AMY SLAUGHTER
RSRI Co-Founder
Former Chief Strategy Officer, RefugePoint
Amy Slaughter is a founding member of the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative (RSRI), co-launching the original community of practice that grew momentum to become the RSRI. Amy now serves as a technical advisor to the Initiative, providing guidance and input to overall efforts and the Self-Reliance Index.
Amy joined RefugePoint in 2008 as its Chief Operating Officer to help build the agency before becoming its Chief Strategy Officer. In July 2024, Amy transitioned into independent consulting, providing advice and visioning around the full range of programs and policy issues in which RefugePoint is engaged. She further endeavors to elevate the agency’s profile, develop strategic partnerships, and grow the base of stakeholders that are educated and motivated to assist refugees.
With nearly 30 years of experience in global refugee work and non-profit management, Amy has had the privilege of working with refugee populations from all regions of the globe while living in former Yugoslavia, Russia, Ghana, Switzerland, Austria, France, Guam, the Czech Republic and the U.S. Amy has worked and consulted for numerous refugee NGOs as well as UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Just prior to joining RefugePoint, she served as the director of HIAS’ office in Vienna overseeing resettlement processing to the U.S. for Iranian refugees. She previously oversaw similar programs contracted by the U.S. Department of State (DOS/PRM), including resettlement programs from Belgrade (with IOM) and Accra (with CWS) for Bosnian and Liberian refugees, respectively.
Working with the resettlement agency headquarters in New York of LIRS, CWS, and EMM, Amy oversaw the reception and integration programs for refugees resettled through their nationwide affiliate office networks and managed the contractual relationships with DOS/PRM. In that capacity, Amy traveled throughout the U.S. to monitor the quality of local resettlement programs and community engagement with refugees.
With a master’s degree in human rights from Columbia University and a bachelor’s in English from the University of Florida, Amy is a frequent panelist at refugee conferences and has published a handful articles on refugee protection. In 2018, she was a recipient of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.
