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Icons of Change International Awards 2025

Mike Kellett
Founder & CEO, XEROSTREAM by Airowater International
Telecom Innovator, Water Technology Pioneer, Social Impact Entrepreneur

SDG Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation
Changemaker in Water Innovation and Equitable Resource Access (United Kingdom)

For over four decades, Mike Kellett has been a visionary at the intersection of technology, social enterprise, and humanity. From transforming global communications to redefining access to clean water, his career reflects a consistent truth — that innovation must serve people, not just profit.

A telecommunications pioneer, Mike is best known as the original architect of SMS Call Technology, a SIM-based innovation that dismantled international roaming monopolies and paved the way for truly global mobile communication. His collaboration with Bart Verkruijssen and the BT/Alcatel joint venture redefined how billions connect, placing him among the architects of the modern digital age. Recognized internationally, he represented the UK at the 2009 CES Unveiled in Las Vegas and was selected for the 2012 London Olympics “This is Great Britain” Technology Showcase, honors reserved for the nation’s most transformative innovators.

After three decades of engineering digital breakthroughs, Mike made a bold and deeply personal pivot — from connecting people through devices to sustaining life itself. In 2024, he founded XEROSTREAM by Airowater International, a revolutionary clean water enterprise using atmospheric water generation (AWG) technology to produce pure, mineral-rich drinking water directly from air. The system, developed after a decade of nanotechnology research, captures moisture from the atmosphere and purifies it through advanced nano-filtration, creating an inexhaustible, infrastructure-free water source.

Under Mike’s leadership, XEROSTREAM represents a paradigm shift in global water access. By eliminating reliance on plastic bottles and central distribution systems, it advances multiple UN goals — SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 13 (Climate Action). Its stainless-steel, plastic-free design combats microplastic contamination, while its zero-waste process reduces both carbon emissions and ocean-bound pollutants.

But Mike’s vision extends beyond technology. Through a global empowerment model, XEROSTREAM equips communities across four continents to own, operate, and commercialize the technology themselves. Independent Ambassador Dealers and International Master Dealers drive local production and access, transforming consumers into partners in sustainability. In his words, “Water is life. The air holds enough for all. Let’s end the bottle — and begin the future.”

His initiative builds upon a legacy of exploration — following in the footsteps of his ancestor, Sir Henry Kellett, the 19th-century maritime explorer who charted unknown seas.

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Transcript
00:00Honourable Organising Committee, fellow changemakers and global citizens watching today, thank you.
00:09I am deeply humbled to accept the Icons of Change International Award 2025 for my work with Zerostream,
00:17a technology born from one simple truth, the air above holds an inexhaustible ocean of water.
00:25This recognition comes in the United Nations International Year of Peace and Trust,
00:32a reminder that true peace begins when every child, every family has clean water without conflict over scarce resources.
00:43Zerostream directly advances SDG 6, clean water and sanitation,
00:50by generating pure, uncontaminated drinking water from thin air.
00:58No wells, no pipelines, no plastic bottles.
01:03It supports SDG 12, responsible consumption by eliminating billions of single-use plastic containers
01:13that choke our oceans and landfills.
01:18It fights SDG 13, climate action.
01:22Zerostream can be powered by renewable energy, leaving zero carbon footprint.
01:30This machine is not just a machine, it's a promise.
01:36It's pure water in every home, dignity in every community,
01:44a world free of plastic pollution.
01:49Together, we are proving that innovation plus trust and collective action equals transformation.
02:03To every leader, student and advocate watching,
02:10the sky is not the limit, it's the source.
02:16Let's build a future where no one carries water in plastic,
02:21because water comes from the air.
02:26Thank you, let's keep changing the world, one drop at a time.
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