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[Navigating Existential Crisis: Jada McKenna on Leading Mercy Corps Through Global Instability]-[After devastating aid cuts, Mercy Corps keeps fighting, with Tjada D’Oyen McKenna]

Masters of Scale · B2 · 2025-09-23

Business
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📋 Summary

Navigating Existential Crisis: Lessons in Leadership from Mercy Corps

In this episode of Rapid Response, host Bob Safian interviews Jada McKenna, CEO of Mercy Corps, to discuss the profound challenges of leading a humanitarian organization through a period of extreme political and financial volatility. Following the sudden rescission of significant U.S. government funding—which accounted for nearly half of the organization's budget—McKenna details the "existential crisis" that forced Mercy Corps to undergo a radical transformation.

The Shock of Sudden Funding Cuts

When the Trump administration moved to halt work through executive orders, Mercy Corps faced a chaotic landscape. McKenna recalls the "shock and disbelief" of that Friday afternoon, noting that the organization had to navigate a "clumsy" transition without clear guidance. With two-thirds of their programs impacted, the organization faced the immediate danger of abandoning vulnerable populations. McKenna emphasizes the "weird mental gymnastics" required to manage the organization's own trauma while simultaneously serving as a lifeline for people in perilous regions like Gaza and Sudan, where staff members themselves are displaced and struggling for survival.

Rethinking Impact: Doing More with Less

Facing an "unprecedented need"—with 300 million people requiring humanitarian assistance, double the figure from six years ago—McKenna rejects the "fight or flight" response in favor of action. She argues that "freeze" is not an option, as it would lead to a "slow, quiet death." Instead, the organization has shifted its strategy to focus on efficiency and local partnerships. By accelerating work with local actors and exploring remote delivery methods, Mercy Corps aims to maintain its level of impact despite the reality that they "are not going to get back to the size we were in terms of dollars."

Operating in High-Risk Zones: The Case of Gaza

Addressing the situation in Gaza, where 35 staff members remain on the ground, McKenna describes a "dire" reality characterized by extreme food insecurity and the erosion of hope. She refutes claims of mass aid diversion by Hamas, noting that Mercy Corps maintains rigorous vetting processes and that international audits support the view that the primary barrier to aid is political rather than operational. She asserts that the solution to aid theft is to "flood the zone with food" to reduce its scarcity-driven value.

Navigating Cultural and Political Backlash

McKenna discusses the difficulty of balancing humanitarian values with a polarized political environment. The organization temporarily adjusted its public-facing language regarding climate change and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) to avoid "triggering" backlash that could distract from their core mission. However, she remains steadfast that serving marginalized communities—including women and minority groups—is the only way to perform "high quality work." She characterizes this as a necessary pragmatism to ensure the organization's survival in a hostile communications landscape.

The Concept of a "Bigger Us"

Ultimately, McKenna advocates for the "concept of a bigger us," emphasizing that in an interconnected world, global crises are not isolated events but ripple across supply chains and economies. Despite the "grief" of mourning the organization's lost potential and the constant fear for staff safety, she finds hope in human resilience. Her leadership philosophy centers on diffusing command and control, acknowledging the emotional toll of the crisis, and remaining "flexible and agile" in the face of an uncertain future. For McKenna, the commitment to the organization's "sacred contract" with its staff and the people they serve remains the driving force for continued action.

🎯Key Sentences

1
I'm here with Jada McKenna, the CEO of Mercy Corps.
2
everything was blowing up.
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we had to go about shutting down those programs.
4
the crisis becomes you.
5
they've become used to having you there.
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📝Key Phrases

1
pull your focus away from
2
come to terms with
3
fill the gaps
4
hang in there
5
do more with less
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📖 Transcript

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