Nancy Aossey

Nancy Aossey is President & CEO of Los Angeles-based International Medical Corps, a humanitarian organization operating on the frontlines of war, natural disaster, famine, and disease in 30 countries. Aossey became its startup CEO shortly after its founding in 1984, scaling it from a handful of employees to nearly 10,000 today, with a focus on saving lives, relieving suffering, and building self-reliance through emergency relief and training. She helped launch its early humanitarian activities in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Angola, Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Kosovo.

Under Aossey’s leadership, International Medical Corps has delivered some $5 billion in humanitarian assistance and training in 80 countries and has responded to every major disaster of the last four decades including: wars in Afghanistan, Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, Gaza, Yemen, and Sudan; genocide in Rwanda; ethnic cleansing in the Balkans; conflicts in Darfur, Ethiopia, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo; Ebola in West Africa; the Indian Ocean tsunami; earthquakes in Haiti, Japan, Morocco, and Nepal; hurricanes in the US and Puerto Rico; and the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Aossey is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the RAND Global and Emerging Risk Board, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah’s Jordan River Foundation/USA, and the UCLA Health System Board. She was awarded the UCSF Medal and accepted the UC Berkeley Public Health Organizational Hero Award. Born and raised in Iowa, Aossey holds a BA, an MBA, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Northern Iowa.