Team Rubicon - Rockaways - Palantir screenshot

Team Rubicon is an international non-government organization (NGO) specializing in

disaster response Disaster response is the second phase of the disaster management cycle. It consists of a number of elements, for example; warning/evacuation, search and rescue, providing immediate assistance, assessing damage, continuing assistance and the immed ...

History

Team Rubicon was formed in January 2010 following the Haiti earthquake, when William McNulty and Jacob "Jake" Wood led a medical team into

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is defin ...

three days after the earthquake. The first Team Rubicon was an initial team of eight. They gathered funds and medical supplies from friends and family and flew into the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. They rented a truck, loaded their gear, and headed west to Haiti. The team treated thousands of patients, traveling to camps deemed “too dangerous” by other aid organizations. They ventured outside the traditional scale of disaster response, focusing on those who would be overlooked and left untreated. That experience was the beginning of Team Rubicon. Team Rubicon wanted to solve two problems: (1) Inadequate disaster response which is often slow to respond, has an antiquated infrastructure, and is not using the best technological solutions or well-trained members and (2) inadequate veteran reintegration into civilian life. Military veterans' training, skills, and experience make them well suited to disaster response while helping others can promote healing and community to alleviate some of the reintegration issues that drive a high suicide rate among veterans. The death of fellow Rubicon member Clay Hunt from suicide redoubled Team Rubicon's organizational mission towards veteran reintegration. The team's role in domestic disasters is both to provide humanitarian assistance and to provide veterans an opportunity to continue to serve. The name "Rubicon" is from the phrase "

crossing the Rubicon The phrase "crossing the Rubicon" is an idiom that means "passing a point of no return". Its meaning comes from allusion to the crossing of the river Rubicon by Julius Caesar in early January 49 BC. The exact date is unknown. Scholars u ...

," an idiom to mean passing a point of no return. The red and dark brown logo is made up of a sideways cross, a traditional symbol of first aid but here on its side as a departure from the traditional, with a river running through the logo, as a symbol of the gap between disasters and disaster relief. Wood and his work with Team Rubicon were profiled alongside fellow vet

Eric Greitens Eric Robert Greitens (; born April 10, 1974) is a former American politician who was the 56th governor of Missouri from January 2017 until his resignation in June 2018 amid allegations of sexual assault and campaign finance impropriety. Born a ...

and The Mission Continues founder as the subject of ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' columnist

Joe Klein Joe Klein (born September 7, 1946) is an American political commentator and author. He is best known for his work as a columnist for ''Time'' magazine and his novel ''Primary Colors'', an anonymously written roman à clef portraying Bill Clinton' ...

's 2015 book, ''Charlie Mike.''

J.J. Watt Justin James Watt (born March 22, 1989) is an American football defensive end for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Central Michigan and Wisconsin and was drafted by the Houston Texan ...

, defensive end for the Houston Texans, raised an unexpected $37 million towards the

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest ...

relief efforts, and so consulted SBP, a disaster relief organization based in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Scope of work

Since the Haiti earthquake, Team Rubicon has deployed on over 500 operations including international operations in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

( 2010 Pakistan floods),

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

( 2010 Chile tsunami),

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

( 2010 Thai-Burma border conflict), Sudan, Ecuador, Nepal, Greece, and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and

Hurricane Dorian Hurricane Dorian was an extremely powerful and catastrophic Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, which became the most intense tropical cyclone on record to strike the Bahamas, and tied for strongest landfall in the Atlantic basin. It is also rega ...

in the Bahamas. Domestically, Team Rubicon has responded to large scale disasters such as Hurricane Matthew,

Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2011 Atl ...

Tropical Storm Debby The name Debby has been used for seven tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean. * Hurricane Debby (1982) reached Category 4 strength, grazed Bermuda, and caused high winds at Cape Race, but no significant damage. * Hurricane Debby (1988) reached h ...

Hurricane Isaac Hurricane Isaac was a deadly and destructive tropical cyclone that came ashore in the U.S. state of Louisiana during August 2012. The ninth named storm and fourth hurricane of the annual hurricane season, Isaac originated from a tropical w ...

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds span ...

, the tornado destruction of

Moore, Oklahoma Moore is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. The population was 62,793 at the 2020 census, making Moore the seventh-largest city in the state of Oklahoma. Located between Okl ...

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affec ...

Hurricane Florence Hurricane Florence was a powerful and long-lived Cape Verde hurricane that caused catastrophic damage in the Carolinas in September 2018, primarily as a result of freshwater flooding due to torrential rain. The sixth named storm, third h ...

, and

Hurricane Michael Hurricane Michael was a very powerful and destructive tropical cyclone that became the first Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the contiguous United States since Andrew in 1992. It was the third-most intense Atlantic hurricane to make ...

. In 2019, Team Rubicon's Operation Heartlander responded to

Winter Storm Ulmer The March 2019 North American blizzard was a powerful Colorado Low that produced up to two feet of snow in the plains and Midwest. Rapid snowmelt following the storm caused historic flooding, and some areas received hurricane-force wind gusts. Co ...

that caused widespread damage across the American Midwest and provided assistance in eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, and on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. Many of Team Rubicon's hundreds of responses are to more localized disasters such as catastrophic snowstorms, smaller tornadoes, and flooding. With the onset of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

epidemic, Team Rubicon USA expanded its operational focus to include feeding programs in conjunction with Food Lifeline and

Feeding America Feeding America is a United States–based nonprofit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. ...

and

Meals on Wheels Meals on Wheels is a programme that delivers meals to individuals at home who are unable to purchase or prepare their own meals. The name is often used generically to refer to home-delivered meals programmes, not all of which are actually named ...

and to take individual initiative, called "Neighbors Helping Neighbors", to safely assist their fellow community members. Team Rubicon also conducts wildfire mitigation operations that both serve as training opportunities and help protect vulnerable communities by removing potential fuels. In 2018 Team Rubicon became the first NGO in North America to receive WHO Emergency Medical Team Type 1 Mobile certification.

Leadership

In 2013, General (Ret.)

David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior t ...

joined Team Rubicon's Board of Advisors. Petraeus promoted the work of veteran reintegration, citing its importance to soldiers returning from war. Three years later, in 2016, civil rights expert Ehsan Zaffar joined the Board of Advisors. Additional high-profile advisors are General Stanley McChrystal, USA (Ret.) and former

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

CEO Duncan Niederauer, who serves on the board of directors. General James T. Conway, USMC (Ret.) and Lt Gen Russel L. Honoré, USA (Ret.) as well as private sector business people Andy Bessette from Travelers Insurance, Jeff Dailey, CEO of

Farmers Group Farmers Insurance Group (informally Farmers) is an American insurer group of vehicles, homes and small businesses and also provides other insurance and financial services products. Farmers Insurance has more than 48,000 exclusive and independen ...

, Gregg Lemkau from Goldman Sachs, John Pitts from

Kirkland & Ellis Kirkland & Ellis LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1909, Kirkland & Ellis is the largest law firm in the world by revenue and the seventh-largest by number of attorneys, and was the first la ...

, Richard Serino, former Deputy Administrator of

FEMA The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

, and Jeff Smith from FedEx serve as advisors to Team Rubicon. Many are former military or have logistical expertise that helps guide Team Rubicon. Additional high-profile supporters are former Presidents George W. Bush and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (Birth name, né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 ...

. The George W. Bush Center included Team Rubicon as one of the case studies in its research on veteran serving nonprofits (VSNP). In July 2021, Team Rubicon Cofounder and then-current CEO Jake Wood stepped into an Executive Chairman role. Jake left the CEO position and then-current COO Art delaCruz stepped into the CEO position. Some international chapters of Team Rubicon were detached and re-organized into independent organizations with the same mission. For example, Team Rubicon's Norway chapter became "Response Norway".

Partnerships

Team Rubicon is or has partnered with many US corporations to support its mission including (list is not complete): * '' Got Your 6'' . *

Palantir Technologies Palantir Technologies is a public American software company that specializes in big data analytics. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, it was founded by Peter Thiel, Nathan Gettings, Joe Lonsdale, Stephen Cohen, and Alex Karp in 2003. The com ...

. *

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational corporation, multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the l ...

. * Tough Mudder. * Jack Links. *

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

and

Mountain Dew Mountain Dew, stylized as Mtn Dew, is a carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in 1940 by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman. A revised formula was created by Bill Brid ...

. * Carhartt. * Merrell. *

The Guardian Life Insurance Company The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America is one of the largest mutual life insurance companies in the world. Based in Manhattan, it has approximately 8,000 employees in the United States and a network of over 3,000 financial representativ ...

Clay Hunt Fellows Program

The Clay Hunt Fellows Program is a leadership development fellowship created by Team Rubicon. It is named after Clay Hunt, one of the original members of Team Rubicon who suffered from PTSD and depression and committed suicide in 2011. It was founded in 2013 as a 12 month program, but has since been changed to a 6 month program. On February 12, 2015, a veteran suicide prevention bill, the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act or the Clay Hunt SAV "Suicide Prevention for American Veterans" Act, named in his honor, became law.

Awards and honors

* 2011: GQ Foundation, Winner, Better Men Better World, Jake Wood * 2012: CNN Hero, Jake Wood * 2012: Classy Awards, National Small Charity of the Year * 2012: Grinnell Prize * 2012: Chase American Giving Awards, "Heroes and Leaders" National Award * 2015: Presidential Leadership Scholar, William McNulty *2018 Pat Tillman Award for Courage at the ESPYs, Jake Wood *2018 Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian Award from the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conferen ...

, Jake Wood

References

External links

*
Clay Hunt Fellowship Program
{{Authority control Humanitarian aid organizations American veterans' organizations Organizations established in 2010 2010 establishments in California