Team Rubicon and technology in disaster response
Two weeks ago, Hurricane Florence swept through the Southeastern United States (North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia). Latest estimates indicate that Hurricane Florence has caused around $44 billion in damage and lost input, and ranks as one of the top 10 costliest hurricanes in U.S. history. Although the storm may have passed on, the after effects still linger. In fact, rivers in the affected areas have continued to rise, displacing thousands of additional people in the Carolinas.
In a show of community and compassion, many organizations have jumped in to help. One of these exceptional organizations is Team Rubicon, a nonprofit that leverages Box and has been on the ground since Florence made landfall. Team Rubicon is a veteran-led non-profit disaster response organization that unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams. Founded just eight years ago, the organization has been involved in nearly 300 global operations and has grown to over 85,000 volunteers.
As a relatively new organization, Team Rubicon “was born in and lives in the cloud.” Using Box and other technology partners, Team Rubicon is able to quickly standardize processes, reduce bureaucratic barriers, and operate as cost-effectively as possible. Quite simply, with Box they are able “to do more, do it better, and in less time with less cost.” In practice, this means Team Rubicon is able to deploy and respond to disasters the moment a storm is detected.
There are three key ways Team Rubicon uses Box to power the way they work -- coordination, collaboration, and operationalization. Using Box, the core team initiates their planning phase to ensure the right resources are at the site of damage at the right time. From coordinating the locations of their forward operation bases (FOBs) to organizing logistics for volunteers, the team is able to easily collaborate with all internal and external stakeholders via Box. Once the operation has been established, Team Rubicon uses Box to onboard all of their volunteers (over 300 currently assisting with Florence relief!). Volunteers are also able to capture their experiences using Box, enabling the organization to easily to share them in media interviews and press releases (like this one!).
Even with all these initial up-front efforts, the days, weeks and months after a disaster are the most critical. In fact, Team Rubicon continues to work tirelessly in areas that are still recovering from previous disasters such as Hurricanes Maria, Irma, and Harvey. Recovery efforts are truly a marathon for the survivors. Powerful technologies, like Box, will continue to be critical to foster the recovery work in these areas.
Team Rubicon shared that the collaboration with Box has provided them with a "better way of doing business," and they are hopeful that this impact will spread across the greater nonprofit world. In the meantime, we thank Team Rubicon for your tireless commitment and passion for jumping in and assisting during some of the very toughest times.
To learn more about Team Rubicon or donate to their efforts, please visit their website.
We proudly donate Box to nonprofits at Box.org.