Dan Richards T'03, CEO of Global Rescue
Tuck Alum Spearheads Aid in Haiti
No one was prepared for the massive earthquake that struck Haiti in January. But as the world came to grips with the magnitude of the devastation, Dan Richards T'03 was in a position to provide immediate, hands-on assistance to both stranded visitors and the Haitian people.
Richards is CEO of Global Rescue, a company comprised of paramedics, doctors, and former military special-operations personnel that provides medical, security, transport, and crisis-response services to a wide range of clients across the globe. In Haiti, Global Rescue's quick action in applying for and securing landing slots at the airport in the capital city of Port-au-Prince and their use of helicopters cleared the way for the firm to get teams on the ground within 36 hours of the quake.
"We're a nimble organization," says Richards, who founded the company in 2004. "We've done this many, many times."
Richards had 25 staff members in Haiti, conducting urgent missions on behalf of several different clients. Among their tasks: rescue a group of Cal Berkeley students stranded in a remote section of the island, reconnoiter a safe route to move 27 orphans and 13 staff members from a demolished orphanage to a safe zone, evacuate 14 Pennsylvania missionaries, locate a missing diplomat from the European Union, and provide security for one of the major news organizations covering the tragedy.
In addition to the rescue and recovery missions, Global Rescue assisted in the ongoing humanitarian efforts of several relief organizations, providing transportation and security services as the agencies distributed food, water, and medical aid.
A career in private rescue was the furthest thing from Richards' mind when he enrolled in Tuck in 2001 after six years as a Wall Street investment banker. After an initial return to the banking industry following graduation, Richards landed in a private equity firm that was looking to make a large investment in the travel-assistance sector. What Richards learned about the business surprised him—and convinced him that he could do better. From that vision sprung Global Rescue.
"I feel so lucky," he says. "Global Rescue allows me to do what I love while also doing good in the world."
More Alumni Efforts in Haiti
Like Richards, Tuck alumni from other classes have also helped bring relief to the earthquake ravaged nation. Among them, Ben Reid T'59 and his company, Global Manufacturing Industries, teamed with Red Thread Promise, a nonprofit provider of medical care to orphans, to provide all terrain wheelchairs to some of the many new amputees in Haiti.
Gretchen Steidel Wallace T'01 served for two weeks as an informal information coordinator and family liaison for the friends and families of people missing in the collapse of the Hotel Montana—employing Twitter to collect, aggregate, and disseminate information. Steidel Wallace also led trauma-healing workshops for local women and plans to return to Haiti soon through her nonprofit foundation Global Grassroots to help people rebuild.
And Jacques-Philippe Piverger T'07—whose family is from Haiti and who in 2009 founded The Global Syndicate, a development-focused foundation to raise money for economic, health, and education-related efforts in Haiti—is now involved in reconstruction planning. His foundation is working with the Haitian government and former U.S. President Bill Clinton, a UN special envoy to Haiti.
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