Amali Tower

Amali Tower is a globally recognized expert in refugee protection, refugee resettlement, and forced migration, with extensive experience working in complex displacement contexts around the world. Over the years, she has worked with numerous NGOs, the UN Refugee Agency, and the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Her career has been shaped by years of interviewing refugees fleeing conflict, giving her firsthand insight into the growing intersection of forced migration and climate change. This experience led her to create "Climate Refugees," an organization dedicated to addressing the unique challenges of those displaced by environmental factors. Tower’s work includes conducting country and regional case studies on climate-induced displacement, with research spanning both urban and camp settings. Her impactful work on climate, conflict, and displacement in the Lake Chad Basin was presented at COP 26 in Glasgow as evidence of loss and damage.

Tower is a member of the World Economic Forum Expert Network in Migration, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Response, and she is active in the UC Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law's working group on climate refugees and immigrant justice. Additionally, she sits on the advisory board of the Center for Climate and Security in Washington, D.C. In 2023, Tower was invited to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative (CG) on "Forced Migration and Climate Change," where she participated in a fireside chat with David Miliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee. Her work has also been featured on PBS's "Evolution Earth," where she filmed on location in Morocco to explore desertification and displacement.

Throughout her career, Tower has been called upon to provide expertise in high-profile contexts such as the Afghan evacuations and Syrian resettlement to the United States. She is frequently consulted on rapid deployments, humanitarian operations, human rights, public policy, and advocacy. Her work is deeply informed by her personal experience of instability, having lived as an immigrant and migrant in multiple countries. Tower’s commitment to forcibly displaced populations is grounded in her lived experiences, and she holds a Master of International Affairs in Human Rights from Columbia University and a BA in International Development Studies from UCLA. She currently resides in New York City.