In the aftermath of the historic fires that tore through Southern California in January 2025, a graduate of the Master of Nonprofit Leadership & Management (MNLM) program at the USC Price School of Public Policy is stepping up to help.
Alistair Campbell began his wildfire work before completing his degree in May 2025. When disaster struck Los Angeles, he wasted no time in putting his skills to work for people who needed it most.
Campbell, a former marketing and brand communications executive, now directs a nonprofit that supports L.A. fire survivors with furniture and household items they need to rebuild their homes.
“We want to be the helping hand that gets people out of survival mode,” Campbell said. “We’re providing services and care that people need to feel safe and steady on their feet again.”
Inspiration and encouragement
Campbell came to the MNLM degree looking to pivot his career more deeply into service. His first formative taste of this work came while leading brand communications for Nike’s basketball division.
“Nike was partnering with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to provide sports infrastructure for children in refugee camps,” Campbell said. “We traveled to camps on three different continents and captured stories of what it’s like for kids living there.”
Children in refugee camps can spend years, if not their entire adolescence there, and most often don’t have access to education or activities crucial for wellbeing.
“It was a powerful experience to see what we could do to improve their lives,” Campbell said. “It planted a seed in me.”
That seed has flourished. In February 2025, Campbell became the founding director of A Sense of Home’s Disaster Relief Program. A Sense of Home is an L.A. nonprofit that provides youth aging out of foster care the support to furnish their first apartments. Its new Disaster Relief Program uses a similar model to help wildfire survivors rebuild their lives.
“We provide people who have lost everything with material support to furnish a new space,” Campbell said. “Our organization focuses on the things they need on a practical level – furniture, kitchen items, curtains – as well as on an emotional level. We’re always asking ourselves: how can we deliver these things in the most human way possible?”
Campbell’s team spends time with the individuals and families they assist to understand their functional needs and aesthetic preferences. They gather items they believe will help and delight and then meet with people in their staged living room to reflect and discuss.
“We have a small circle ceremony,” Campbell said. “It’s a community-building moment where we share words of inspiration and encouragement for them to bring into their new lives.”
Master of Nonprofit Management & Leadership
A Hands-On Program for Innovative Leaders
USC’s MNLM provides the critical skills and training you need to lead complex nonprofit and mission-driven organizations.
Find Out MoreCampbell’s marketing background enhances the foundations of the work he now does.
“It comes down to understanding your target population on a very deep level,” Campbell said. “Listening, empathizing, and being willing to grow and change to meet your population’s needs are so important when you’re trying to help people in meaningful ways.”
For Campbell, the MNLM degree has been an invaluable resource, providing the connective tissue necessary to transition smoothly into the nonprofit world and create a meaningful career caring for the L.A. community.
“Not a day goes by where I don’t draw on something I learned in the program,” Campbell said.
