Former USAID staffers who lost their jobs in this year’s dismantling of the agency have quickly built one of the sector’s most closely watched experiments in bridging the aid gap — and it just hit a major milestone.
On Wednesday, Project Resource Optimization, or PRO, announced that it has mobilized more than $110 million in philanthropic capital to sustain cost-effective health and humanitarian programs suddenly left without U.S. government support when the agency shuttered. And it mobilized that money in just over six months.
With a new anonymous gift, every project identified in PRO’s first wave of opportunities has now received funding that will keep it running for the next 12 months. That means some 41 million people in more than 30 countries will continue receiving life-saving aid despite the loss of USAID funding.
About the author
Catherine Cheneycatherinecheney
Catherine Cheney is the Senior Editor for Special Coverage at Devex. She leads the editorial vision of Devex’s news events and editorial coverage of key moments on the global development calendar. Catherine joined Devex as a reporter, focusing on technology and innovation in making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Devex, Catherine earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University, and worked as a web producer for POLITICO, a reporter for World Politics Review, and special projects editor at NationSwell. She has reported domestically and internationally for outlets including The Atlantic and the Washington Post. Catherine also works for the Solutions Journalism Network, a non profit organization that supports journalists and news organizations to report on responses to problems.
