President and CEO, Asylum Access
Emily Arnold-Fernández is the President and CEO of Asylum Access, the leading global refugee human rights organization. After learning that most refugees spend decades deprived of basic rights, Emily founded Asylum Access in 2005 to create a world where refugees can live safely, move freely, work and send children to school, and rebuild their lives.
Today, Asylum Access has impacted more than 2 million refugees worldwide, working intensively across multiple countries and at the global level to dismantle barriers to refugees' economic and civic participation and ensure all refugees have a fair chance at a new life.
Emily's achievements have earned her numerous accolades, including the Equality and Nondiscrimination Award from Mexico's National Council to Prevent Discrimination (2016); the prestigious Grinnell Prize (2013); and recognition by the Dalai Lama as one of 50 “Unsung Heroes of Compassion” (2009). She served as a Social Entrepreneur in Residence at Stanford University in Fall 2012 and on the Advisory Board of Oxford University's Refugee Studies Centre from 2014 to 2017.
Emily holds a Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor of Arts cum laude from Pomona College. She lives on an island in San Francisco Bay with her spouse and three-legged dog.
Economic Opportunity • Human Rights • International Justice • Livelihoods • Peace and Human Rights
Central America, Eastern and Southern Africa, Middle East and North Africa, South America, Southeast Asia
