USAID's private sector approach to humanitarian response

About the Webinar
Speakers

As the scope of humanitarian crises expands, humanitarian actors are looking for new ways to engage the private sector in their work. Once considered strictly funders, humanitarian donor agencies are now looking to private sector actors for more — including deploying skills, goods and services.

A key example of this shift is the $15 million Humanitarian Grand Challenge — the first of its kind. A partnership between USAID, DFID and Grand Challenges Canada, this initiative aims to mobilize innovators looking to partner with the private sector with a focus on "safe drinking water and sanitation, energy, life-saving information, or health supplies and services” for conflict settings.

On March 29, Devex will host a conversation with Doug Stropes, Deputy Division Director in USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, to give insight into how the U.S. government's leading humanitarian office is thinking about private sector engagement.

We will also reserve time at the end for audience questions. You are welcome to send them to [email protected].

Admission is complimentary for all Devex members.

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Doug Stropes
Deputy Division Director, Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA)

Doug Stropes is a Deputy Division Director to the Humanitarian Policy and Global Engagement (HPGE) Division within the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The HPGE Division engages in policy dialogue with other parts the U.S. Government, other nations, multilateral agencies, and non-governmental organizations. The Division maintains global relationships with implementing partners and the broader humanitarian network, and engages with the U.N. to advance humanitarian policy objectives and to promote humanitarian principles. The HPGE Division also houses the Public-Private Sector Engagement Team, which focuses on engagement between OFDA and the private sector to support worldwide humanitarian operations.

Doug is originally from San Diego, California. He graduated United States Air Force Academy in 1989, and served for 26 years as an officer in the United States Air Force. He has worked with the US government interagency for many years, and supported multiple responses, including most recently the hurricanes in the Caribbean and the earthquake in Mexico. He as experience as an on scene disaster response commander, was a firefighter and emergency medical technician in Santa Barbara County, and served for five years overseeing Department of Defense humanitarian assistance and disaster response activities and policy for the Secretary of Defense's office.

Amy Lieberman (moderator)
New York Correspondent, Devex

Amy Lieberman is the New York Correspondent for Devex. She covers the United Nations and reports on global development and politics. Amy previously worked as a freelance reporter, covering the environment, human rights, immigration, and health across the U.S. and in more than 10 countries, including Colombia, Mexico, Nepal, and Cambodia. Her coverage has appeared in the Guardian, the Atlantic, Slate, and the Los Angeles Times. A native New Yorker, Amy received her master’s degree in politics and government from Columbia’s School of Journalism.