The group call themselves as the "salvage squad". After losing their jobs when overseas aid faced cuts recently, a collective of devoted staff opted to create their own rescue package.
Choosing not to "remain in despair", Rob Rosenbaum, along with equally dedicated ex-colleagues, started efforts to rescue some of the vital programmes that were at risk after the funding decreases.
At present, nearly eighty initiatives have been rescued by a connector platform managed by the economist and other former team members, which has secured them over $110m in recent backing. The team behind the Pro program projects it will assist forty million people, encompassing many infants and toddlers.
After the termination of operations, funds were halted, numerous staff lost their jobs, and global initiatives either stopped abruptly or were barely continuing toward what the economist describes as "termination points".
He and a few co-workers were reached out to by a philanthropic organization that "sought to understand how they could make the best use of their limited resources".
They created a list from the cancelled projects, pinpointing those "delivering the most life-saving aid per dollar" and where a fresh backer could realistically step in and continue the work.
They soon understood the need was broader than that first organization and began to contact additional possible supporters.
"We called ourselves the emergency squad at the beginning," states the economist. "The vessel has been sinking, and there are too few rescue vessels for every project to board, and so we're striving to literally protect as many infants as we can, get as many on to these rescue options as attainable, via the projects that are providing support."
Pro, now working as part of a research organization, has obtained financial support for 79 projects on its selection in more than 30 regions. A few have had original funding restored. Nine were not able to be saved in time.
Funding has come from a mix of philanthropic foundations and wealthy individuals. Many wish to remain anonymous.
"They come from diverse backgrounds and opinions, but the shared sentiment that we've encountered from them is, 'I am horrified by what's happening. I truly desire to find a method to help,'" explains Rosenbaum.
"I believe that there was an 'lightbulb moment' for all of us as we started working on this, that this provided an opportunity to pivot from the passive sadness, remaining in the distress of everything that was unfolding around us, to having a constructive endeavor to really sink our teeth into."
A specific initiative that has obtained funding through Pro is operations by the Alliance for International Medical Action to offer support such as nutritional rehabilitation, maternal health care and vital childhood vaccines in the country.
It is essential to keep such programmes going, says the leader, not only because resuming activities if they ended would be hugely expensive but also because of how much confidence would be lost in the war-torn regions if the alliance left.
"The organization informed us […] 'there is fear that if we depart, we may lose our place.'"
Initiatives with extended objectives, such as strengthening health systems, or in additional areas such as education, have not been part of Pro's work. It also does not seek to maintain initiatives permanently but to "create a window for the groups and, truthfully, the wider community, to figure out a permanent resolution".
After securing backing for each programme on its initial list, the initiative states it will now prioritize reaching more people with "proven, cost-effective interventions".
