In August 2005 the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps didn't exist--in fact, the concept for the initiative hadn't even been developed prior to Labor Day. But now, the independent, nonprofit agency has more than $33 million in start-up funds and more than 20 employees and is poised to coordinate assistance to thousands of families in Louisiana displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

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The nearly miraculous formation of the recovery corps in less than six weeks took hard work and dedication from a mix of professionals from the government, not-for-profit and private sectors. Rod McCowan, a senior-level human resource professional from California, was something of a surprise choice to help lead the initiative.

When Hurricane Katrina slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast in late August, McCowan watched with the rest of the country in shock at the extent of the devastation. McCowan, like millions of other Americans, wanted to do something to help but felt that he probably could do little more than donate money, because he worked and lived in the Silicon Valley, thousands of miles from the disaster.

Little did McCowan expect that, just two weeks after the hurricane struck, he would be in Louisiana and thrust to the forefront of the recovery effort because of his expertise in HR management.

"In my wildest dreams, I never expected to go to Louisiana and be directly involved in the recovery efforts to this extent," said McCowan, senior vice president for global HR at Hitachi Data Systems in Santa Clara, Calif. "But once I got the call asking for my help, I knew it was the right thing to do." Less than 48 hours after Hurricane Katrina roared ashore, Louisiana officials realized that their capacity to respond to the disaster had been completely overwhelmed by the mind-boggling level of the storm's damage. Gov. Kathleen Blanco gathered her top advisers to brainstorm about ways to respond. Someone hit on the idea of creating an organization to coordinate the recovery efforts of the federal, state and local governments while working directly with the many private disaster relief groups, McCowan said. Soon Blanco began asking for suggestions about whom she could appoint to organize the agency.

McCowan says his name was mentioned immediately as a possible candidate. He had served during the Clinton administration in several HR-related capacities with the Department of Education, and someone on Blanco's staff remembered working with him.

"Suddenly I was on the shortlist of candidates to help form this new recovery initiative," said McCowan, who joined the board of directors of the Society for Human Resource Management Foundation in January.

The Right Mix

Choosing McCowan to head the initiative made perfect sense once the governor's office examined his credentials and experience, says Ann S. Williamson, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Social Services.

"Rod had just the right mix of experience in government, nonprofit and private sectors," said Williamson, who now sits on the board of directors for the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps.

When Blanco's office called and asked if McCowan would be interested, he was flattered and flabbergasted that they had zeroed in on him.

However, there was one slight issue: his existing job. McCowan had been with Hitachi for less than a year and was guiding the company through a critical reorganization of its global HR function.

But McCowan went to his boss, Dave Roberson, president and chief operating officer, and asked anyway.

"He thought about it for about 10 seconds and said, 'OK, let's do it,'" McCowan recalled. "It was one of those moments in my career and life that I'll never forget. Dave and I both felt it was the right thing, and we acted on it, I was never more proud to work for a boss like Dave Roberson and an organization like Hitachi Data Systems in my life."

Going Right to Work

Upon arriving in Louisiana, McCowan's first order of business was to decide what type of organization was needed to fulfill Blanco's directive of creating a new recovery agency that would coordinate the many federal, state, local and private relief efforts.

"We needed a group that could operate outside government red tape and wasn't bound by the many rules and regulations a government agency would have to face--especially when it came to funding and accepting donations," McCowan said.

The task force immediately began setting up a 501c(iii) organization, a not-for-profit group that can solicit and accept donations from a wide range of public and private sources. The Louisiana Family Recovery Corps was born. One of the main goals of the corps was to coordinate what had become a disjointed relief effort.

"We discovered quickly that no one knew what other agencies were doing even at the state level. Communication between agencies was very spotty and really nonexistent in most instances," McCowan said.

According to McCowan, the corps had a three-pronged initiative: develop comprehensive services delivery, disaster relief coordination and a model for disaster relief. Those involved say the corps could change the way relief efforts are managed nationally.

McCowan returned to his job in California on Nov. 8. Blanco appointed an interim CEO to head the recovery corps, and, according to Williamson, a search is under way to find a permanent chief executive officer for the nonprofit agency. The recovery corps has hired at least 14 family liaisons who have begun working to provide relief support to hundreds of Louisiana families. The goal is to hire and train up to 80 liaisons during 2006 and provide assistance to nearly 45,000 individuals or 10,000 families.

"I was glad to be there and ready to help when they called my name," McCowan said.

BILL LEONARD IS SENIOR WRITER FOR HR NEWS.