Dan O'Neill (Humanitarian)

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Dan O'Neill is the Founder of Mercy Corps, an international humanitarian relief and development organization based in Portland, Oregon.

O'Neill was born in Olympia, Washington, in 1948 and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Washington in 1972.

His international service began on a volunteer mission in 1972. Working in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, he encountered poverty, famine and war, which he documented in photographs, articles and journals. O'Neill witnessed Idi Amin's reign of terror in Uganda, terrorism at the 1972 Munich Olympics and war in the Middle East, including civil war in Lebanon and the October 1973 war.

In 1979, O'Neill co-founded Save the Refugees Fund, an emergency relief task force to assist Cambodian refugees. He served on the White House Cambodian Crisis Committee at the request of Rosalynn Carter.

In 1981, he founded Mercy Corps with the mission to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build just, secure and productive communities. The agency has since generated more than $1 billion in humanitarian aid in more than 81 countries, assisting children and families through emergency relief projects, self-help development programs and civil society initiatives. Mercy Corps has been listed among the top charities in the nation for its cost-efficient, high-impact programs, including being named as one of "America's 100 Best Charities" by Worth magazine.^[1]

Dan O'Neill lives with his wife Cherry and their five children in Sammamish, Washington.

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