Global Empowerment Mission is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2011 as a first responder to global disasters.
Throughout history, natural disasters and humanitarian crises have brought out the humanity in all of us. Mankind bands together to support their fellow human beings in their time of need.
As the world becomes more globalized and climate-related disasters more prevalent, these crises touch us all. There were more than 432 floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and fires affecting over 101 Million people around the globe in 2021 alone.* The scope, frequency, and intensity of these struggles have moved beyond the traditional models of relief that are often slow, inefficient, impersonal, and expensive. The bureaucratic overhead hampers mission outcomes and minimizes the impact of donated dollars and goods.
GEM was founded in 2011 to provide hope via a new model for disaster response, one that meets modern crises head-on with an innovative, adaptable, and scalable approach. One that harnesses strategic partnerships and empowers local populations in the rebuilding effort. To date, we’ve supported missions in all 50 states and over 46 countries around the world, providing assistance to millions of people.
This means we’re on the ground within two days of a disaster, whether at home in America or abroad. We coordinate with local leaders and move quickly to distribute supplies, cash cards, and basic necessities. Whatever survivors need – be it food, blankets, travel vouchers, cell phone charging stations, gas money or fire fighting supplies – GEM will find a way to provide it in the quickest and most cost-effective manner possible. In 2017, we teamed up with Bethenny Frankel’s #BStrong initiative to supply unrestricted cash cards to disaster survivors, which are invaluable to meeting critical individual needs.
What sets us apart is our willingness to engage locally to achieve the best cost-to-value ratio of goods, supplies, and personnel. GEM seeks to empower people with a holistic model, turning the traditional disaster relief model on its head. We stay in a country or community as long as necessary to assist in disaster relief, fill the recovery gap period, and establish sustainable development. This leaves in place local infrastructure and trained stakeholders to manage their own projects post-exit.
With hundreds of missions under our belt and over $243,000,000 in aid distributed, we’ve built a process that works. We’ve grown to a network of five distribution hubs in USA West, Guatemala, Poland, Ukraine, and our global HQ in Florida, USA, to warehouse and prepare goods for deployment. We can’t prevent crises from happening, but we can stop perpetuating the cumbersome and expensive model to break the and shift to one that responds quickly and efficiently by empowering people and revitalizing economies for the long term.
Our work is made possible entirely by the generous donors and volunteers, who we thank from the bottom of our heart.
