By Henry Dubroff Saturday, November 30th, 2024

For the latest episode of our Civil Dialogues podcast, I sat down with Thomas Tighe, CEO of Direct Relief.

It was a pre-Thanksgiving treat for me as I’ve enjoyed my occasional visits with him.  

For more than 24 years he’s helmed one of the world’s largest medical relief organizations — one based right here on the Central Coast.

For Tighe, who is stepping down this year and leaving pretty much at the top of his game, it was an exit interview of sorts.

And a chance to talk about the role of philanthropy and its future.

To understand Diret Relief’s role in global philanthropy you have to understand its reach.

“Typically we are in about 100 countries each year,” Tigh said, adding that part of Direct Relief’s success has come from its “narrow focus on health commodities.” 

Although people know the Santa Barbara-based charity for its work during emergencies, what it does the rest of the time is equally important. 

“What we do in emergencies, is what we do every day” in communities where governments and private resources can’tfill the need for medicine and supplies.

Leaving, he said, is bittersweet adding that “there would never be a good time to leave because I love this place.”

But he said that “with money in the bank, a great team” and more than two decades in the saddle it was a good jumping-off point.

He didn’t give a hint about what he’s going to do next but it seemed like a bit of time and reflection was in the plan.

In addition to its landmark facility in Santa Barbara, Direct Relief has a large distribution center in the Netherlands, a wholly-owned unit in Mexico, a new facility in South Africa and a newly established unit in Germany to help ease the burden of value-added taxes on donated products. 

Direct Relief has somewhat broadened its focus recently to include chronic poverty and microgrids that help nonprofitsentities service their communities.

The biggest effort in the history of Direct Relief has been its Ukraine initiative now equal to $1.5 billion in aid and over one million tons of supplies.

The initiative grew out of earlier efforts to send medications, including monoclonal antibodies during the pandemic.  

Tighe said Ukraine effort is an echo of Direct Relief’s origins when William Zimden, an Estonian businessman who denounced Hitler as a “pathetic little fool,” fled to Santa Barbara and began shipping relief packages back to war-ravaged Europe with his own money.   

Tighe remarked on the ”toughness of the Ukrainian people whose needs are severe,” adding that the organization has been working on rehab centers for people who lost limbs, including a new prosthetic lab at the Children’s Hospital in Kyiv.

Tighe is an optimist about private philanthropy in part because of the “very divisive” polarization around politics and aretrenchment by governments in delivering essential services.  

Because of that contraction, he said, “people who in earlier generations would have been wired for public service find their way to nonprofits.”

What he sees every day at notably nonpartisan Direct Relief is “inspiring to me.” 

He noted the sharp contrast “with what you see on TV where people hate each other. My reality is much different from what’s presented on television.” 

He said that over 20-plus years he’s been impressed by the Central Coast’s resilience in the face of disaster, as he put it, our “ability to work through it without name calling.”

But he also said that whether it is the impact of climate change or the epidemic of community violence, the Central Coast is not immune. “We are a microcosm of what we see globally,” he said noting that the Central Coast has had some of the largest wildfires in the state’s history.

One thing he’s learned over the years is that even when disasters make global headlines, the nature of the recovery work takes place locally. “Exposure to local communities gives me hope,” he said. “People pull together.” 

And he said he’s encouraged by the outpouring of support for Direct Relief when disasters like Ukraine take place.

“People vote on Direct Relief every day,” he said.

Henry Dubroff is the founder, owner and editor of the Pacific Coast Business Times. He can be reached at [email protected]. The Civil Dialogues podcast is funded in part with a grant from the Santa Barbara Foundation. It can be found by visiting pacbiztimes.com/civil-dialogs-podcast/ or on Apple and Spotify.