Emergency Response Team Lead
Americares Emergency Response Team Lead and Gaza Response Director Jack O’Rourke leads responses to sudden-onset disasters, including hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires and floods, and complex humanitarian crises around the world. He is responsible for coordinating large-scale deliveries of medicines and supplies, deploying and managing emergency response teams and restoring health services for survivors.
O’Rourke is also tasked with overseeing the global health and disaster relief organization’s response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Americares continues to play a critical role in health response efforts, funding lifesaving health services and expanding mental health support programs for front-line health workers, children and adults. At the same time, he manages Americares long term emergency response work in Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
During his tenure with Americares, O’Rourke has been on the frontlines of several emergencies, including the 2025 Central Texas floods, the 2025 Myanmar earthquake and Hurricane Milton in 2024.
O’Rourke joined Americares in 2022 to work on Americares response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. In this role, he was based in Krakow, Poland, for two years to support health services in Ukraine and health programs for Ukrainian refugees temporarily living in Poland and other neighboring countries.
Prior to joining Americares, O’Rourke worked on humanitarian programs in Africa with Médecins Sans Frontières in Sierra Leone and the Carter Center in South Sudan.
He earned a master’s degree in humanitarian emergencies from the London School of Economics and holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and media studies from Fordham University in New York.
