San Joaquin Valley Town Hall hosts Nate Mook at the William Saroyan Theater in their Daytime Speaker Series. Mook came to speak at the Town Hall to an audience mostly made up of retirees but including student journalists as well. He speaks about the importance of storytelling, turning ideas into impact and humanitarian aid efforts.
Mook has been helping with humanitarian aid ever since he left his career in tech. In the tech industry, he founded/co-founded online tech publisher BetaNews, developed ConeXware, and The Events Platform, Localist, (Mccain Institute). Then he became a filmmaker and producer with an international production company going on to create numerous documentaries highlighting humanitarian efforts in Haiti, Mexico, and around Central Africa, etc.
Part of Mook’s success in humanitarian aid can be attributed to his unique ability to inform his donors by telling the stories of the people serves.
“Everyone has phones and social media, so we see the world in real time,” Mook said. “Whether it’s $10, $50 or $500, you want to know where your money is going. Storytelling has a critical part in that.”
Mook traverses the front lines of humanitarian work, becoming the CEO of World Central Kitchen, which he elevated from a 1 million dollar company to a staggering 500 million dollar a year, revenue-generating company. Mook did this by traveling to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and coming up with real-world solutions, like using pre-made MREs and junk food in restaurant kitchens instead aof the pre-made MREs and junk food that were being delivered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Their work improving upon FEMA’s humanitarian effort is part of why World Central Kitchen was so successful. The head chef at World Central Kitchen Jose Andres values quality.
“We need to make longer tables, not higher walls,” Andres said.
Part of World Central Kitchen’s mission is to improve upon FEMA’s work and the lack of humanitarian efforts. They focus on in-house kitchens using the local food available at the time.
“When a medical crisis happens, we send nurses and doctors,” Andres said. “When a food crisis happens, why don’t we send chefs?”
During COVID, World Central Kitchens worked with restaurants around the U.S. His foundation helped revive failing restaurants, transforming them into kitchens equipped to serve the starving community. The foundation gives out millions of meals worldwide.
Food Train
Mook realized in the Ukrainian conflict a lot of the roads for cars were being targeted by Russian Missiles. Those roads took time to repair but Ukraine’s intercontinental railroad system remained intact. He and his team with the funding of Howard Buffet designed a train that could travel to high military activity areas. The train now operates, serving over 10,000 meals a day on the Ukrainian front.
A photo posted about animals waiting in line to receive food from a feeder went viral. He and his team set up this feeder for strays in the area. What started from a small post turned into a massive foundation. Nate Mook was surprised by the power of a simple photo.
“I’m a big believer that everything starts small,” Mook said. “Even things that seem big and overwhelming, where do they begin? They start small.”
This photo sparked the idea to create a foundation dedicated to feeding stray dogs across Ukraine. They now help feed animals from 6 different regions including 236 cities around Ukraine according to the Hochiko’s foundation website.
Dawson Briner, a Senior Feather journalist, attended the Town Hall presentation and admires Mook’s storytelling abilities.
“Nate has had a far reaching impact through his work not only in Ukraine but in general, his ability to tell stories and document the lives of good people,” Briner said.
Mook has redefined humanitarian aid and made an impact on how charities are run by creating a new standard. During his time at World Central Kitchen, Mook redefined the quality of food delivered and made at places of crisis. Then he continued on to create real-world solutions with the help of Howard Buffet, like the food train that’s serving over 10,000 meals a day on the front lines of Ukraine. Mook even went out of his way to run a foundation to feed and find new homes for the animals of Ukraine.
For more San Joaquin Valley Town Hall lectures, go to Susan Lynch lectures at San Joaquin Valley Town Hall and Noah Feldman speaks at San Joaquin Valley Town Hall.
To read more from The Feather, go to Who’s horsing around FCS? or Column: Winston Churchill
