The RSRI Appoints Francisca Vigaud-Walsh as Executive Director
The Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative (RSRI) is proud to announce the appointment of Francisca Vigaud-Walsh as its new Executive Director.
As the RSRI steps into 2026 and continues to navigate a severely disrupted humanitarian aid landscape, the organization is deepening its commitment to advancing refugee self-reliance as a measurable, system-wide priority. Building on years of collaboration with NGOs, UN agencies, donors, and refugee-led organizations (RLOs), the RSRI will continue to strengthen the evidence base for self-reliance, expand partnerships across sectors, and champion practical tools that help humanitarian actors shift from short-term assistance models toward long-term opportunity and inclusion.
With Francisca’s leadership, the RSRI is poised to accelerate its impact—bridging field realities with global policy conversations, elevating refugee voices, and driving coordinated action so that self-reliance becomes not just an aspiration, but a standard of practice across the humanitarian system. In a shifting global landscape for refugees, this work remains more important than ever.
Francisca brings more than two decades of experience advancing protection for refugees and other displaced people across humanitarian operations and policy. As an emergency responder, she has led protection programs during conflict and natural disasters in more than 30 countries worldwide. Her field research and publications have influenced protection policy and practice and informed refugee status determinations around the globe.
A seasoned policy advisor and strategist, Francisca has coordinated interagency efforts shaping U.S., UN, and EU approaches to refugee protection. Most recently, she led strategy and advocacy at the Center for Engagement and Advocacy in the Americas (CEDA), where she built and coordinated coalitions to strengthen protection and inclusion for refugees and migrants. She convened partners to align priorities, advanced structured civil society inclusion in migration governance processes, and led engagement with the U.S. Congress on displacement and protection in the Americas.
Throughout her career, Francisca has held leadership roles with Catholic Relief Services, the International Rescue Committee, UNHCR, and the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, and Refugees International, where she led its Women and Girls Program. She has also consulted for multilateral institutions and donors, including the World Bank and UNICEF, on protection and gender-based violence standards, risk mitigation, and accountability. In addition, she served as an expert to the Organization of American States working group on Venezuelan refugees and migrants.
Francisca holds an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), is certified by the Institute for International Criminal Investigations in atrocity crimes investigations, and serves on Amnesty International USA’s Board of Directors.
The RSRI is thrilled to welcome Francisca’s leadership at this pivotal moment. Over the past year, global policy and system changes have intensified instability, leaving many refugees facing heightened risk and greater uncertainty about their futures. Francisca’s deep field experience, policy expertise, and commitment to advancing refugee self-reliance will guide the Initiative’s next chapter as it continues working to transform how the world responds to refugees and other forcibly displaced populations.
The Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative is a strategic initiative of RefugePoint.
