About LFH

Crowdsourcing emergency response Pt. 3 - Crowdsourcing in Action

January 2011: This is the last post in a three-part series focusing on crowdsourcing in relation to emergency response during a crisis. The idea of accruing large amounts of data from the public during an emergency, or sending data out to be crunched by the masses, is at the heart of this actionable information and situational awareness relationship: from crisis mapping to handling the incredible amount of data during an emergency.

Crowdsourcing emergency response Pt. 2 - Crisis Mapping and Crowdsource Response Organzations

January 2011; In the previous post, crowdsourcing was shown as a way of collecting, analyzing and disseminating information. The challenge of crunching huge amounts data in real time from various media has always presented a problem for emergency response personnel, but with crowdsourcing, information processing has become much easier, actionable and faster. Taking that information and overlaying it onto real-time mapping is the purview of crisis mapping, an emerging emergency response discipline. And there are organizations who use crisis mapping as their primary focus for humanitarian aid.

Crowdsourcing emergency response Pt. 1

January 2011: One of the largest hurdles facing emergency responders is how to handle the amount of real-time information during a crisis. In order to get a clear picture of what is happening right after an earthquake, during a hurricane, in the aftermath of a terrorist attack, or before a flood hits, emergency response personnel and officials are increasingly turning to crowdsourcing as a way to digest large amounts of data and turn that data into actionable intelligence. Through social networking, text messaging and video crowdsourcing allows for multimedia information to be amalgamated and synthesized.

Phase I: Communications Uplinks

Many populations in remote areas are without dependable communications to support humanitarian on-site programs, or distance contact with remote supporters. LFH partners will develop an easily installed and operated robust communications core utilizing a satellite uplink to facilitate telemedicine, educational, commerical and artistic programs.

Phase II: Community Infrastructure

LFH partners will contribute their expertise, wealth and capabilities to develop micro-community centers that include vocational schools, arts/cultural centers, medical clinics built around LFH communications centers. Working with private sector partners and NGOs, LFH will help finance infrastrucure and support on-going partnerships to create markets for art and music, goods, training and other vital connections.

Phase III: Build-Out

Each project undertaken by LFH will anticipate a build-out stage, where private sector partners can build and sell homes, shops and other commercially attractive enterprises that use sustainable building materials and create jobs for the local population. LFH arranges investment insurance, both government and private, to make the investment attractive to potential partners. LFH will also help create locally governed credit cooperative to administer the titling, lending and administration of land/home sales including Sharia-compliant models.

About League For Hope

LFH works with non-governmental institutions, faith-based groups and the private sector to craft realistic programs that deliver not only humanitarian services but also micro-credit and employment opportunities by structuring reasonable profit models for the services provide by the private sector partners. LFH role is to form and promote these locally governed partnerships through municipal and regional governments, build core communications and infrastructure hubs using environmentally renewable or sensitive methods, and then bring together leaders from all sectors to provide local governance of the cooperatives and related services to ensure long-term economic, cultural and social viability.

The League is open to those who believe that direct person-to-person connections play an important role in reducing potential local or regional conflicts between peoples of differeing religious, policital and social beliefs. Building relationships by those fortunate to have the ability and means can create hope and opportunity through direct human diplomacy.

LFH raises operational funds from private donors to cover the cost of developing and building the partnerships essential to the formation of the cooperatives. LFH has a core group of experienced and often retired experts to help develop and guide the program development, providing most of their time voluntarily but being compensated for their direct expenses and a commensurate per diem for their time. LFH has a small staff that maintains the programs and provides administrative and fundraising services. LFH board of directors and officers have many years experience in the financial, regulatory, governmental and public policy arenas, and will provide the overall guidance and governance for the programs. Meet some of the LFH team:

Jeb Carney - Chairman & President

Mr. Carney helps develop the partnerships and programs for League for Hope. He has many years of experience in non-profit organizations forging public/private partnerships to foster local and international programs. He was the founder of Sahara Marathon, a non-profit international humanitarian race in Algeria, and co-founder of the National Council on Readiness and Preparedness. Mr. Carney currently serves on a number of boards and dedicates a large amount of time to humanitarian projects. He has an undergraduate degree from VPI in Blacksburg, Virginia.

David J. Pollack - Director & Secretary

David Pollack has spent a career working with state and federal governments and local municipalities in community development. A retired division director for the Housing and Urban Development Agency in Washington, D.C., Mr. Pollack is utilizing his expertise to manage new programs that build public/private partnerships in support of new community development projects, and serves as an advisor to several non-profit organizations. Mr. Pollack is an attorney and a Navy veteran.

Michael J. Gillette - Director & Treasurer

Mr. Gillette has extensive experience in international finance and policy development, having served for 20 years in management positions at the World Bank, both domestically and in North Africa and former Soviet Union. A graduate of West Point and a Rhodes Scholar, he has served in the US Army at the Pentagon and Viet Nam, and as a deputy assistant secretary in the Energy Department. Mr. Gillette is an expert in micro-credit and commercial lending, and speaks fluent French and Russian.

Rosalie J. Wyatt - Program Director

Ms. Wyatt has international business development experience in the wireless telecommunications industry for companies including Motorola, and Telephone Systems International, an Afghan-American firm that launched the first wireless and Internet service in Afghanistan post '9-11'. Her humanitarian experience includes natural disaster response and community development in Latin America and medical education in South Africa. Rosalie J. Wyatt is a graduate of Pepperdine University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Nova Southeastern University with a Master's degree in International Business Administration.

Luis Milagres e Sousa - European Counsel

Luis Sousa is an attorney practicing in Lisbon, Portugal. After a successful career as a computer engineer starting and running Criterium Corporation in Portugal, he has opened his legal practice that includes corporate and investment compliance. A world runner and humanitarian, he has helped organize a number of marathons and continues to provide assistance and counsel for humanitarian projects.