Patty McIlreavy

As 2023 winds down, like so many, I find myself in a reflective mood, thinking back on the year personally and professionally. As this year wraps up, I am also thinking of another milestone: This past September marked my 30th year working in and on disasters and humanitarian crises. And while I can’t see myself working in any other field, I wonder at the Sisyphean nature of my chosen career.

Our President & CEO Patty McIlreavy shares a special message for Week of Gratitude, reflecting on the importance of appreciation, kindness and compassion.

August 19 is World Humanitarian Day, an international day dedicated to recognizing humanitarian personnel and those who have died working for humanitarian causes.

Since the conflict erupted, I’ve been in touch with Sudanese friends. Their stories of conditions are harrowing, and their fear for their families and loved ones is palatable. Our common humanity calls on us not to look away.

Imagine a world where the impact of disasters is minimized by thoughtful, equitable and responsible recovery for all. CDP’s new strategic plan that builds on past successes and lessons learned is another step toward this reality.

The destruction wrought by the quakes is also likely to have ripple effects on the region’s ability to act as a critical hub for the aid industry’s access to Syria, including Idlib, a city already amid a cholera outbreak. Sectoral and development priorities will be split, and capacities will be overstretched as disasters within existing disasters expand.

Cash-based approaches to disaster recovery reduce poverty and vulnerability by giving people the freedom to choose how they rebuild their lives and provide a pathway to economic empowerment.

I welcome you to join CDP in making a common resolution for this year and those to come: Help communities thrive after a disaster.

Current narratives about how to practise philanthropy in the wake of crises are undermining both the effectiveness and the credibility of the sector in doing so. Time to flip those narratives

Earlier this year, we partnered with the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) to survey 254 of our grantee partners. With 181 survey responses received, a 71% response rate, the report has given us much to reflect on, celebrate and learn.

When it comes to hurricanes, Floridians are old hands.

They are well aware of the season’s rhythm between the months of June and November, a period that brings colored maps of projected trajectories and jokes about hoping that Jim Cantore won't show up in their town.

Every sector grapples with its own issues and challenges, often publicly and not always productively. Despite commonalities in purpose, principles and values among its many actors, the international humanitarian sector is no different.

From a global pandemic to the recent invasion of Ukraine, globally impactful disasters are an increasingly frequent part of our reality, and thus an important factor as funders consider grantmaking priorities and the funding landscape in which they operate. In light of these events and global trends that will make disasters of this scale and complexity imminent, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) reflects in this series on why grantmakers must consider disaster funding, how to approach… Show more

From a global pandemic to the recent invasion of Ukraine, globally impactful disasters are an increasingly frequent part of our reality, and thus an important factor as funders consider grantmaking priorities and the funding landscape in which they operate. In light of these events and global trends that will make disasters of this scale and complexity imminent, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) reflects in this series on why grantmakers must consider disaster funding, how to approach this work with an equity and community-based mindset, and what individual donors can do to help. Show less

Summer is a time of year that often brings promises of vacation in sunny climates and a break from routines. That is unless you are a college student struggling to find the elusive professional development requirement, a.k.a. an internship. Then the summer probably looks very different than before; this includes differences as minor as adjusting to early working hours and as significant as navigating the realities of office politics and culture.

A temblor of this intensity would have brought destruction wherever it presented. In Afghanistan, a nation already struggling with a crumbling economy, hunger, drought, insecurity and underdevelopment, the devastation is exponential. Click To Tweet

The severity and longevity of the COVID-19 pandemic have created a public discourse on several topics previously under-reported. These include the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on communities of color due to pre-existing systemic and societal inequities, the concerning state of our education system and its cumbersome transition to remote learning, and, for this article, the mental health crisis that affects one in four people worldwide at some point in their lives.

What is a disaster? This is a question I am asked regularly, not only by individuals or organizations seeking enlightenment but also by those of us who work on and in disasters. The truth is that the answer is as complex as it is simple.

In his 2007 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Al Gore warned, “The catastrophe now threatening us is unprecedented — and we often confuse the unprecedented with the improbable.”

The strong need for disaster relief and recovery efforts has continued this year. Between the humanitarian crisis caused by the end of the war in Afghanistan, the earthquake in Haiti, increased concerns around COVID-19, the wildfires on the West Coast of the US – just to name a few – it’s difficult to know where to focus your time and attention as a CSR professional.

While the emotive response that drives donors to give is pure and simple, the truth is that disasters are incredibly complex. There is the scale of the suffering and the vastness of needs and challenges: security and safety concerns for both those affected and those there to help; logistics and operational constraints that require agile and expansive solutions; and capacities that buckle under the strain of underfunding and overwork.

For almost a decade, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) and The Patterson Foundation (TPF) have worked together to support communities as they recover from disasters. Someone not familiar with TPF could be excused for thinking that this long-term relationship has been one of grantor/grantee, accompanied with the usual minutia of proposals, reports and, at times, power dynamics.

That is not, however, the TPF way. A shining example of trust-based philanthropy, TPF staff embrace… Show more

For almost a decade, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) and The Patterson Foundation (TPF) have worked together to support communities as they recover from disasters. Someone not familiar with TPF could be excused for thinking that this long-term relationship has been one of grantor/grantee, accompanied with the usual minutia of proposals, reports and, at times, power dynamics.

That is not, however, the TPF way. A shining example of trust-based philanthropy, TPF staff embrace their five constants of caring, connecting, collaborating, contributing, and creating in their philanthropic efforts and partnerships. Show less

The Covid-19 pandemic and the concurrent disasters created by hurricanes, wildfires, and other hazards have stretched communities to their limits. The needs across the globe have also asked all of us to dig deep and give generously. As a result, recovery from the Covid-19 contagion is on the horizon, with over 50 per cent of the U.S. population receiving at least one shot. Regretfully, global progress is not at pace with that percentage, and no one is safe until everyone is safe.

There is an incredible complexity within disasters – size, security, operational space, the capacities of organizations. Another is the perception that a disaster ends when it is no longer a lead story in the news. But in reality, disasters are rarely over quickly, even if the impetus – the hurricane, the flood, the war – recedes. And then there’s the humanity behind each disaster.

For many years, the transition from February to March was little more to me than a calendric movement, taking us out of winter and one step closer to spring. The pandemic has forced me to alter my thoughts on time’s passage, growing equal parts impatient with its slowness and hopeful at the future’s promise.

One year ago, on the cusp of taking on my new leadership role at the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), I received a call from CDP’s vice president, Regine Webster, to discuss a possible webinar about the emerging epidemic. Little did either of us know how prescient the COVID-19 Coronavirus: How Philanthropy Can Respond webinar would prove to be for the months that followed.

The end of any year is a time of contemplation. As the holiday season arrives, we think of ourselves and others, and we refresh connections. We desperately recall the new years’ resolutions made in January so that we can dust them off and try again. We tally up the year’s highs and lows and file them away to provide our memories’ color commentary.

In the current moment, when it seems that everything, including tasks as simple as washing your hands or wearing a mark, is politicized, upholding your organizational neutrality while also being an advocate for the well-being of disaster-affected peoples is a difficult path to navigate.

The disasters of the decade that is 2020 have been beyond imagination in intensity and uncertainty. The human suffering accompanying the crises isn’t far off in scale. It can be overwhelming to contemplate what difference you can make amidst the turmoil. Yet there are contributions that the philanthropic community can make that will mitigate harm and lessen hardship.

At the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP), we say that all philanthropists are disaster philanthropists seeking to strengthen communities. Prior to 2020, this adage was a way to remind donors that no matter their focus or mission, there was a tie-in for them in supporting a community’s response to and recovery from a disaster. But with the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying crises, philanthropy’s role in aiding society has reached new heights of relevance.

August in the United States usually brings a steady stream of pictures of friends’ children across my social media feeds: children in first-day best preparing to launch into another year of school. Instead, this August has arrived with anxiety and uncertainty for parents and teachers alike over fears that crowded schools may result in ill children and doubt about the plethora of options.

From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed more than half a million lives, global leaders have struggled with how to protect and treat their own citizens while recognizing that pandemics do not recognize borders.

The novel coronavirus does not know or respect borders. For the first time in a very long time, everyone involved in the global response is also affected by the crisis. The degrees of impact vary, and the paths to recovery will be much steeper for some. But it has never rung truer that we are all in this together.

In these times of coronavirus, staying positive and supportive is difficult. In this, the month of Mental Health Awareness, being cognizant of the strain this crisis is having on you, your family, your friends and your colleagues is ever more critical.

The international humanitarian community is forever striving to improve the quality and accountability of humanitarian assistance. I was introduced to the Sphere standards early in my career through their handbook that is inclusive of common principles and minimum standards in response. There is a commitment to “rights-based foundations: people have the right to assistance, the right to life with dignity, the right to protection and security, and the right to fully participate in decisions… Show more

The international humanitarian community is forever striving to improve the quality and accountability of humanitarian assistance. I was introduced to the Sphere standards early in my career through their handbook that is inclusive of common principles and minimum standards in response. There is a commitment to “rights-based foundations: people have the right to assistance, the right to life with dignity, the right to protection and security, and the right to fully participate in decisions related to their own recovery.” Show less

Since we launched our CDP COVID-19 Response Fund in early March, we’ve been fielding many calls and emails. Quite a number of these are seeking our advice and guidance on how best to respond. That is normal, after all, disaster expertise is a key pillar of our work. However, the tenor of the questions is slightly different with the COVID-19 crisis. And that is due to key aspects of this disaster that make it different than any before it.

Afghanistan is a chronically neglected humanitarian crisis, manifesting itself over more than four decades of conflict and climate-induced disasters. Recent political developments have exacerbated, not mitigated, humanitarian risk and are resulting in a marked deterioration in conditions on the ground for the civilian population.

Remarks at Villanova University’s International Development and Humanitarian Relief Meetup

November 19 is World Toilet Day—a day that is sure to gather its usual collection of smirks and giggles here in the U.S., where scatological humor is a regular source of laughs in movies, memes, and middle school hallways.

Patricia McIlreavy and Julien Schopp explore the collective failure of the humanitarian system to mount a timely, effective and principled response to the humanitarian crisis the conflict has triggered.

here is a growing trend around the world towards the use of bureaucratic rules and regulations to contain and control humanitarian access. Earlier this month we saw another example of this, when the government of South Sudan announced that they would be increasing the cost of a professional-level work permit for aid workers from £80–£8,000.

Later this month, we will celebrate Thanksgiving, a day when Americans pause and express gratitude for our blessings and good fortune in life. This day exemplifies for me some of the best of America, demonstrated by our generosity and celebrations of our unity.

Aid workers are under attack. We are bleeding out from a thousand small cuts. We are being robbed, raped and murdered in Afghanistan, South Sudan, Yemen, Syria and countless other places. The reaction from politicians, however, has been only words; promises to do better, pledges to investigate, condolences for our losses. Press releases and political assurances are not enough.