Refugee Congress

Refugee Congress Delegates and their teams are the heart of our organization, using their lived expertise to shape priorities, strengthen advocacy, and lead awareness efforts nationwide. In 2024, we recruited 10 new highly skilled Lead Delegates across 10 states and onboarded 35 Associate Delegates, with participation on monthly calls increasing to an average of 30 attendees and demonstrating strong engagement across opportunities. We delivered consistent, high-quality trainings averaging 15 participants, and supported Delegates in building more strategic and diverse teams that expanded local capacity and strengthened partnerships. Delegates represented RC at key national events, including 25 Delegates and Associates at RCUSA Advocacy Days, 16 RC members at Welcoming Interactive, and more than 20 Delegates and staff at the National Immigrant Inclusion Conference. We also supported 25 Delegate-led World Refugee Day events through sponsorships, etc.

In 2024, Refugee Congress and the US Refugee Advisory Board (USRAB)a partnership between Refugee Congress, Refugee Council USA, and Georgetown Universitycontinued to expand global engagement through collaboration with UNHCR and participation in multistakeholder pledges focused on resettlement advocacy, meaningful refugee participation, and family reunification. Following the Global Refugee Forum (GRF), we worked closely with UNHCR, including co-hosting a debrief with the Regional Americas Office, and joined the first session of a new discussion series, Refugees and Migrants in the Americas: A Discussion about a New Framework for Collaborative Action. Refugee Congress and USRAB also participated in the 2024 Working Group on Resettlement in Sydney and the Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways in Geneva, gaining greater visibility and offering substantive leadership as panelists and moderators.