Impact and Programs
Accomplishments
2019 was a critical year in the evolution of our organization. For 40 years we’d been the American Refugee Committee. But last year we became Alight.
Our commitment to the people we serve hasn’t changed. It has only deepened and grown. We’re continuing to provide health care, clean water and the other lifesaving services we always have. And we’re helping displaced people build meaningful lives of connection, joy and purpose.
But part of becoming Alight is about doing a better thing.
It’s a renewed pledge to the world – to live up to the promise of humanitarianism… to inspire and unleash the abundance in every human being… to center ourselves on the lived experience of those people receiving our work and develop human-worthy services for them… to prioritize getting close to our customers and invite anyone and everyone to co-create breakthrough solutions with us.
It’s a big promise, there’s no doubt. But if we can say to ourselves at the end of every day – I did a better thing today – we’ll know we’re still on the right path.
How we deliver on our promise will shape the future of Alight. I think it will shape the future of humanitarianism. And we’re honored to be on this journey.
Current Goals
The world needs big ideas and passionate changemakers. We’re transforming ourselves into an organization that lives by its deepest held beliefs…that there is simple human justice in the chance to build a life. That there’s an abundant world of amazing people who want to help. And that we must simply do better. 2020 provides us with both incredible constraints and opportunities in continuing to make progress on all of the goals and efforts that will move this transformation forward.
While we’re thinking and dreaming big, we’re also continuing the work of serving the world’s most marginalized people, day in and day out. We’re pioneering radical accountability to refugees, scaling the geographic breadth and responsiveness of our customer feedback system Kuja Kuja – the world’s first systemic effort to let refugees define quality in the services they receive. In a world of COVID-19, we’re working to creatively grow our impact – even amid lockdowns and restrictions – by amplifying and augmenting the work of others, such as Catholic Nuns, already doing incredible work around the world. We’re guiding the most vulnerable groups of refugees in the world, including LGBTQI refugees, supporting these often unseen people, lifting them up and helping them find hope again through justice, work and freedom. And we’re creating new approaches to emergency response, balancing the need for efficiency and expediency with listening to and engaging survivors from the very start.
Community or Constituency Served
We work primarily (although not exclusively) with displaced and marginalized communities across Africa, Asia and the Americas.
Geographic Area Served
East Africa (DR Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Somalia/Somaliland), the Americas (US, Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia), Middle East (Jordan, Syria, Pakistan), Europe (Germany), and Asia (Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam)
