Rebranding in a war zone, with Prosper Global (formerly Mercy Corps)

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And so really trying to change the narrative about what our aspirations should be and what we can achieve. We are not aiming high enough. That's Jada McKenna, CEO of Prosper Global, which provides humanity and humanitarian support around the world and was long known as Mercy Corps. Jada just rebranded the organization to Prosper Global as we head into UN General Assembly Week in a bid to change the dialogue around crisis relief. With aid services under unprecedented financial pressure following funding pullbacks by the Trump administration, Jada talks about recent visits to Syria and Ukraine and Sudan, shares insights about conditions in Nepal after the devastating flood, and outlines what governments and donors are often missing when assessing crises. Jada's commitment to those in need is warm, but her resolve is steely, even calling on AI firms to step up in helping nonprofits like hers. There's a lot to learn and be inspired by in her defiant optimism. So let's get to it. I'm Bob Safian, and this is Rapid Response. I'm Bob Safian. I'm here with Jada McKenna, CEO of Prosper Global, formerly known as Mercy Corps. Jada, welcome back to the show. Thank you for having me. It's great to be here. I am eager to discuss the renaming of Mercy Corps. But first, I have to ask you about the, while I have you, the flooding in Nepal. You've been on the show before talking about humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and Gaza and Syria. What's the situation now? Nepal is a devastating situation. And it is a country that in a matter of months has gone from crippling heat to now this like severe catastrophe and flooding. And the reality is Nepal is very prone to climate disasters, mainly due to issues that they had no contribution to. Obviously, we're there helping people immediately in terms of food and hygiene kits and shelter. But what's really important for Nepal is that we're helping people immediately. And that is really helping them to build for the future because these kinds of crises are recurrent. I mean, this one just feels like this crazy, unexpected kind of, you know, but the reality is there are these recurrent crises. And so really like some of the longer term work we've been doing in Nepal has been helping to like stop riverbank erosion by planting different grasses, helping people with emergency and disaster preparedness. And those are things that people need to kind of be resilient and survive the next one. And this particular slide that sort of started this all, do we know if it's like related to climate change? Will we ever definitively know? I think, you know, if it's related to like a melting glacier, I think there is, it's hard to argue that it's not climate change related. The reality is we have this increase in these very like dramatic, severe weather related incidents, right? They're coming faster, like closer together, more severe than they ever have before. And so, you know, I think it's really important I think, you know, we can call it whatever we want, but we've basically, we've got to meet the needs of people who are being impacted consistently by these kinds of issues. In the midst of that, Mercy Corps officially launched a rebrand to call itself Prosper Global. You've said that you outgrew the old identity. Can you explain that? You're not about mercy anymore? Yes. I think organizations outgrow identities just as people do. A lot of people's classic definition of aid is swooping in to save the day, whether it be food and like thinking of ourselves as the agents of mercy. And the reality is we are there in emergency situations providing people with what they need. But oftentimes that crisis is just the beginning. And so we're also there with communities working with them to provide the conditions for longer term sustainability and prosperity. So when I would talk to potential donors about the kinds of things that we do, I would talk about cash assistance, but also things like seed insurance or the use of blockchain for identity management. And I had one time a potential donor said to me, that has nothing to do with your name, Mercy Corps. Like these kinds of long-term innovative market-oriented things, Mercy Corps doesn't encompass that. Our evolution to Prosper Global really is trying to like shorten the conversation a bit, like stating our values, up front. We believe everybody has the ability to prosper, not just survive. Often it doesn't take that many resources to do so. And we invite people into that journey with us. This focus on prosperity in the new name, it's not that it's changing the focus or the strategy behind the organization. It's more better reflecting what you've already been doing. Our mission and values are the source of continuity, not our name. So our mission and values have been to help people live their best, full, productive lives, particularly people who are beset by issues caused by poverty, conflict, or climate change. That outward statement of our mission and values has not changed at all. I was having a conversation with someone about the fact that we have a venture capital fund and that we've had one for 10 years. And I was talking about the businesses that we invest in are businesses that support us. They don't serve the types of communities, but they're helping them with financial services products, like things like better building materials for climate-related things. And someone said, but Mercy Corps, like, what are you doing doing venture capital? Like, why do you know about that? I think Mercy Corps really describes the way that aid started and just not what we are doing today, not how we operate, not where we are going and where we have been. I was thinking that it's, it's not a typical, like, corporate rebrand because of how long and hard it can take for reputation and trust to be built in some of these communities where you work. And changing the name could make things more dangerous in the near term for some of those on the ground, physically dangerous. Yes, we are in over 30 countries. In many of those countries, we have, like, remote substation offices a lot of times in conflict zones. And the communities, no Mercy Corps, they knew to look for the prior Mercy Corps color. And so we do have a phased transition. It really has been country by country, people telling us, like, what the right timing is and what the context of that is. And so really getting people used to the fact that our identity has changed, talking to different government officials. But, you know, we work in very complicated countries sometimes with, like, contested governments. You know, there's not just one authority that you're talking to. And so it is a process. Safety is on the line. Like, we don't travel with armed guards. Like, we are not, we don't carry arms. Like, we are able to work because of the trust of the communities that we serve. I could see the conversations being maybe difficult for you with some of your team members who are there. Like, for you, in your conversations to raise money, sure, it's easier to have this name. But for them, changing it doesn't necessarily make it easier for them. You know, it's been interesting because people, in my experience, 90% of our staff live and work in the communities where they're from. Some of our program staff were, like, the first people to really get it because they see themselves. They're like, yes, like, we are not just charity cases. Like, we want to prosper. Like, there are innovative things going on where we are. It was more people from the Global North that were like, really? Like, what? And I think a lot of our staff, like, they kind of got it right away and they felt really proud. This is us building our next chapter and how we want to be perceived. It's in the world. You recently got back from a trip to Syria, I understand, which has faced a long war and an earthquake. Was that related to the rebrand? I think Syria is a great example of the rebrand and the need to move this conversation that you can't just settle for survival. You have a country that is emerging from a 14-year civil war. So it's, you know, it's a country that needs to rebuild. It's facing just great devastation. I saw a lot of rubble. I did a road trip from Aleppo, Bo and Idlib down to Damascus. So, but you also, it's one of the things few countries in the world where people are migrating back to. So you have like millions of people who are returning home at the same time. So there's this there's this dichotomy of this great opportunity. At the same time, you have a lot of people still living in camps, still like needing basic basic needs being met. And even some of the returnees still basic needs and they're returning to communities with no functioning water. You know, the water systems have been destroyed. Homes have been destroyed. I talked to a woman, Ola, whose husband was hurt in the war. Prior to the war, she did not work herself. She was in a community where it's not customary for women to do certain things. She was forced to kind of pick up the agriculture, start the land. We've been working with her to do like basic drip irrigation. We're rehabilitating the water system in the area. And in the process of working with us, she's learned how to ride a motorcycle. She's like found another group of women to work with. She's had to. Her daughters and at the same time dealing with a husband who's just no longer able to do these things and helping him get to the next level. So and, you know, they want they have people coming back into the community. They're trying to rebuild their lives. And so it's this it's a great opportunity. Syria could be one of the really good news stories happening in the world. But I think there's so much going on in so many countries. It's getting forgotten. Well, we do get distracted by by whatever the the new tragedy or disaster is and sometimes lose sight of that longer road of recovery. Yes. And Syria is like in a region, you know, where everyone around is being affected by the Iran war. And a lot of returnees, you know, people are returning to Syria from not only places like Turkey, but from Lebanon, from Jordan, you know, places that are affected by the conflict itself. So it's an exciting time. But it's also a period that that still needs to happen. It's a period that still needs support. You published a report recently called From Hormuz to Hunger, tracking how the the Strait of Hormuz conflict is rippling through six fragile countries, right? Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Myanmar and Lebanon. So how does oil disruption in the Mideast lead to, you know, an empty food plate in Africa? Yes. I was in Sudan a few months ago. Many of these countries are reliant on the Strait of Hormuz for their food. And so they're reliant on the Strait of Hormuz for their food. And so they're reliant on the Strait of Hormuz for their basic fuel supplies. And this has affected fertilizer supply heavily. And so when I was in Sudan, you know, farmers have like a two to three week window in terms of getting seeds in the ground. The cost of fuel was up 60 percent. So now the cost of fertilizer is up. So now as people are making decisions about what to plant, what inputs they have, for some farmers, that could be the decision to abandon the land. Not only are people then grappling with the issue today, but now we are crippling food supply for the next season. You sounded almost optimistic about the possibilities in Syria. You don't sound quite as optimistic about Sudan. The reality is all these countries are like working to maintain and build a life during a war. Like one of my staff members, he's like, I am 27. I need to get married. Like I want, you know, I want to reunite with this person who's had to evacuate. So people want to live. And then at the same time, on top of that, we are throwing in higher fuel prices, higher food, less availability. But also as aid providers, we are able to do less because we ourselves are also paying more for fuel. You know, aid resources have already been taken away. And now it's even more expensive to serve the same people. And there is a human cost to that. You're still active in Ukraine. Prosper Global just joined the U.N. and the Ukrainian Red Cross to launch a grain. and the Ukrainian storage program there. Ukraine's facing a big shortfall, potentially from this year's harvest also. We have a very large programming of presence in Ukraine. I was in Ukraine in December. The reality is the nature of that war now, Russia is increasingly attacking civilian and economic infrastructure. There have been increasing attacks on ports, but also especially with drones on grain silos, on storage facilities. And so, you know, we have a very large programming of presence in Ukraine. I was in Ukraine in So even the farmers, there actually was a good harvest this year. But if you bombed out the silos and storage for people to store them, or if you've bombed the roads and the ports to move those grains out, then you've lost the income from that time period. And there are just deliberate attacks on this kind of infrastructure. And so we have been doing things like providing sleeveless grain storage, working with farmers, helping with demining. Because Ukraine was a breadbasket for a that food to care for itself in its own economy. When we talk about Prosper Global and like helping people to not only like survive the immediate, but to really build their future, that's exactly the kind of support. You know, a lot of people have lost farm equipment, like helping people to rebuild or figure out alternative paths. I wanted to ask you about Gaza, but I'm also struck by like, I'm just going from one crisis to another, which I know is your life. But for a lot of folks listening, like they might feel like, oh my gosh, that is overwhelming. The number and the severity of crises, you've never had so many at one time. The need is relentless and we have to be relentless in pursuing support. There's a current thing with the U.S. government to just do life-saving aid. That's actually the least effective thing to do. Working on prevention, trying to avoid these things is like seven times cheaper than coming in after it's happened. In your work, you're used to dealing with hostile political environments, but it is a little different when it happens in the U.S. Yeah, like the pushback and just the misinformation about what aid is. You know, we were prepared to do this rebrand to Prosper Global before the beginning of the Trump administration. We put it on hold just to figure out where things were. In the midst of a crisis where there have been. Like, you know, some funding has gone away, like the sector is in a tough place. We've really doubled down to help the American people really understand the nature of humanitarian needs and what aid looks like today, right? And to correct a lot of misinformation or just things that people have been saying about it. I think the important leadership moment there is like being intentional. So there may be things that we have let go or not done, but like, what are we building on? And building on that belief, like our core belief that people deserve the right to prosper. And we do basic survival, but that's the minimum. And we shouldn't accept the minimum. And there's a cost to doing that, that long term leaves us worse off. Jada doesn't sugarcoat the challenges, but she's also optimistic that better outcomes are possible. So how will she use this year's U.N. General Assembly meeting to advance that goal and could AI firms provide Prosper Global with a secret weapon? We'll talk about that and more after the break. Stay with us. When you've built substantial wealth through your business, it's often tied up in a single equity position. The upside is real, but so is the risk. And knowing when to act isn't always obvious. Creative Planning works with business owners, to build a strategy around concentrated equity. When to diversify, how to manage tax risk, and how to protect what you've spent years building. Creative Planning, where wealth works together. Learn more at creativeplanning.com slash masters of scale. Hey, listeners, Bob here. If you listen to Rapid Response on Masters of Scale, you may be missing half the show because every Friday we release a second Rapid Response exclusively in the Rapid Response app. So if you're interested in learning more, rapid response feed. The guests and topics are just as compelling and timely from Ford CEO to NASA's administrator to the lessons from the Devil Wears Prada. It takes about 10 seconds to find. Just search rapid response wherever you listen to podcasts and hit follow to make sure you never miss an episode. I hope to see you there. How do we build a future that is human-centered? I'm Rana El-Khayoubi, and on my podcast, Pioneers of AI, we answer that question and so many more. As an AI scientist, entrepreneur, and investor, I know what it takes to build AI that works for everyone. Every week, I sit down with the pioneers shaping our future, and we take you behind the scenes of the AI that's transforming the world. Transforming our lives. Find Pioneers of AI wherever you tune in. Before the break, CEO Jada McKenna talked about rebranding Mercy Corps to Prosper Global in the midst of major disruption in the crisis relief sector. Now, she talks about tapping both UN General Assembly Week and AI firms to amplify Prosper's impact. Plus, how an increase in natural disasters and altered wartime practices. Let's jump back in. When there's all that pushback on foreign aid, you have to do more with less, right? Yeah, we have to do more with less, but we also are rebuilding an architecture in some ways as well. We have to just reinvent all of the USAID offices and missions around the world. A lot of coordinating and information sharing and all that has evaporated, has gone away. Is there a role that AI plays in this reinvention, or does it not really apply to humanitarian work? AI can't physically deliver things for you, and there are some limitations around what AI knows. But AI has been really, especially programmatically, in terms of getting best practices, helping us to pinpoint more precisely what a community may need, really anticipating what certain needs are. AI has been helpful in that, and one of the ways that we are hoping coming together is to be able to do that. And we haven't found the magic solution yet, but are there ways that we could better work with AI companies to really come up with something that really transforms humanitarian assistance? Where can we be using it to cut costs in some places? Are there opportunities to do things more? So are you in conversation with the AI companies about how they can— Yeah, we have been. We have been in conversations with them, and really, like I said, I would welcome more ideas. People, please reach out to me, tmckenna, at prosperglobal.org. Yeah, because we really would love to come up with more there. So I alluded to Gaza earlier. What's happening there now? Gaza is still a severe humanitarian situation in terms of displacement, the destruction of housing supply, the destruction of the hospital systems and other infrastructure. You have a lot of people still living in tents. The sewage situation in Gaza remains dire. There has been an increase of food allowed in, but you still have situations where people can't afford it or they may not be enough available because of transport or other things where things aren't available. Gaza is a good example of doing both and. So we are meeting people's immediate needs by helping them, like getting them access to water. Clean water is very much an issue in Gaza right now. So like trucking water to people, getting them cash assistance to help buy food. But we also, we have an initiative that we've had for a long time called Gaza Sky Geeks, where we have trained people in remote technical work so that they can do more tech web stuff for others. And so we've set up a series of co-working spaces with electricity and facilities that people can go use so that they can still do their livelihoods and help to build themselves out of the crisis. So it's a situation where we are meeting emergency needs, but also trying to help people get their way back to sustainability. I saw that you said that the checks and balances governing international humanitarian law are being tested and violated. Was that specifically related to Gaza or is that a broader trend, a broader observation? That's a broader trend. You know, the first instances of that really being seen as a deliberate pattern was when Russia invaded Ukraine. So very quickly, we saw attacks on civilian infrastructure like ports, like bridges, things that were traditionally off limits. And we've just seen that escalate across crises. So that spread to the way that warfare has been waged in Sudan. We believe there have been violations of international law in Gaza as well. And so we are seeing this pattern of this behavior spreading. Obviously, policy wants to understand that. But there are a lot of people that have no idea what international humanitarian law is. The millions of deaths and the destruction we saw in World War II that really made us create these rules that you can't have collective punishment. You need to allow people to go to school and have a hospital network. Civilians shouldn't pay and that we just see that violated all over the place right now. The U.N.'s annual General Assembly week is coming up in New York City. It's a key gathering where historically some of these issues were would be addressed. What do you anticipate about about the mood this time around the goals? The U.N. is under is under siege themselves in terms of in terms of its own funding. You know that the world dynamic has changed. I think the U.N. has still tried to be very assertive. I know there were recent declarations about drone warfare and the nature of autonomous drones. And, you know, like just another step towards increasing civilian casualty and loss and violations. Of wars. So I expect a very lively discussion and debate and we just need it to lead to more lasting action. Are there any specific goals that you and Prosper Global have or are hoping to achieve this year? I'm really looking forward to carrying the message that we cannot settle for survival. We can't respond to choosing between today's crises and like preventing them and helping communities prepare for tomorrow. And also a message of hope and defiance. Right. People these there are so many examples of people thriving and being able to do great things in the midst of really difficult circumstances. We are able to do more with relatively small amounts of money. And so really trying to change the narrative about what our aspirations should be and and what we can achieve. People sometimes say a crisis is a terrible thing to waste, you know, that we only learn things the hard way. Are there things that you've learned about leadership, otherwise things that others might benefit from that maybe you wouldn't have appreciated if you hadn't, you know, had to go through it? In a time where we had to contract really rapidly, there was a point where you had to say, look, it's not going back to the way it was before and and and accepting that the status quo had changed. I've seen as a leader that I can take nothing for granted. It's like international humanitarian law. I'm like, I might as well be speaking Greek to some people, right? So it just like really breaking down step by step and, you know, just revisiting everything, because at some point, you know, we can't just mourn what was we've got to rebuild and we have to make intentional decisions about where that's happening, where that isn't happening. And that's where they clinging to the mission and the values, not the structures, not the trap. Trappings when the aid sector was thrown into crisis, I had laid off a lot of people. There was a moment where, like in the midst of layoffs and just a lot of sadness, is it OK to to to make a further investment in changing your name? And I think that that was the point where it was like, OK, the investment is in building our future, the investment is in changing the narrative and this name change. Is absolutely imperative for us, like securing that future. We were not accepting the trajectory as it is. We're like, we are going to remake the trajectory here. Well, Jada, I enjoyed having you on the show when it was when it was Mercy Corps and of course, even more as Prosper Global. Thanks. Thanks so much for joining us. Thanks for having me, Bob. Thank you. My conversations with Jada. Tend to leave me both frustrated and energized. There's so much hardship in the world and not nearly enough empathy. And yet Jada and her colleagues continue to push against all obstacles and all odds to help in real world ways. Listening to Jada talk about not accepting the current trajectory, it reminds me of a conversation that I had with former DuPont CEO Ellen Coleman in the depths of the pandemic. In crisis, Ellen told me, don't play the cards you're dealt. Play the cards you want. When things are the toughest, that's when we define who we are by focusing on what we can control and cultivating hope in the face of despair. I'm Bob Safian. Thanks for listening. Rapid Response is a Wait What original. I'm Bob Safian. Our executive producer is Eve Trowe. Our senior producer is Alex Morris. And our associate producer is Masha Makutonina. Mixing and mastering by Aaron Bastinelli and Brian Pugh. Our theme music is by Ryan Holiday. For more, visit rapidresponesshow.com. Thank you.