Building the Human Infrastructure

In Episode 3, Chris Hoffman sits down with Kate H. Wilson (Managing Director, Impact Futures Global) and Sean Burke (Strategy Lead – Nonprofit Practice, Accenture Health & Public Service) for a straight talk on what HR has to become in humanitarian and development organisations—especially in an era of AI, tighter budgets, and rising operational complexity. This episode goes beyond “HR policies” into the real work: rebuilding operating models, retaining talent when purpose alone isn’t enough, and designing human + machine collaboration without losing the human outcomes that matter. We dig into why the sector’s funding squeeze is forcing a reset (or reckoning), and how organisations can rethink roles, skills, and leadership so they can deliver more impact with fewer resources.What we cover:Future of HR in humanitarian response and international developmentTalent retention, career pathways, and staff care under pressureAI in operations: “human in the lead” (not just in the loop)Rethinking operating models: people + process + technologyEcosystem partnerships and sustainable capacity-buildingLinks:Kate H. Wilson bio: https://r4d.org/about/our-team/kate-wilson/ Sean Burke bio (Independent Sector): https://independentsector.org/people/sean-burke/ Accenture Nonprofit Consulting: https://www.accenture.com/us-en/industries/public-service/nonprofit LinkedIn (quick find):Kate H. Wilson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherinehwilson/Sean Burke: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanburke/keywords: humanitarian HR, future of work, AI for social impact, operating model redesign, talent retention, organisational transformation, workforce strategy, non-profit digital transformation.