Ayda Zugay

Ayda Zugay
Delegate for Massachusetts
Resettled Refugee from former Yugoslavia

Ayda Zugay is the Refugee Congress Delegate for Massachusetts. She is a resettled refugee from the former Yugoslavia.

Ayda is an award winning leader, published author, activist, polyglot, and a believer in people’s individual capacity to drive global change. She is a Principal/Co-Founder of Advancing Agency, a consulting collective supporting social changemakers on their journeys toward sustainable impact.

A refugee trailblazer, she uses her multinational, diverse field expertise to create and mobilize positive change across government, market, and civil society. She has lived and worked in Europe, North America, and Africa either as an implementing partner of UNHCR, leading nonprofits and companies, consulting for heads of state, or speaking internationally about human rights, policy, and her experience as a refugee. 

Ayda also serves as a member of the Refugee Storytellers Collective, an initiative co-founded with the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), International Rescue Committee (IRC), and Refugee Congress. She is also the Founder of the Impact Investments Fund, a cross-sector partnership that advances socially responsible business performance for the wellbeing of people and the planet.

"As a refugee of war and genocide, I have seen the world witness atrocities again and again, and minimize their impact — or worse yet, pretend they are not happening and that they will go away. Our hope for a more just and peaceful world can only be realized when we individually and collectively choose not to ignore but to recognize and protect the inherent dignity of human rights that all people hold.”

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