Brennan Banks

Founder & Vice President, Cassandra Banks Foundation

Throughout his career, Brennan has seen the significant impact of investment in individuals and their communities – trusting and knowing that those who have lived experience are best suited to identify needs and opportunities for recovery. 

Brennan started his career as an international humanitarian in 2002 as a refugee caseworker in sub-Saharan Africa where he assisted families from the horn of Africa, the Great Lakes Region, and West Africa. After supporting hundreds of families’ resettlement in the U.S., he returned to his hometown of Riverside, California wanting to give back to the community he loves. 

 
In 2009, he returned to Africa as the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent’s Regional Disaster Operations Manager for Eastern Africa managing the planning, coordination, and implementation of disaster response operations in 14 countries. Brennan also developed disaster management programs throughout Africa, including extensive work on community-based disaster risk reduction programming in the Zambezi River Basin regions of Namibia, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

From 2014-16 Brennan was deeply involved in the West Africa Ebola Outbreak. First as the Ebola Response Coordinator for the Red Cross where he planned programs and coordinated emergency resources. Then as Deputy Director of Programs for Paul G. Allen Family Foundation’s $100 million Ebola Program where he supported the development of the response and recovery program portfolio.

After the harrowing 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, Brennan worked across the Caribbean where he spent 12 months overseeing response and recovery programs in Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, Antigua & Barbuda, and St. Kitts & Nevis. Later joining the Center for Disaster Philanthropy from 2018-2021 to manage their international and domestic disaster grantmaking portfolios.

After two decades of working in philanthropy and implementing assistance programs around the world, Brennan founded the Cassandra Banks Foundation to put lessons learned and best practices into action on behalf of black women in nontraditional roles to honor his mother who is his role model and his inspiration for exploring the world and giving back.   

Brennan is an alumnus of United States International University-Africa and is based in South Florida.