Scott Harrison was 28 years old and partying in Uruguay when he had a fundamental, existential break. "I had gone on a trip to Punta Del Este and realized on that trip, I had gotten most of the things I thought would make me happy and they hadn't," Harrison tells CNBC Make It. "Even though I drove a B.M.W. and had a nice apartment in New York City, my life was a mess." In the midst of throwing house parties with hundreds of guests, Harrison made a promise to himself: He "vowed to come back and change my life," he says. And change his life he did, as well as the lives of millions of others. Harrison founded the non-profit organization Charity: water, which since 2006, has given 8 million people around the world access to clean water by funding nearly 30,000 water projects in 26 countries across the world. Over one million people have donated more than $300 million to its cause. Charity: water is driven by the stories of the individuals it helps and those who donate. For example, Thursday is the 25th annual World Water Day, which serves to call attention to the fact that 2.1 billion people live without safe drinking water at home, according to the event's website. To recognize the day, Charity: water is highlighting one donation as a call to action: Six-year-old Nora Jackson from Virginia sent the non-profit $8.15 in collected dollar bills and coins after watching a Charity: water video with her dad. The donation included a handwritten note, "I do not want people to die because of water."

But before Harrison could help others change the world, he had to transform himself. Going to extremes Harrison was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, an only child in a "very conservative family." His father was an executive at a small company that sold electrical transformers. His mother, meanwhile, was very ill. When Harrison was 4, she fell victim to a carbon dioxide leak and, though she survived, it made her ultra sensitive to chemicals. She "lived in a tile bathroom in our house that had been scrubbed down with a special soap 20 times and on a cot that had been washed in baking soda 20 times. There was tin foil covering the doors," he recalls. She had to wear a charcoal mask on her face "a barrier against toxins, it was it was monitoring the air, filtering the air that she breathed," says Harrison. "I was in really a caregiver role helping to do the cooking, the cleaning," explains Harrison. When he graduated from high school, Harrison high-tailed it to New York City, eager to live on his own — "Okay, now it's my turn!" he recalls thinking. He attended New York University from 1994 through 1998, but was, by his own admission, a terrible student. He majored in communications as a path of least resistance. Harrison was the keyboard player and band manager for Sunday River from 1992 to 1994, and played at then-famous music clubs around New York City like CBGBs, The Lion's Den and The Wetlands. Though the band was short lived because the musicians couldn't get along, it introduced Harrison to the world of club promoters. From ages 18 to 28 Harrison lived what he calls his "decade of clubs," working as a promoter for some 40 venues. "We bring the beautiful people, we bring the clients who can spend a thousand dollars on a bottle of champagne, or $500 in a bottle of vodka. We were kind of mercenaries — we would get a percentage of all the sales that happened that night but with no loyalty to the venue, so the minute the venue cooled down, we would take our set to the hottest club," explains Harrison. On a good night, Harrison grossed anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000. He was also an influencer before there was social media — both Bacardi and Budweiser paid him and a friend $4,000 a month to drink their brands in public. Harrison was working all night and sleeping all day. He "was out drunk almost every night," he recounted in a video posted by Charity: water. "I had just had become a really selfish sycophant. Hedonist. I had betrayed the spirituality and the morality of my childhood, smoked two packs of cigarettes [a day] for 10 years. I had a gambling problem. I had a pornography problem. I had a drinking problem," Harrison tells CNBC Make It. He knew he was lost and started reading about theology. "I was trying to find a way back. I'd grown up with a Christian faith that I'd completely walked away from," he says. And it was in Punta Del Este that Harrison made up his mind to change his trajectory. "It was a soul-searching couple of weeks for me, amidst the party that was happening," he says.

Today, Charity: water has 73 employees, 71 of whom are in its New York City headquarters, and is employing another 1,250 workers in the 16 countries where it's currently building water projects. Charity: water partners with local organizations in each country.

always inspired hanging out with our local partners, especially our drilling teams. these guys kill it every day ... A large portion of Harrison's time is spent cultivating the relationships with the families who donate significant amounts of money to the operations fundraising pipeline. He also spends a lot of time traveling and giving speeches. He makes 150 speeches a year, he says. Since his days promoting clubs and partying all night, Harrison's life has changed epically. He's married (his second employee, Viktoria, became his wife) and he has two kids — Jackson, 3, and Emma, 18 months. He's never gone back to his old way of life. "I had a very clean break with the vices, so before I set foot on the Mercy Ship, I had my last cigarette. So, I never smoked again. Never gambled again in my life. ... I completely cleaned up my life," says Harrison.