Kari Diener is the Executive Director for the Refugee Self Reliance Initiative.

Prior to joining RSRI, Kari was Country Director (2019-2022) and Director of Programs (2017-2019) for Mercy Corps in Jordan overseeing a $90 million portfolio of development and humanitarian assistance. She previously was Mercy Corps' Deputy Director for Policy and Advocacy in Washington, DC, focusing on humanitarian emergencies, post-conflict assistance and aid reform.

Prior to joining Mercy Corps, Kari worked with CHF International (now Global Communities), where she held a number of positions including senior field management roles in the Palestinian Territories and in Southern Sudan.

Previously, Kari was a researcher focusing on migration and refugee policy at the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University and a Fulbright Research Fellow in Turkey.

Kari received a BA in Political Science from Bates College in Lewiston Maine, and an MA in Arab Studies with a Certificate in Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies from Georgetown University.

Kari has published articles in Refugee Survey Quarterly, The Christian Science Monitor and The Hill, among other publications. She is a contributing author to The Uprooted, Improving Responses to Forced Migration.

She has advanced language proficiency in Arabic (modern standard and colloquial Levantine) and Turkish.