Working Definition

We are people who respond to crisis or work on community development globally - often working outside our home countries. Think of people who work directly for organizations like the US Agency for International Development, UN Agencies, European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, Australian DFAT, etc. It also includes people who work for non and for-profit organizations funded by these groups. We represent billions of dollars of "assistance" dollars flowing around the world, and a workforce that numbers in the hundreds of thousands. 

Historically, we were asked to be "neutral" at all costs. We are done being silent. 

Academic Definition

The academic discipline and practice of responding to natural or manmade crisis and/or creating social, economic and political equality for marginalized and under privileged persons around the world. This is via the teaching of the subject through a range of sub-disciplines such as economics, sociology, anthropology etc. and through the practical application of initiatives meant to improve the well being and livelihoods of under privileged persons. The latter includes those working for multilateral and bilateral donor agencies, global NGOs and think tanks in the Global North, as well as grassroots activists, social movement builders, thinkers, and managers/workers in organizations in the Global South. It also includes those working in government in both regions on these specific issues, as well as humanitarian organizations in both the North and South.