Manchester City Football Club’s global community program, Cityzens Giving and global water technology company, Xylem Inc. (NYSE: XYL) are calling on football fans to vote for their “water heroes” – one of five teams of young leaders who are working to tackle water challenges in Cape Town, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Mumbai and New York City.

Earlier this year, Cityzens Giving and Xylem launched the Water Heroes Academy, a network of projects to educate and inspire young leaders to help solve water challenges in their communities using the power of football. Now, from November 8-21, fans can choose their Water Heroes by voting for their favorite water project.

Projects include exploring solutions to urban flooding and water pollution in New York City; improving water access in underserved communities in Cape Town and Mumbai; and advancing water sustainability education in Shanghai.

The top-voted project will win the opportunity for three young leaders to travel to Manchester for a once-in-a-lifetime experience which will include watching Manchester City in action at the Etihad Stadium, learning more about water challenges and solutions, and receiving further training on using the power of football to improve the health and wellbeing of young people in their communities.

In addition, each Water Heroes Academy project receives seed funding, educational tools, training and mentoring from Xylem and Cityzens Giving, giving young leaders all they need to create their own unique programs.

Tom Pitchon, Director of City Football Group’s global foundation said: “We are excited to be able to shine a light on our young water heroes and to celebrate the positive impact they are having on their communities around the globe, as part of the Water Heroes Academy initiative with Xylem. We hope their stories will capture our fans’ attention and inspire them to get involved.”

“These inspirational young leaders and their projects are a powerful reminder of the passion, focus and creativity the next generation is bringing to the world’s water challenges,” said Joseph Vesey, Xylem's Chief Marketing Officer. “Through the Water Heroes Academy, and our broader partnership with City Football Group, we have a unique opportunity to spread the word on water issues and encourage more young people to take action towards a sustainable water future. Now, it’s up to the fans to vote!”

To hear the story of each project and to vote, visit www.mancity.com/waterheroes

About Xylem

Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company committed to solving critical water and infrastructure challenges with innovation. Our more than 16,000 diverse employees delivered revenue of $4.88 billion in 2020. We are creating a more sustainable world by enabling our customers to optimize water and resource management, and helping communities in more than 150 countries become water-secure. Join us at www.xylem.com.

About Manchester City Football Club

Manchester City FC is an English Premier League club initially founded in 1880 as St Mark’s West Gorton. It officially became Manchester City FC in 1894 and has since then gone onto win the European Cup Winners’ Cup, seven League Championship titles, including five Premier League titles (2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2021), and six FA Cups. Manchester City FC is one of 11 clubs comprising the City Football Group and counts New York City FC and Melbourne City FC among its sister clubs.

Under manager Pep Guardiola, one of the most highly decorated managers in world football, the Club plays its domestic and UEFA Champions League home fixtures at the Etihad Stadium, a spectacular 55,000 seat arena that City have called home since 2003. Today, the Stadium sits on the wider Etihad Campus, which also encompasses the City Football Academy, a state-of-the-art performance training and youth development facility located in the heart of East Manchester. Featuring a 7,000 capacity Academy Stadium, the City Football Academy is also where Manchester City Women’s Football Club and the Elite Development Squad train on a daily basis and play their competitive home games.

For more information, please visit www.mancity.com.

About Cityzens Giving

Cityzens Giving is an award-winning programme, supporting youth-led community football projects across the globe together with our fans, staff and partners.

Projects are run by young people for people with support and administrative oversight from vetted registered charity partners across the globe. In addition to long term grant funding, young leaders access training in community football and leadership from our Club community coaches and networking opportunities with other projects worldwide. This includes face to face training in country (when conditions permit), remote support, and regular global forums and summits to support the exchange of know-how and learning. Since the launch of Cityzens Giving in 2014, over 2,000 Young Leaders have been trained with over 25,000 young people across 25 cities now participating in the projects, which use football to tackle a range of pressing social issues from obesity and educational attainment to gang violence, water hygiene and employability to name a few.

For more information, please visit www.mancity.com/community

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