What if a crisis could be a turning point? Mic Mercado sees the USAID disruption as a wake-up call for international aid.
“When the funding stopped, everything paused,” said Mic Mercado of CDP Foundation. “Communities were left in limbo.”
In the northern Philippine island of Luzon where CDP is based, the nonprofit’s disaster preparedness efforts stalled after the sudden halt of USAID funding. Long-time staff members were let go. Plans dissolved midstream. The sudden halt of direct USAID funding didn’t just pause programs—it fractured momentum, interrupted livelihoods, and left communities waiting in uncertainty.
And yet, amid this crisis, Mic offers a practical vision:
A vision where aid is not parceled out in six-month chunks, but rooted in relationships, led by communities, and supported with flexible, long-term trust.
A system where, as Mic says, “we don’t prescribe agendas,” but instead, “we listen, learn, and build together.”
For Mic, the USAID crisis revealed more than a gap in resources, but a deeper flaw in the system itself: the way aid is delivered often breaks life into silos, ignoring how deeply interconnected real community needs are.
“The traditional aid system looks at life as if it’s fragmented. But the problems communities face are multi-faceted, so it takes the whole of society to sustain change.”
That kind of change, he explains, requires external support that is sustained, long-term, and flexible (rather than limited to short-term projects or rigid agendas).
“Communities already understand their problems. As external agents, our role is to serve—not disrupt.”
By creating in-person space for people across the community to come together and define their own path forward, nonprofits like CDP help lay the groundwork for change that grows from within.
As Mic reflected on the challenges facing communities during a webinar with GlobalGiving CEO Victoria Vrana, Victoria asked a question that shifted the mood:
“Mic—you’ve been partnered with GlobalGiving for a while. How does that partnership look and feel? How is it different?”
Mic paused, then smiled.
“That question makes me smile. Since the partnership with GlobalGiving began in 2021, we saw a different way of doing things. We saw that it’s possible to have a partnership that’s more equitable than we’ve been seeing.”
At the heart of that difference is the relationship. Rather than dictating agendas or outcomes, CDP and its partners co-create projects grounded in local knowledge and priorities.
“Philippines culture is very alive, but the current development model really undermines that. We need to assess what has been changed for the worse—and mend and heal from that, so we can birth a new system.”
The work CDP supports is rooted in helping communities heal, rebuild, and thrive on their own terms, without losing sight of their culture, identity, and values. This healing process isn’t just about physical infrastructure, but about empowering communities to decide their own future.
“We believe in funding knowledge sharing, because how can you change if you don’t learn? And you don’t have to do that on your own.”
That belief is echoed by GlobalGiving’s own approach. As CEO Victoria Vrana shared, “We see how many organizations work with their communities in a collaborative way, and how funders come and it’s not so collaborative, and how that simply doesn’t fit. But that knowledge sharing you are speaking of, it takes time and investment to go and do that.”
Which is exactly why GlobalGiving is committed to investing not just in outcomes, but in the process it takes for real collaboration to thrive.
Mic also shared about the team’s Learning and Reporting Questionnaire, which shifts the language to shift the mindset: from oversight to ownership, from control to connection. Donors aren’t just informed—they’re invited in.
From that, Mic shared the story of a group of farmers who began with just three communal farms. Now, there are over a dozen, providing food for the entire region and working in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture. He told us about the group of homeowners near a volcano site—displaced after the 2020 eruption who used GlobalGiving funds to open a bakery. That bakery became a source of livelihood, dignity, and hope.
Despite the uncertainty, Mic remains grounded in something deeper than funding cycles: community, creativity, and a belief in people’s ability to rebuild from within.
In a time of global disruption, Mic’s message is clear: local organizations have always known what their communities need. What they require now is not saving—but sustained support. To help make Mic’s practical vision of the future of aid reality, support the GlobalGiving Community Aid Fund and join the effort to empower communities to shape their own future.
Support the GlobalGiving Community Aid Fund
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