Sasha Chanoff

Chanoff is the founder and executive director of RefugePoint, a humanitarian organization that works to find lasting solutions for the world’s most at-risk refugees and supports the humanitarian community to do the same. RefugePoint works to achieve this mission by transforming the field of refugee resettlement and expanding opportunities for refugees to achieve greater self-reliance in the countries to which they have fled. Prior to launching RefugePoint, Chanoff consulted with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Kenya and worked with the International Organization for Migration throughout Africa, identifying refugees in danger, undertaking rescue missions, and working on refugee protection issues with the US, Canadian, Australian, and other governments.

Chanoff was awarded the Charles Bronfman Prize for his humanitarian efforts in 2010. In 2013, he was awarded the Gleitsman International Activist Award, given to an activist who has "improved the quality of life for others." It is an award given to a leader who works to challenge "injustices around the world and inspires others to do the same." Past recipients of this award have included Ralph Nader and Nelson Mandela. In addition, he received fellowships from Ashoka, the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, and Echoing Green. In 2006, he was named a Waldzell Institute "Architect of the Future." He serves on the Steering Committee of New England International Donors.

In 2006, he founded the organization called Mapendo, which was renamed RefugePoint in 2011, to aid at-risk and obscure African refugee groups. Mapendo helped to evacuate more than 10,000 refugees from Sudan, Kenya, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He explained: