Sam Bloch has devoted the past decade to post-disaster relief in Thailand, Peru, Cuba, Haiti, the Philippines and, most recently, Nepal. As the founder of Communitere, Sam has created an innovative, community-focused disaster response model that diverges radically from the “cookie cutter” methodology of the international community. Instead, Communitere provides an active, experienced, on-the-ground presence that focuses on providing the resources, processes and tools needed to help the affected community take an active role in the renewal of their own community. And Sam “walks his talk”: for seven of the past ten years, Sam has lived full time in these disaster-affected communities, working in partnership with the people as they rebuild.