As a pre-school teacher who was not on her regular 8:50am train to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Gemma Bulos, also a singer/songwriter, witnessed a global community united through tragedy. In response, she composed “We Rise”, a rousing anthem that celebrates water as a metaphor for peace and unity in action. She left her jobs, home, relationship, nearly all of her worldly belongings, and her dreams of pursing a musical recording career, and embarked upon a musical journey to build an unprecedented Million Voice Choir for Peace to sing united from all over the planet. Transforming tragedy into service, this Filipina-American traveled around the world and single-handedly mobilized the unprecedented Million Voice Choir where groups sang “WE RISE” from over 100 cities in over 60 countries on September 21, 2004 in celebration of the UN International Day of Peace and Global Cease Fire Day.  This was the single initiative that has helped her to become a living example of the concept,  “it takes a single drop of water to start a wave, one person to initiate social change”.

In 2004, she opened A Single Drop, a non-profit humanitarian organization to address the safe water crisis. As she traveled around the world building the Million Voice Choir, she shared the interactive presentation “Water, Music and Unity:  The Pathway to Peace and Global Harmony” exploring the power of water and music in our fundamental human relations, our global interactions and in peacemaking. Her work as a head teacher at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, mentor for at-risk youth in the South Bronx, and international volunteer work, combined with her work as a performer, has helped her develop a comprehensive and entertaining approach to bridge art and activism to raise awareness of global water issues and inspire action to audiences who would not otherwise be exposed to this information. The diverse audiences where she has presented span the gamut of age, cultures and belief systems; schools (K-12 to University level), interfaith gatherings, prisons, international conferences on peace, conflict resolution, women’s groups, youth summits, environmentalism, holistic healing, indigenous empowerment and numerous appearances at the United Nations. She designed and piloted a new water and plant science project called “Do Your Words Matter” with 5th grade students who were invited to give a presentation of their results at the United Nations’ World Water Day. The distinguished leaders who have participated in the choir and she has presented alongside range from Archbishop Desmund Tutu, Mrs. Kofi Annan, Dr Jane Goodall, Chief Oren Lyons, Pete Seeger, the Honorable Ela Ghandi, and many more. 

She recently received the prestigious CG Vibes Award from Cover Girl and Queen Latifah honoring women who contribute to the community through music.  In Nov 2006, she was honored by the Global Healing Foundation at an event at the UN sponsored by UNICEF on the Global Day for the Rights of A Child for her tireless work with youth around the globe.  Most recently, she was granted the prestigious Echoing Green Fellowship supporting Social Entrepreneurs with innovative ideas for social change for her work in the Philippines. In 2009, she was one of the Finalists for the ABS-CBN 'Bayanihan Pilipino Awards" (Philppine Heroes Award) for Filipino Balikbayans giving back to their homeland. Also, in the same year, she was the Ernst Young/Schwab Foundation's Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award for her innovative humanitarian work empowering communities to resolve their own water issues.

In April 2005, she co-sponsored Bridging the Water Gap International Water Conference with AquaEssence ReSource in Minneapolis, MN, host to 70 speakers and workshops with over 1000 attendees celebrating the marvels of water though exploration in social and physical sciences, quantum physics and spirituality. Also in 2005, she volunteered in India after the Tsunami as well as in the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. She coordinated over 400 volunteers in a grassroots community-wide week-long effort to renovate and refurnish 20 available apartments in Madison, WI to host and relocate some of the Hurricane survivors. She traveled down to the Gulf Coast, driving a renegade truck with volunteers from MIssion From Minnesota to bring much needed food and relief supplies to those forgotten by FEMA and the Red Cross.

Certified in Permaculture Design and appropriate water technologies, Gemma’s service has evolved into developing humanitarian projects which reflects in her work such as bringing potable water to those in need and assisting in the design of wholistic regenerative communities.  She has led ASD to take global action by opening a sister office, A Single Drop For SafeWater in the Philippines incubating their PODS program helping over 60,000 in less than three year and in 2008 launched the Women Water Stewards Program in seven countries in Africa.  

Like water, she continues to flow around the world speaking at international conferences, initiating water projects, organizing technological trainings, building capacity and empowering communities, and all the while uniting peaceful voices through the healing power of music and every living being's shared need for water.