Amali Tower

Amali Tower is a global expert in refugee protection, refugee resettlement, and forced migration, with a career spanning humanitarian operations, public policy, and advocacy across multiple continents. Her work centers on strengthening communities, fostering belonging, and advancing institutional responsibility in response to displacement driven by conflict and climate change. Having worked with numerous NGOs, the UN Refugee Agency, and the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, Tower brings deep operational and strategic experience to complex, high-stakes environments.

Years spent interviewing refugees fleeing conflict revealed a growing and underrecognized driver of displacement: climate change. These stories led to the founding of Climate Refugees, an organization rooted in community improvement, social cohesion, and accountability across public and private sectors. Tower has led country and regional research on climate-induced displacement in urban and camp settings, including in the Lake Chad Basin in Africa’s Sahel, where her work on climate, conflict, and displacement was presented as evidence of loss and damage at COP26 in Glasgow.

Tower’s work emphasizes inclusive systems that protect human dignity, promote workplace safety in humanitarian and operational contexts, and reflect the realities of diverse, displaced populations. She is a member of the World Economic Forum Expert Network in Migration, Human Rights & Humanitarian Response; the UC Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law (Climate Refugees and Immigrant Justice Working Group); and serves on the advisory board of The Center for Climate and Security in Washington, D.C. In 2023, she spoke at the Clinton Global Initiative on Forced Migration and Climate Change in a fireside chat with David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee and former UK Foreign Secretary. Her fieldwork on desertification and displacement in Morocco is also featured in an episode of PBS’s "Evolution Earth".

From responding to Afghan evacuations to overseeing UNHCR operations for Syrian resettlement to the United States, Tower is frequently consulted for her expertise in rapid deployments, humanitarian leadership, and high-profile advisory roles. She also works with organizations and leaders on human rights, advocacy, legislation, and public policy, helping institutions embed equity, safety, and corporate responsibility into their decision-making. Tower serves displaced populations as a dedicated defender and her clients as a trusted partner and advisor.

Her professional ethos is shaped by lived experience—growing up amid instability, navigating life across multiple countries, and identifying as an immigrant and migrant herself. This perspective informs her commitment to building environments where people feel safe, valued, and included. Tower holds a Master of International Affairs in Human Rights from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a BA in International Development Studies from UCLA. She resides in New York City.