It was a bizarre year, indeed. It started with tremors and odd earthquake swarms, as if the Earth was creating portents to warn us of stranger things to come. Puerto Rico was still trying to grapple with this new calamity - several thousand homes destroyed, many school buildings collapsed in the South of the island - when the COVID pandemic hit.

All around the world doors were bolted, as in medieval times; movement was barred, people sheltered in place, businesses closed, and livelihoods vanished. For the lucky ones like us, it was as if time had melted and life had become a slow-motion movie.

CNE’s team kept producing relevant research - and our creative energies gave shape to new informative tools.

As our reach expanded and our work traversed the virtual world, our fact-based sober analysis became key in dispelling disinformation, offering clearheaded and grounded context to often apprehensive public discussions and anxious decision-making.

As in the aftermath of Hurricane María, CNE transformed itself. In 2017, we hit the ground running, distributing much-needed emergency supplies to remote communities, creating vital networks in the midst of an ostensible governmental collapse.

In 2020, with the COVID pandemic raging and world-wide lockdowns spreading, CNE went digital: we used the new technologies to create a much-needed lifeline to help people make sense of the new uncertain and seemingly incomprehensible times.