Bahati Kanyamanza

A seasoned nonprofit executive, human rights advocate, and social entrepreneur with over 20 years of leadership experience in advocacy, organizational strategy, program design, resource mobilization, and systems change. He co-founded COBURWAS International Youth Organization to Transform Africa (CIYOTA)—a refugee-led initiative addressing systemic challenges faced by displaced populations in Uganda. Under his leadership, CIYOTA became one of Africa’s most impactful NGOs, expanding operations to the D.R. Congo and growing to an annual budget of over $2 million. He serves as an Advisor to the United States Refugee Advisory Board (USRAB) and the UNHCR Refugee Advisory Group on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways (CRCP), bringing critical insight to the design of inclusive refugee policies and community-led solutions at both national and international levels. A published author, his articles have been published in the Forced Migration Review (FMR), Humanitarian Practice Network, ODI, WBUR and others.