Mercy Corps rebrands, shifts global mission

What they're saying: "We believe strongly that what these communities need is prosperity, not mercy," chief development officer Mary Stata told Axios.

• "It really reflects our mission," Stata added, "centering our program participants as leaders, not as passive recipients of humanitarian aid."

Zoom in: The new brand was the product of nearly a decade of internal conversations, according to Stata.

• The name Mercy Corps had religious and militaristic connotations the organization is hoping to shed, she said, and was difficult to translate in some languages.
• "We increasingly felt like our current identity was no longer representing our values… or able to really represent our work with clarity," Stata said.

By the numbers: Prosper Global distributed roughly $500 million in aid last year, per financial statements from the organization.

• The organization reached roughly 37 million people in 35 different countries — including conflict zones in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and, most recently, in Lebanon as war in the Middle East continues to impact civilian population centers.
• The Trump administration shuttered the U.S. Agency for International Development — which managed some $43 billion in appropriations and assisted approximately 130 countries with disaster relief and economic development in fiscal year 2023.

The bottom line: More than 300 million people are in "urgent need" of humanitarian relief, Stata said, a number that has "more than doubled in the past four to five years."

• "The humanitarian system is being pushed beyond its limits," she added. "The absence of U.S. aid could not come at a worse time."