Global Activism: Field Ready

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, center left, walks past food parcels provided by the World Food Programme, part of the humanitarian aid shipments into Syria, during a visit at the Reyhanli border crossing with Syria, near Hatay, southern Turkey, Wednesday, May 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, center left, walks past food parcels provided by the World Food Programme, part of the humanitarian aid shipments into Syria, during a visit at the Reyhanli border crossing with Syria, near Hatay, southern Turkey, Wednesday, May 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici, Pool)

Global Activism: Field Ready

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When Eric James worked for USAID, one frustration he says he had was the difficulty of getting humanitarian aid to people who need it, when they need it. He faced logistical nightmares in getting life saving equipment to remote and hard to access areas around the globe.

James wanted to change traditional models of procuring, shipping and acquiring needed assets so he started the non-governmental organization Field Ready with a model that focuses on creating needed equipment and supplies “on the ground” where aid workers and those in need live. 

We talk with James about his efforts to, as he says, “transform” and “professionalize” the old humanitarian model. We also talk with Irem Gürdal, an engineer with Field Ready based in Istanbul, Turkey.