The Next Generation of Humanitarian Response
March 24th, 2026 5:30PM -7:00PM
Our Speakers
Ciarán Donnelly is the Senior Vice President for the Crisis Response, Recovery & Development department at the International Rescue Committee. Based in the IRC’s headquarters in New York, he oversees humanitarian programs in over 40 countries worldwide. He joined the IRC’s response to the civil war in Burundi in 2001 and went on to lead the agency’s field operations in Uganda, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He has also served the IRC as Director of Strategic Analysis & Management, and as Vice President of Program Quality. Previously, Donnelly worked with Concern Worldwide in East Timor and with the International Security Information Service in Brussels.
Kathleen Morris serves as the Executive Director for IRC Washington, overseeing the organization’s offices in both Seattle and Spokane. With 18 years of experience in humanitarian and human services, she has played a key role in developing and expanding programs that support refugees and immigrants rebuilding their lives in Washington State. These include employment and economic empowerment services, immigration legal support, healthcare navigation, mental health and psychosocial programs, youth and education initiatives, and community gardening, farming, and market activities.
Cameron Birge is a Senior Program Manager on Microsoft's Humanitarian Partnerships team. He joined the company in 2016. He leads the company’s humanitarian emergency response portfolio, the AI for Humanitarian Action initiative, and . Before landing at Microsoft, he was with the United Nations World Food Programme for 10 years as a logistics and program officer working predominantly in South Sudan building on his previous five years with the US Army as an infantry officer.
Our Moderator
Elizabeth Stokely has over 17 years of global development experience across a variety of sectors and dozens of countries. She is currently the Executive Director of Global Washington. She has a deep commitment to cross-sector collaboration for social impact, with a proven track record of mobilizing over $60 million through partnerships with organizations such as Mastercard, USAID, and MetLife. As Director of Strategic Partnerships at Accion International, Elizabeth led a diverse portfolio of global partners for over 7 years, attracting investments in and shaping initiatives focused on financial inclusion, small business development, women’s economic empowerment, and climate resilience. In 2018, she helped secure the largest grant in Accion’s history. Prior to Accion, Elizabeth managed sales and operations at a multi-billion-dollar supply company and led community development programs with the Peace Corps in Loja, Ecuador and Fulbright in Cali, Colombia. At the Inter-American Dialogue, a Western Hemisphere focused think tank, Elizabeth also developed education policy research and grants for a regional network of experts, policymakers, and civil society organizations dedicated to improving education quality throughout Latin America. Elizabeth is Founder and Principal of Stokely Consulting, LLC, a mission-driven management consulting firm. She holds an MBA from USC’s Marshall School of Business, a BA in International Studies and Spanish from Dickinson College, and is fluent in Spanish.