The world has never faced so many humanitarian crises at once, and the systems built to respond to them are fraying. Tjada McKenna, CEO of Prosper Global—the organization long known as Mercy Corps—shares what she’s seeing firsthand from Syria to Sudan to Ukraine to Gaza, and why she rebranded a 40-year-old institution in the middle of a funding crisis. She also explains how the Strait of Hormuz conflict is writing next year’s food shortages into fragile countries right now, and why Russia’s playbook of attacking civilian infrastructure has spread to conflicts around the world.

This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company Bob Safian. From the team behind the Masters of Scale podcast, Rapid Response features candid conversations with today’s top business leaders navigating real-time challenges. Subscribe to Rapid Response wherever you get your podcasts to ensure you never miss an episode.

I am eager to discuss the renaming of Mercy Corps, but first, while I have you, I have to ask about the flooding in Nepal. You’ve been on the show before talking about humanitarian crises in Ukraine, Gaza, and Syria. What’s the situation now in Nepal?

Nepal is a devastating situation. It is a country that, in a matter of months, has gone from crippling heat to this severe catastrophe and flooding. 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 with food, hygiene kits, and shelter, but what’s really important for Nepal is helping them build for the future because these kinds of crises are recurrent.

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