The Case for Creative Coalitions in a Time of Turmoil
Imagine a country’s Olympics team getting all mixed up. The swimmers end up in the sprint and the cyclists are handed javelins. There’s a wrestler on a horse and a…
Crisis Action works to protect civilians from armed conflict.
At moments of crisis, Crisis Action rapidly mobilizes and scales up its network of allies across the Middle East, Africa and globally. We bring together human rights, humanitarian, and peacebuilding NGOs, connecting them with hundreds of other actors—businesses, politicians, lawyers, faith leaders and others—to create coalitions with the leverage to influence those with the power to protect civilians caught up in war from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
Founded in 2004 in the wake of the Iraq war, Crisis Action has grown into an international organization with a strong global partner network and presence in Addis Ababa, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Johannesburg, London, Nairobi, New York, Paris and Washington. Crisis Action coordinates emergency responses alongside longer-term campaigns. Our innovative ‘opt-in’ model of collective action ensures that strategies are not watered down to secure consensus of all partners but are maximized the yield the greatest impact. Our approach is to listen and then lead.
A quarter of the world’s people live in areas threatened by conflict or violence.
Crisis Action brings human rights and humanitarian organizations together to protect civilians from conflict.
Gemma Mortensen's vision is that coordinated engagement by civil society organizations can empower some of the most vulnerable people on Earth.
Crisis Action has engaged with more than 50 partner organizations and United Nations agencies to protect civilians in difficult conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.
Coordinated engagement by civil society in humanitarian crises compels policymakers to act to stop war and protect the human rights of civilians.
Crisis Action seeks systemic change to stop wars being waged. It seeks to ensure that civil society’s policy advocacy is coordinated in its response to wars. It seeks to ensure that governments and multilateral institutions implement systemic policy change in particular war zones that saves millions of lives.
Founder and co-creator, New Constellations, Crisis Action
Gemma Mortensen, Crisis Action’s former Executive Director, has had a long-standing interest in conflict prevention. Gemma's has pursued roles that enabled her to better understand how governments can be made to uphold their responsibilities toward their citizens, and how civil society can be empowered to become an active, powerful force for good. Having previously worked as a journalist and in diplomatic capacities at the International Criminal Court, the UK Mission to the UN, and the European Commission, Gemma joined Crisis Action in 2006 after its founder died in a tragic accident and took over in 2009. Gemma stepped down as Crisis Action’s leader in August 2015 after being selected as one of Yale’s World Fellows for 2015; Yale’s flagship global leadership development program. She went on to serve as the first Chief Global Officer at Change.org, overseeing teams in 17 countries, before returning to London as Co-Founder of More in Common. Nicola Reindorp took over the role of CEO at Crisis Action in 2021, following Andrew Hudson, a long-time leader within Crisis Action, who replaced Gemma in September 2015. Nicola has been campaigning to prevent and protect people in crises for more than 15 years and associated with Crisis Action since 2006, when she joined as a board member.
Imagine a country’s Olympics team getting all mixed up. The swimmers end up in the sprint and the cyclists are handed javelins. There’s a wrestler on a horse and a…