Public Service Announcements for International Disasters

CIDI 2009 Winning Entries Announced

CIDI Kicks Off 3rd Annual Contest

CIDI Announces 2008 Contest Winners

4.25.07 CIDI Announces 2007 PSAid Contest Winners: Student Filmmakers Win Part of $20,000 in Cash Prizes

01.29.07 - CIDI Launches PSAid: Public Service Announcements for International Disasters

05.31.06 - CIDI Announces 2006 PSA Contest Winners

03.20.06 - CIDI Launches Lights, Camera, Action: Future Filmmakers for International Aid Public Service Announcement Contest

PSAid Fact Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions

Common Myths about International Disasters

Stephan Bachenheimer has been working as Washington correspondent for the German and English broadcast of Deutsche Welle TV since 2004, covering politics and other events in the North American region. He has covered several natural disasters, among them Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti earthquake. He received the International Video Journalism award for his short film “Guantanamo – unplugged-”. From 1999 till 2004 he worked as a producer and reporter for Sat.1/N24 German TV and covered, among other stories, 9/11 in New York as well as the Abu Sayaf terror group and hostage crisis in the Philippines. He studied international relations and Chinese Studies, in Germany, China and the U.S. and holds an M.A. from Stanford University.

Suzanne H. Brooks, an expert in international donations management, is the director of the Center for International Disaster Information. Ms. Brooks works to promote the importance of cash donations to meet the specific and immediate needs of people affected by disasters overseas. With the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of U. S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA), Ms. Brooks has directed relief responses to more than 400 international disasters. Her work has included providing counsel to the White House on international donations policy and management in response to the Haitian refugee crisis, Hurricane Mitch, the Rwanda and Kosovo crises, the South Asian tsunami and currently the earthquake in Haiti.

Todd Horne has served as head of logistics for USAID/OFDA, the U.S. government’s arm for emergency humanitarian assistance, since October 2001 and has been with the agency since July 2000. Mr. Horne is responsible for coordinating all U.S. government emergency relief transport in response to disasters around the world. He oversees the procurement and management of OFDA’s vehicle fleet and worldwide disaster relief stockpiles.

Mr. Horne holds 10 years experience in international freight-forwarding operations. Based with a private company in Alexandria, Virginia he coordinated thousands of shipments annually. He spent six years supervising the logistical coordination for DOS humanitarian assistance projects before focusing his last two years as the Disaster Response Manager for all company humanitarian assistance movements. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Marketing from Elon College.

Paul Katz, an entertainment industry executive, Grammy nominee, and social entrepreneur, founded Commit Media LLC in 2006. The company’s mantra is “Entertainment for A Cause” – it uses the power of entertainment to raise awareness and funds for nonprofit organizations.

Prior to his work with Commit Media, Mr. Katz served as a senior executive of the Zomba Music Group for twenty years. While with Zomba, he helped shaped independent record labels such as Jive, Silvertone, Volcano, Verity and Provident. Among the artists he worked with were Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Backstreet Boys, Outkast and Pink. Mr. Katz was central in Zomba’s expansion beyond the music arena and into film, television, theatre, books and sports.

Sarah Potts is with USAID/OFDA in the Disaster Resources Unit. Since 2005, Ms. Potts has worked on multiple disaster responses from Washington as well as in the field, including disaster responses in Africa, Asia, Caribbean and Middle East. Prior to joining USAID/OFDA she worked on Fulbright exchange programs, a Ukrainian local government development project and with various NGOs dealing with human rights, conflict resolution and youth issues.

Clifton Wiens is Research Director for Editorial Story Development, National Geographic Television. In a decade with National Geographic Mr. Wiens has played a key role in numerous National Geographic films, both as an adviser on editorial content and in developing original documentary productions, with topics including archaeology, natural history, science and investigative current events.