guide her commitment to service, Khouzam-Rubin views Water 4 Mercy’s mission as universal, rooted in compassion, human dignity and shared responsibility. The work, she says, transcends borders, backgrounds and beliefs, united by the simple truth that access to clean water is essential to life.

Looking ahead, Water 4 Mercy continues expanding its integrated model across East and Southern Africa, with a focus on scaling water access, strengthening food security and preparing future generations through education and training. The goal is not only to meet immediate needs, but to help communities move from survival to self-sufficiency.

“We have a number of opportunities where people can adopt a project or adopt a village, and they can go and turn on the water taps,” she said. “We invite people to come see and to learn more.”

In general, she advises everyone to:

“Open your heart as to what it is that you can do with your time, talents and treasures [to inspire] others.”