The Building River Dialogue and Governance Programme (BRIDGE, currently in phase 3) set out to do something quite new: to facilitate the development of international networks of Champions of water governance in its target basins. Selected individuals who were already active in water or environmental resources stewardship were invited to build skills around transboundary cooperation in a collective process at basin or regional scale, in order to help realise new visions for the governance of shared water resources. This thematic case study reviews the diverse experience of the ‘Champions’ component’ of BRIDGE in Mesoamerica, South America, in the Lower Mekong region and in the Lake Chad Basin, to examine the factors of success and draw lessons for future initiatives that may choose to rely on change makers to effect transformative change.