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Direct Relief Awarded $250,000 Grant to Advance AI-Driven Humanitarian Health Forecasting

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Humanitarian aid shipments staged at Direct Relief's global distribution facility in California. (Tony Morain/Direct Relief)
By Brea Burkholz

Direct Relief has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation to support the continued advancement of its machine learning–based forecasting capabilities for humanitarian medical aid. Building on Direct Relief’s established analytical framework, the investment will strengthen the organization’s ability to anticipate the drivers of humanitarian medical needs and the demand for specific types of medical products. As a result, Direct Relief will improve the speed, precision, and equity of emergency health responses worldwide.

The grant supports Direct Relief’s efforts to apply data science and artificial intelligence in service of public health and disaster response, improving the organization’s ability to forecast demand for essential medicines and medical supplies before, during, and after crises. By leveraging machine learning models informed by real-world health, logistics, and disaster data, the system will enhance planning, reduce delays, and help ensure that critically needed medical resources reach the communities most at risk.

This investment is part of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation’s $75.8 million global commitment to advancing AI for public purposes, announced this week across 149 grants in 13 countries. The Foundation supports organizations using technology to strengthen public institutions, expand human agency, and address urgent global challenges—including crisis response, health equity, and climate resilience.

“The power of artificial intelligence for humanitarian response lies in enabling us integrate and rapidly analyze large-scale and highly variable data to benefit communities in crisis in ways that would otherwise remain cost-prohibitive and technically challenging,” said Andrew Schroeder, VP of Research and Analysis. “With this type of funding, we’ll be able to identify, validate, and respond to critical medical needs in more forward-looking ways, which also align with Direct Relief’s core values of trust and efficiency.”

Direct Relief has long used data and analytics to guide its humanitarian operations, including managing one of the world’s largest privately funded medical supply chains for emergency response and ongoing health-system support. The forecasting system supported by this grant will build on that foundation, strengthening decision-making while reinforcing safeguards around transparency, accountability, and public benefit. For example, the needs of patients and communities for respiratory protection, which Direct Relief has been collecting data on for many years through its logistical operations, can be aligned with anticipatory signals on changing social vulnerabilities and the risks of wildfire smoke and other airborne pollutants to deepen preparedness efforts and expedite medical aid shipments.

The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation has invested more than $500 million over the past decade in organizations advancing technology for social good, with a focus on ensuring that AI systems serve communities and democratic institutions rather than concentrating power.

This grant reflects a shared commitment to ensuring that emerging technologies are applied responsibly—and that innovation in humanitarian response ultimately serves people, patients, and communities when they need it most.

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