Saket Soni Wants to Protect the Workers Rebuilding Communities After Disaster

"Go to any fire- or hurricane- or flood-hit town in America, and you'll see the labor shortage," says Soni. "Even if the money comes, if the workers aren't there to repair, then people won't be coming home." Soni hopes to continue developing this much-needed workforce over the next decade. As well as providing legal advocacy for resilience workers, Resilience Force collaborates with third-party contractors to ensure laborers get better pay and safety standards. The nonprofit also offers a structured certification program that gives workers the technical and safety skills to perform roof repairs and other hands-on, AI-proof jobs. Then it puts people on the job directly, too, a blueprint with which they've seen success in states as politically and environmentally diverse as Louisiana and Colorado. While its in-house activities are paid for by philanthropy, Resilience Force provides free assistance to uninsured homeowners when it can. As budget and staffing cuts at the Federal Emergency Management Agency further complicate recovery for communities affected by disasters, the Resilience Force model aims to directly confront three intersecting crises: climate change, the housing shortage, and a difficult job market. Inherently, Resilience Force also addresses a fourth crisis: anti-immigration sentiment. Soni recalls a time he arranged help for a conservative Florida family whose home had been damaged by Hurricane Michael. "There was darkness all around,” he says. “They lost their electricity. Their roof was blown. They put up a sign that said, 'Strangers will be shot.'" Nevertheless, Soni rolled up with a squad of Resilience Force workers, many of whom were immigrants, and rebuilt the house. In short order, the family took the sign down. "Everybody's focused on how polarized the country is," Soni says. "I see the opposite."