INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE
Co-creating the IRC’s Innovation Lab,
The Airbel Impact Lab
I joined the International Rescue Committee to co-create the organizations’ brand new research and innovation lab named Airbel.
Inspired by the nimble origins of the IRC as a safe house during WWII, we were tasked with finding a way to double the impact of project teams, in half of the time, with half of the resources. Today, the Airbel Impact Lab is one of the leading innovation centers for global humanitarian crises, and a model for how conservation organizations can also produce in-house innovation labs.
“We work to develop break-through solutions combining creativity and rigor, openness and expertise, and a desire to think afresh with the experience of a large-scale implementing organization”
- Airbel Impact Lab
Sample projects
Refugee Resettlement
I led a country-wide initiative to rethink and rebuild the refugee resettlement process after the Trump Administration made policy changes that affected the incoming refugee populations across the United States.
Ebola Crisis
In collaboration with the IRC’s global health department, I led a team in rural Liberia to understand the challenges of vaccine delivery after the collapse of the healthcare system in the aftermath of the Ebola crisis.
Sesame Street
I created and led strategic workshops to bring the IRC and Sesame Street together to jointly apply for a 100 million dollar McArthur Grant.
”Mariana and I worked together to build a research and innovation team at the International Rescue Committee, bringing user-centric insights into the world of humanitarian aid for the first time. Building anything new is always hard, but Mariana brought boundless enthusiasm, creativity, and curiosity to our work, which inspired and propelled both our team and our many collaborators. I would be thrilled to have her on any team that’s setting out to build something new and hard–it’s an environment that she truly thrives in!”
— Austin Riggs, former Director of Innovation, IRC