WBUR/Radio Boston 2015: How Are Refugees Screened In Massachusetts? Sasha Chanoff, co-founder and executive director of RefugePoint discusses the refugee screening process after the terror attacks in Paris.
WBUR/Radio Boston 2015: How Are Refugees Screened In Massachusetts? Sasha Chanoff, co-founder and executive director of RefugePoint discusses the refugee screening process after the terror attacks in Paris.
The Good Lie is a feature film starring Reese Witherspoon about the resettlement to the US of the refugee children known as the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan. These children escaped the Sudanese government’s attacks against its southern people between 1983 and 2005 that claimed more than two million lives and displaced many more millions.
Among the 3,600 young adults who came to the US, only 89 were women. Yet there were at least hundreds of other young women in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp who shared the same story of flight and persecution as the Lost Boys. They too had fled the violence, walked up to one thousand miles, and faced starvation and attacks before finally reaching the relative safety of Kakuma.
But in the camp the surviving orphaned and unaccompanied girls faced new dangers. As they reached the age of 12 or 13 they were often prevented from attending school, and many were forced into marriages against their will. They fell through the cracks of humanitarian assistance and became commodities to be bartered and sold for a bride price.
RefugePoint’s early efforts included enabling some of these refugees to resettle to the US and reunite with their siblings. RefugePoint has had a presence in Kakuma camp for many years working to protect unaccompanied children, enable refugees to resettle to the US, and most recently to respond to the emergency influx of new South Sudanese refugees.
With the eruption of conflict again in 2013, approximately 1.8 million people have been displaced from their homes in South Sudan, including nearly 500,000 who have fled to Kenya, Ethiopia and other neighboring countries.
The Good Lie debuts at a critical time in South Sudan’s history. The film is raising attention and awareness for the current conflict and in so doing highlights the needs of today’s refugees, as well as organizations such as RefugePoint, which are protecting those searching for safety.
RefugePoint’s founder and Executive Director served as an advisor on the film. To read more about his engagement click here.
The Good Lie is a feature film starring Reese Witherspoon about the resettlement to the US of the refugee children known as the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan. These children escaped the Sudanese government’s attacks against its southern people between 1983 and 2005 that claimed more than two million lives and displaced many more millions.
Among the 3,600 young adults who came to the US, only 89 were women. Yet there were at least hundreds of other young women in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp who shared the same story of flight and persecution as the Lost Boys. They too had fled the violence, walked up to one thousand miles, and faced starvation and attacks before finally reaching the relative safety of Kakuma.
But in the camp the surviving orphaned and unaccompanied girls faced new dangers. As they reached the age of 12 or 13 they were often prevented from attending school, and many were forced into marriages against their will. They fell through the cracks of humanitarian assistance and became commodities to be bartered and sold for a bride price.
RefugePoint’s early efforts included enabling some of these refugees to resettle to the US and reunite with their siblings. RefugePoint has had a presence in Kakuma camp for many years working to protect unaccompanied children, enable refugees to resettle to the US, and most recently to respond to the emergency influx of new South Sudanese refugees.
With the eruption of conflict again in 2013, approximately 1.8 million people have been displaced from their homes in South Sudan, including nearly 500,000 who have fled to Kenya, Ethiopia and other neighboring countries.
The Good Lie debuts at a critical time in South Sudan’s history. The film is raising attention and awareness for the current conflict and in so doing highlights the needs of today’s refugees, as well as organizations such as RefugePoint, which are protecting those searching for safety.
RefugePoint’s founder and Executive Director served as an advisor on the film. To read more about his engagement click here.
Boston Globe 2014: A Lost Girl Shares Her Story
Boston Globe 2014: A Lost Girl Shares Her Story
When Kasoke first arrived at RefugePoint’s office, the Congolese refugee mother was frail from emaciation. She and her young son were malnourished and in need of critical medical attention. RefugePoint immediately enrolled her small family in our food program and medical services. As weeks passed and the staff learned more about her background, the young mother was also recommended for group counseling to address the sexual trauma she had endured in her native country, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Currently, RefugePoint is working with our partners to help 50,000 Congolese refugees resettle to the US over the next few years. This will be the largest resettlement commitment out of Africa in US history. Like Kasoke, many of the refugee women to be resettled are survivors of sexual violence. At a recent human rights forum, a senior United Nations official reaffirmed that rape remains alarmingly prevalent in DRC, and is especially brutal.[1]
As a survivor of sexual violence, Kasoke presented many of the complex medical and emotional symptoms RefugePoint routinely sees in female, as well as male, clients. Reticent to share the events that forced her to flee DRC, Kasoke often fluctuated between being withdrawn and outwardly suspicious of strangers and staff.
In 2012, RefugePoint introduced our group counseling program to assist survivors like Kasoke. The sessions are designed to provide clients with emotional support as they transition towards self-sufficiency. Over the course of six weeks, clients have the opportunity to collectively grieve and establish critical social networks in Nairobi, a city with more than 100,000 refugees. In urban slums and refugee camps, the stigma of rape and other forms of sexual violence often results in victims being ostracized by relatives and their broader community, elevating their insecurity.
When Kasoke first connected with RefugePoint, she did not have a local social network. This changed over the course of her participation in group counseling, which RefugePoint organizes by country of origin and gender to aid in creating a safe environment for participants and to facilitate conversation.
Some of the most nurturing moments are not always communicated in words. During one session, Kasoke listened intently while a mother of the same age recounted her rape. When the woman began to cry, Kasoke reached across the circle and held her hand. “For many women, this is their first opportunity to share their story with other survivors,” RefugePoint Counseling Unit Manager Clotilda Kiriongi explained. “It is healing for these women to know they are not alone and they should not feel ashamed.”
Clotilda and her co-facilitator alternate between providing trauma counseling and helping the women gain practical survival skills, recognizing that life in Nairobi still includes many risks for refugee women, including the potential for further sexual violence and human trafficking. The most vulnerable refugee women living in Nairobi are often forced to engage in survival sex simply to shelter and feed themselves and their families. To combat this trend, RefugePoint staff and participants exchange strategies for earning alternative income, as well as lessons for managing stress and navigating their neighborhoods safely. In 2013, 237 refugee women and men participated in individual and/or group counseling.
In the last two years, Kasoke has made tremendous progress. After improving her health and gaining confidence through the counseling program, Kasoke enrolled in RefugePoint’s expanding livelihoods program, which provides cash grants to motivated clients to begin small businesses. Today, she is managing her own business and has become an inspiration to other refugee women in her neighborhood.
[1] Human Rights Council holds High-Level dialogue on combating sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, United Nations Human Rights Council, March 25, 2014
When Kasoke first arrived at RefugePoint’s office, the Congolese refugee mother was frail from emaciation. She and her young son were malnourished and in need of critical medical attention. RefugePoint immediately enrolled her small family in our food program and medical services. As weeks passed and the staff learned more about her background, the young mother was also recommended for group counseling to address the sexual trauma she had endured in her native country, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Currently, RefugePoint is working with our partners to help 50,000 Congolese refugees resettle to the US over the next few years. This will be the largest resettlement commitment out of Africa in US history. Like Kasoke, many of the refugee women to be resettled are survivors of sexual violence. At a recent human rights forum, a senior United Nations official reaffirmed that rape remains alarmingly prevalent in DRC, and is especially brutal.[1]
As a survivor of sexual violence, Kasoke presented many of the complex medical and emotional symptoms RefugePoint routinely sees in female, as well as male, clients. Reticent to share the events that forced her to flee DRC, Kasoke often fluctuated between being withdrawn and outwardly suspicious of strangers and staff.
In 2012, RefugePoint introduced our group counseling program to assist survivors like Kasoke. The sessions are designed to provide clients with emotional support as they transition towards self-sufficiency. Over the course of six weeks, clients have the opportunity to collectively grieve and establish critical social networks in Nairobi, a city with more than 100,000 refugees. In urban slums and refugee camps, the stigma of rape and other forms of sexual violence often results in victims being ostracized by relatives and their broader community, elevating their insecurity.
When Kasoke first connected with RefugePoint, she did not have a local social network. This changed over the course of her participation in group counseling, which RefugePoint organizes by country of origin and gender to aid in creating a safe environment for participants and to facilitate conversation.
Some of the most nurturing moments are not always communicated in words. During one session, Kasoke listened intently while a mother of the same age recounted her rape. When the woman began to cry, Kasoke reached across the circle and held her hand. “For many women, this is their first opportunity to share their story with other survivors,” RefugePoint Counseling Unit Manager Clotilda Kiriongi explained. “It is healing for these women to know they are not alone and they should not feel ashamed.”
Clotilda and her co-facilitator alternate between providing trauma counseling and helping the women gain practical survival skills, recognizing that life in Nairobi still includes many risks for refugee women, including the potential for further sexual violence and human trafficking. The most vulnerable refugee women living in Nairobi are often forced to engage in survival sex simply to shelter and feed themselves and their families. To combat this trend, RefugePoint staff and participants exchange strategies for earning alternative income, as well as lessons for managing stress and navigating their neighborhoods safely. In 2013, 237 refugee women and men participated in individual and/or group counseling.
In the last two years, Kasoke has made tremendous progress. After improving her health and gaining confidence through the counseling program, Kasoke enrolled in RefugePoint’s expanding livelihoods program, which provides cash grants to motivated clients to begin small businesses. Today, she is managing her own business and has become an inspiration to other refugee women in her neighborhood.
[1] Human Rights Council holds High-Level dialogue on combating sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, United Nations Human Rights Council, March 25, 2014
Esther Kamau likes to joke that she didn’t join RefugePoint, but that RefugePoint joined her. This is because Esther was the first person RefugePoint (then Mapendo International) hired after Sasha Chanoff and Dr. John Wagacha Burton founded the organization in 2005.
Leaving behind a comfortable, stable career as a staff clinician in the private sector, Esther joined the nascent organization as a full time clinical officer. In her position, she provided the most vulnerable refugees in Nairobi with emergency medical care and referrals to critical health services. Among her first clients were dozens of refugees who had been denied resettlement due to their HIV positive status.
Nine years later, Esther is still with the organization and continues to make a significant impact in refugees’ lives throughout Nairobi. Promoted to manager of RefugePoint’s medical unit, Esther oversees the organization’s on-site medical clinic, Community Health Worker program, public health research initiatives, and the medical unit staff. Daily, the clinic provides between 25-30 vulnerable urban refugees with direct treatment, prescriptions, and/or hospital referrals. In 2013, the medical clinic exceeded its goal of treating 1,350 refugees by more than 38%. Most commonly, RefugePoint medical staff diagnosed and treated respiratory illnesses, peptic ulcer disease, hypertension, and diabetes.
Esther’s most notable achievement this year has been her successful brokering with Kenya’s National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to allow refugees in the country access to the same medical insurance benefits as Kenyans. For the first time ever, all refugees will be eligible to access insurance through the national health care system for approximately US $2 per month.
“This development follows two years of persistent negotiation and advocacy by Esther and her entire medical team,” said RefugePoint Urban Program Coordinator Paul Karanja. “Under her leadership, she has not only improved the lives of our refugee clients, but she has brought healthcare to thousands more.”
Last month, RefugePoint’s community health workers hosted staff from NHIF at a community forum in Kayole, a refugee neighborhood in Nairobi. At the event, NHIF explained to refugee families the benefits of enrollment and, as a result, 34 families completed the paperwork and began paying the premium immediately. In the months ahead, RefugePoint will continue to host similar forums in partnership with NHIF, the UN Refugee Agency, and other NGOs to ensure that more refugees are aware of the change and are able to access similar benefits.
Throughout her tenure with the organization, Esther’s visionary leadership has been rooted in the belief that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model for assisting refugees does not exist. She explained, “Almost every day has been a learning experience. We serve a diverse population of refugees with a variety of traumas and needs, but also strengths. Listening to [refugees] helps us create more targeted solutions.”
Esther Kamau likes to joke that she didn’t join RefugePoint, but that RefugePoint joined her. This is because Esther was the first person RefugePoint (then Mapendo International) hired after Sasha Chanoff and Dr. John Wagacha Burton founded the organization in 2005.
Leaving behind a comfortable, stable career as a staff clinician in the private sector, Esther joined the nascent organization as a full time clinical officer. In her position, she provided the most vulnerable refugees in Nairobi with emergency medical care and referrals to critical health services. Among her first clients were dozens of refugees who had been denied resettlement due to their HIV positive status.
Nine years later, Esther is still with the organization and continues to make a significant impact in refugees’ lives throughout Nairobi. Promoted to manager of RefugePoint’s medical unit, Esther oversees the organization’s on-site medical clinic, Community Health Worker program, public health research initiatives, and the medical unit staff. Daily, the clinic provides between 25-30 vulnerable urban refugees with direct treatment, prescriptions, and/or hospital referrals. In 2013, the medical clinic exceeded its goal of treating 1,350 refugees by more than 38%. Most commonly, RefugePoint medical staff diagnosed and treated respiratory illnesses, peptic ulcer disease, hypertension, and diabetes.
Esther’s most notable achievement this year has been her successful brokering with Kenya’s National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) to allow refugees in the country access to the same medical insurance benefits as Kenyans. For the first time ever, all refugees will be eligible to access insurance through the national health care system for approximately US $2 per month.
“This development follows two years of persistent negotiation and advocacy by Esther and her entire medical team,” said RefugePoint Urban Program Coordinator Paul Karanja. “Under her leadership, she has not only improved the lives of our refugee clients, but she has brought healthcare to thousands more.”
Last month, RefugePoint’s community health workers hosted staff from NHIF at a community forum in Kayole, a refugee neighborhood in Nairobi. At the event, NHIF explained to refugee families the benefits of enrollment and, as a result, 34 families completed the paperwork and began paying the premium immediately. In the months ahead, RefugePoint will continue to host similar forums in partnership with NHIF, the UN Refugee Agency, and other NGOs to ensure that more refugees are aware of the change and are able to access similar benefits.
Throughout her tenure with the organization, Esther’s visionary leadership has been rooted in the belief that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model for assisting refugees does not exist. She explained, “Almost every day has been a learning experience. We serve a diverse population of refugees with a variety of traumas and needs, but also strengths. Listening to [refugees] helps us create more targeted solutions.”
Asha’s* tiny frame does not do justice to the huge impact this 23-year-old Somali woman is making as a community health worker (CHW) in her refugee neighborhood in Nairobi. Since the launch of RefugePoint’s community health program in 2011, our small team of CHWs has provided more than 5,500 urban refugees with critical health information and direction on how to better access existing medical services in their areas.
According to RefugePoint Medical Unit Manager Esther Kamau, “two years ago our outreach staff discovered that many of our refugee clients and their neighbors either did not know they could visit local medical clinics or were unable to access services due to cultural and language barriers.”
To address this problem, RefugePoint partnered with the Kenyan Ministry of Health to develop the community health worker program, which involves employing refugees to collect health-related data in their local neighborhoods and to disseminate essential health information in their native languages to their fellow community members.
“I always make sure that refugees know that I’m also a refugee so that they feel comfortable letting me into their homes,” explained Asha, who joined the team in January 2013 and works extensively in Somali neighborhoods.
Each week, Asha and her colleagues conduct approximately 20 home visits. They talk to refugee families about nutrition, sanitation, maternal health care, and other related topics. They also refer families to clinics where they can receive affordable medical care. If a particular health issue seems to be a common concern for many families, Asha and her colleagues will organize community education forums for larger groups. This year, Asha has been especially focused on distributing water purification tablets and directing refugees to nearby sources of clean water during her 30-minute home visits after discovering that few families had reliable sources of potable water.
In 2012, RefugePoint completed a public health indicator survey in one Somali refugee neighborhood, where previously the Kenyan Ministry of Health had had difficulty connecting with local residents due to cultural and language barriers. The survey highlighted the impact of the community health worker program in this location over a ten-month period. Of the 530 refugees sampled, there were significant decreases in preventable illnesses, as well as increases in the number of individuals accessing public health care. For example, diarrheal and other water-born illnesses decreased by 12% while hospital deliveries versus home births increased by 51%. In 2012, the Kenya Ministry of Health also credited the CHWs with helping to increase immunization rates from 64% to 97% within the same district.
In 2014, Asha and her 13 colleagues aim to provide 4,000 refugees with similar medical, psychosocial, and protection information. They also plan to conduct a similar impact survey at the end of the year, which includes a broader sample of nationalities across different refugee neighborhoods. The baseline for this study was completed in February.
“Asha is incredibly influential in [her neighborhood] and many people look up to her,” said RefugePoint Nurse Rebecca Nyokabi, who supervises the community health workers. “I work closely with her because I trust her sharp insight and energy.”
Looking ahead to her own future, Asha now hopes to become a doctor due to her experiences as a community health worker. “I have had the opportunity to meet so many different people and to see change happening in our area,” she said. “I met an old woman with two deaf daughters who were afraid of going to the public clinics even when they were sick. I went with them, helped them understand what was happening and they were so happy they could get medical care.”
*Name changed for security purposes
Asha’s* tiny frame does not do justice to the huge impact this 23-year-old Somali woman is making as a community health worker (CHW) in her refugee neighborhood in Nairobi. Since the launch of RefugePoint’s community health program in 2011, our small team of CHWs has provided more than 5,500 urban refugees with critical health information and direction on how to better access existing medical services in their areas.
According to RefugePoint Medical Unit Manager Esther Kamau, “two years ago our outreach staff discovered that many of our refugee clients and their neighbors either did not know they could visit local medical clinics or were unable to access services due to cultural and language barriers.”
To address this problem, RefugePoint partnered with the Kenyan Ministry of Health to develop the community health worker program, which involves employing refugees to collect health-related data in their local neighborhoods and to disseminate essential health information in their native languages to their fellow community members.
“I always make sure that refugees know that I’m also a refugee so that they feel comfortable letting me into their homes,” explained Asha, who joined the team in January 2013 and works extensively in Somali neighborhoods.
Each week, Asha and her colleagues conduct approximately 20 home visits. They talk to refugee families about nutrition, sanitation, maternal health care, and other related topics. They also refer families to clinics where they can receive affordable medical care. If a particular health issue seems to be a common concern for many families, Asha and her colleagues will organize community education forums for larger groups. This year, Asha has been especially focused on distributing water purification tablets and directing refugees to nearby sources of clean water during her 30-minute home visits after discovering that few families had reliable sources of potable water.
In 2012, RefugePoint completed a public health indicator survey in one Somali refugee neighborhood, where previously the Kenyan Ministry of Health had had difficulty connecting with local residents due to cultural and language barriers. The survey highlighted the impact of the community health worker program in this location over a ten-month period. Of the 530 refugees sampled, there were significant decreases in preventable illnesses, as well as increases in the number of individuals accessing public health care. For example, diarrheal and other water-born illnesses decreased by 12% while hospital deliveries versus home births increased by 51%. In 2012, the Kenya Ministry of Health also credited the CHWs with helping to increase immunization rates from 64% to 97% within the same district.
In 2014, Asha and her 13 colleagues aim to provide 4,000 refugees with similar medical, psychosocial, and protection information. They also plan to conduct a similar impact survey at the end of the year, which includes a broader sample of nationalities across different refugee neighborhoods. The baseline for this study was completed in February.
“Asha is incredibly influential in [her neighborhood] and many people look up to her,” said RefugePoint Nurse Rebecca Nyokabi, who supervises the community health workers. “I work closely with her because I trust her sharp insight and energy.”
Looking ahead to her own future, Asha now hopes to become a doctor due to her experiences as a community health worker. “I have had the opportunity to meet so many different people and to see change happening in our area,” she said. “I met an old woman with two deaf daughters who were afraid of going to the public clinics even when they were sick. I went with them, helped them understand what was happening and they were so happy they could get medical care.”
*Name changed for security purposes
The Moth 2014: An Impossible Choice
The Moth 2014: An Impossible Choice
Advocate for refugees in Africa to be honored at November 5th ceremony
Cambridge, MA—The Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) has named social entrepreneur Sasha Chanoff this year’s recipient of the Gleitsman International Activist Award for his tireless work as Founder and Executive Director of RefugePoint, a nonprofit organization that protects and finds lasting solutions for refugees in extreme danger. The award, given biennially to a leader who has “improved the quality of life abroad and inspired others to do the same,” will be presented to Chanoff at a ceremony in Cambridge on November 5th.
After working in Africa for both the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration, Sasha founded RefugePoint in 2005 to help the most vulnerable refugee populations— Congolese, Darfuri, Sudanese Lost Girls, and others—rebuild their lives. To date, RefugePoint has referred more than 19,000 refugees for resettlement to countries worldwide and the organization’s efforts in Nairobi, Kenya have served another 8,000 urban refugees locally.
“Sasha’s transformational leadership in the field of social justice and humanitarianism has been extraordinary. In the worst African refugee crises, RefugePoint has saved the lives of thousands of the most at-risk displaced women and children,” said David Gergen, co-director of the Center for Public Leadership. ”
“The deeper impact of Sasha’s efforts is also seen in his organization’s work with governments, NGOs, and nonprofits to expand access to long-term solutions. Sasha is an exemplar of an activist who has tirelessly adapted to the many challenges in his path through innovation and collaboration,” said Casey Otis-Cote, director of CPL’s Gleitsman Program in Leadership for Social Change.
In accepting the award, Chanoff identified his colleagues as a primary reason for the organization’s effectiveness.
“RefugePoint’s success is attributable to the talent that the organization has attracted. Growing an organization involves bringing on board strong leaders whose skills complement the founder’s,” said Chanoff. “Amy Slaughter is the brilliant co-leader of RefugePoint whose vision, creativity, and in-depth knowledge of the refugee landscape complement my own experience and have expanded the organization’s founding ideals. Our achievements reflect the dedication and intelligence of our staff, and in particular Amy’s leadership.”
Details about the award ceremony appear below.
WHEN: Tuesday, November 5
4:30 p.m. cocktail reception
5:30 p.m. award presentation
WHERE: Nye ABC, Taubman Building
15 Eliot Street, 5th floor
Harvard Kennedy School
RSVP: By October 30th online
About the Gleitsman International Activist Award: The Gleitsman International Activist Award was first awarded in 1993 by the late Alan Gleitsman to honor leadership in social activism that has improved the quality of life in countries and inspired others to do the same. Past honorees include Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Yunus, and, most recently, women’s rights advocate Teresa Ulloa Ziáurriz.
About the Center for Public Leadership: Established through a generous gift from the Wexner Foundation, the Center for Public Leadership, under the leadership of co-directors, Max Bazerman and David Gergen, and executive director, Patti Bellinger, advances the frontiers of knowledge about leadership through research and teaching, and deepens the pool of leaders for the common good through cocurricular activities that include skill-building workshops, fellowships, and programming in leadership for social change.
Advocate for refugees in Africa to be honored at November 5th ceremony
Cambridge, MA—The Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) has named social entrepreneur Sasha Chanoff this year’s recipient of the Gleitsman International Activist Award for his tireless work as Founder and Executive Director of RefugePoint, a nonprofit organization that protects and finds lasting solutions for refugees in extreme danger. The award, given biennially to a leader who has “improved the quality of life abroad and inspired others to do the same,” will be presented to Chanoff at a ceremony in Cambridge on November 5th.
After working in Africa for both the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration, Sasha founded RefugePoint in 2005 to help the most vulnerable refugee populations— Congolese, Darfuri, Sudanese Lost Girls, and others—rebuild their lives. To date, RefugePoint has referred more than 19,000 refugees for resettlement to countries worldwide and the organization’s efforts in Nairobi, Kenya have served another 8,000 urban refugees locally.
“Sasha’s transformational leadership in the field of social justice and humanitarianism has been extraordinary. In the worst African refugee crises, RefugePoint has saved the lives of thousands of the most at-risk displaced women and children,” said David Gergen, co-director of the Center for Public Leadership. ”
“The deeper impact of Sasha’s efforts is also seen in his organization’s work with governments, NGOs, and nonprofits to expand access to long-term solutions. Sasha is an exemplar of an activist who has tirelessly adapted to the many challenges in his path through innovation and collaboration,” said Casey Otis-Cote, director of CPL’s Gleitsman Program in Leadership for Social Change.
In accepting the award, Chanoff identified his colleagues as a primary reason for the organization’s effectiveness.
“RefugePoint’s success is attributable to the talent that the organization has attracted. Growing an organization involves bringing on board strong leaders whose skills complement the founder’s,” said Chanoff. “Amy Slaughter is the brilliant co-leader of RefugePoint whose vision, creativity, and in-depth knowledge of the refugee landscape complement my own experience and have expanded the organization’s founding ideals. Our achievements reflect the dedication and intelligence of our staff, and in particular Amy’s leadership.”
Details about the award ceremony appear below.
WHEN: Tuesday, November 5
4:30 p.m. cocktail reception
5:30 p.m. award presentation
WHERE: Nye ABC, Taubman Building
15 Eliot Street, 5th floor
Harvard Kennedy School
RSVP: By October 30th online
About the Gleitsman International Activist Award: The Gleitsman International Activist Award was first awarded in 1993 by the late Alan Gleitsman to honor leadership in social activism that has improved the quality of life in countries and inspired others to do the same. Past honorees include Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Yunus, and, most recently, women’s rights advocate Teresa Ulloa Ziáurriz.
About the Center for Public Leadership: Established through a generous gift from the Wexner Foundation, the Center for Public Leadership, under the leadership of co-directors, Max Bazerman and David Gergen, and executive director, Patti Bellinger, advances the frontiers of knowledge about leadership through research and teaching, and deepens the pool of leaders for the common good through cocurricular activities that include skill-building workshops, fellowships, and programming in leadership for social change.
ABC World News 2013: ABC World News revisits their 2010 resettlement story after RefugePoint helps facilitate a reunion between the Darfuri family and their missing fourteen year old daughter after nine years of separation.
ABC World News 2013: ABC World News revisits their 2010 resettlement story after RefugePoint helps facilitate a reunion between the Darfuri family and their missing fourteen year old daughter after nine years of separation.
NPR/WBUR Here and Now 2013: Founder and Executive Director Sasha Chanoff discusses UN findings that the average refugee is displaced for 17 years.
NPR/WBUR Here and Now 2013: Founder and Executive Director Sasha Chanoff discusses UN findings that the average refugee is displaced for 17 years.
Join us at RefugePoint’s 20th Anniversary Gala on Tuesday, October 14. Tickets are now on sale!
