By Roger Lowe, ARCAN member

During Wendy Harman’s nearly 10 years at the American Red Cross, she led the organization’s first steps into the new world of social media and its transformation into using social posts and other information to help disaster response decision-making in real time.

While working in the music business, Wendy had a front-row seat as peer-to-peer filesharing and the Internet in general completely disrupted the industry. “I could see that technology would disrupt everything as it had in the music industry, and I wanted to help other sectors navigate the change,” she said. And that brought her to the Red Cross in 2006.

At the time, there was no social media team at the Red Cross, which was still dealing with reputational issues following Hurricane Katrina, many based on ongoing misinformation. When Harman began her job, she was encouraged “to make the mean and untruthful internet commenters go away.” That was an impossible task, but what she did do was to engage with social media posters, leaving “nice comments to correct some of the misinformation” in their posts. 

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“Being able to help others unconditionally in a selfless way gives me joy… Joining the American Red Cross as (a) volunteer is my way of paying it forward.” 

Son Michael Pham grew up and lived in South Vietnam and left with his family of seven on the last day before the end of the war. More than 2,000 people were packed on a container ship searching for safety and freedom. Whenever a plane was spotted, a small group gathered in a small area of the ship, each person held a red piece of material or clothing forming the Red Cross sign, their S.O.S. signal.

After surviving two weeks in the Pacific with little or no food and water, they were saved by the U.S. Navy and brought to a refugee camp in Guam. 

In the camp (Orote Camp in Guam, known as Tent City) of more than 50,000 refugees, near the entrance was a large tent with the Red Cross symbol. A large board was there for people to post notes searching for family members. Throughout the day announcements were made on loud speakers by the Red Cross for those who were searching for family members. Outside of the tent, people lined up to receive hygiene, dental supplies, used clothes and shoes. 

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“I had so many [memorable] experiences with the Red Cross… Working with people, both paid staff and volunteer, that were so dedicated and passionate about helping people in need. Going on my first national assignment and working with hundreds of people coming from across the country to give their time and expertise. The truly collaborative teamwork that we had with our local governments and community partners. All of that, and I had a chance to make a difference in people’s lives.”

Kevin Kellenberger began his career at NASA and later started with Red Cross as a disaster volunteer with the Bay Area Chapter (ARCBA) in San Francisco. He was next hired to be the manager of disaster response for San Francisco, then promoted to director of disaster services for ARCBA. After that he moved to Red Cross National Headquarters (NHQ) as the director of Partner Services. Kevin now builds rollercoasters! 

What was your favorite job or project that you worked on at the Red Cross, and why?

Responding to the influx of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina was a real test for me. Fortunately, I had some very experienced volunteers and staff to help make it happen.  While I had done some volunteer work prior to the Red Cross, this was my first opportunity to work with and manage a volunteer workforce.

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