RefugePoint envisions an inclusive world where all refugees can safely build stable, connected, and thriving lives. Please join us to celebrate refugee resilience and 20 years of impact at our Anniversary Gala.
EVENT DETAILS
Tuesday, October 14
6:00 p.m.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
465 Huntington Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts
Questions? Contact our event office, AJ Events at 617-267-2244 or email AJ Williams at AJ@ajwevents.com
Finding Refuge Together
Schedule of Events
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
VIP Meet and Greet Champagne Reception
For Invite Only Guests
5:30 p.m.
Join our co-chairs, George Lehner and Ed Shapiro, as they host a special opportunity to toast with our top donors and philanthropists during the Champagne Reception. Invite-only guests will have exclusive access to our celebrity speakers, our Board of Directors & CEO Sasha Chanoff, RefugePoint staff who work around the world, and special refugee guests.
William I. Koch Gallery
6:00 p.m.
Culinary Reception
An epic evening of culture with a culinary line-up of flavors from refugee communities around the world (not to mention spectacular art) upstairs at the William I. Koch Gallery.
This dine-around experience will take you on a global journey through art, dance, and music paired with culinary creations. As you mingle, you will connect with guests from around the world, including Kenya, London, NYC, and Boston. Honored guests will include inspiring refugee leaders, the 20th-anniversary honorees, and RefugePoint luminaries. Get ready for an evening filled with captivating performances and reflections on RefugePoint’s 20-year legacy.
Anniversary Program
Shapiro Family Courtyard
7:30 p.m.
Our Anniversary Program will celebrate the stories and resilience of refugees. It will include live dance and musical performances, passionate stories, a live auction with bucket list exclusive packages, and a mission moment to raise essential funds to support refugees. Finding Refuge Together will honor Barrie Landry, Isabel Allende, Goodwin, and a TBA Refugee Leader. The highlight of the program will be an inspiring conversation between Nobel Peace Prize laureate, human rights activist and survivor of the Yazidi genocide, Nadia Murad and our celebrity speaker (to be announced soon!) about how they are creating transformational change in the world.
The Party
Sharf Visitor Center and Shapiro Family Courtyard
Post Program
The night culminates with dancing and a dessert reception featuring sweet and savory bites. Over 500 guests from around the world will attend, including sponsors, business leaders, philanthropists, staff, and refugee leaders.
Attire: Fashionably Black-tie
Honorees
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Barrie Landry
VISIONARY HUMANITARIAN
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Isabel Allende
VISIONARY STORYTELLER
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Goodwin
GOODWILL CORPORATE
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Nadia Murad
CHAMPION OF CHANGE
Our Co-Chairs
Ed Shapiro
The Shapiro Foundation
Board Member Emeritus, RefugePoint
George Lehner
Chairman of the Board, RefugePoint
Former Partner and Vice-Chairman, Troutman Pepper
Our Anniversary Committee:
(in development)
Armine Afeyan Karen Ansara Stephanie Cornell Dodson Karen Duffy Wendy Ettinger Beth Floor
Dylan Leiner Suzanne Sheldon Jay Tuli
Imagine a future where refugees can reach safety, regardless of where they’ve fled from or the color of their skin. A future where people don’t have to risk their lives in search of a safe place to call home. Where they are welcomed with open arms.
—RefugePoint is working to make this future a reality.
Today, RefugePoint has assisted more than 179,384 refugees in 83 countries to access pathways to safety.
Investing in Lasting Solutions is Critical
In recent years, the world has witnessed the highest level of forced displacement on record. Millions of refugees have fled their homes seeking safety from conflict, persecution, and human rights violations.
Humanitarian organizations are often quick to provide aid, but most offer only short-term assistance rather than lasting solutions. This leaves refugees stuck in limbo with few opportunities to find long-term safety and rebuild their lives.
RefugePoint seeks to expand access to lasting solutions for refugees, especially those facing vulnerabilities who are underserved by aid systems.
Resettlement and Other Pathways to Safety
Many refugees can’t go home or remain safely in the country to which they’ve fled. We help these people relocate to a safe, new country through resettlement and other pathways, like labor mobility and family reunification, so they can begin to rebuild their lives. We refer refugees directly to governments for resettlement consideration in Nairobi, as well as through a partnership with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) globally.
Our Labor Mobility program connects refugees to job opportunities in markets where employers are looking for skilled workers. Through our Family Reunification program, we help reunite refugee families who have been separated.
Self-Reliance
Most refugees won’t have the opportunity to resettle or return to their homes. For refugees who are stuck in the country to which they have fled, we help them reach stability and work towards self-reliance, so they can meet their own essential needs.
RefugePoint’s Urban Refugee Protection Program (URPP) in Nairobi, Kenya, identifies refugee households facing extreme vulnerabilities and first helps to stabilize them with services like: food, rent, medical, education, and counseling support. Once their basic needs are met, we provide livelihood support to help them earn an income. This gives them a ‘runway’ to achieve a degree of self-reliance. Through the Refugee Self-Reliance Initiative (RSRI), we help promote opportunities for refugees to become self-reliant and achieve a better quality of life on a global scale.
3,139 Children supported with child protection casework in 2024
FINDING REFUGE TOGETHER STORIES
Mangok’s Reunion
With RefugePoint’s support, Mangok Bol finally reunited with his niece and nephews in Boston, MA after a decade of harrowing separation. Mangok has been the children’s guardian since 2014 when their parents were killed in attacks on their village in South Sudan. Their arrival in the U.S. marks the end of a long journey—and the beginning of their new life in America.
Press Coverage of Mangok’s Family Reunification Story:
• WBUR: March 10, 2014: “Sudanese “Lost Boy” Returns To Search For Family”
• Boston Globe: March 4, 2019: “A Lost Boy of Sudan keeps looking for his lost niece”
• The Justice: April 16, 2024: “Team Mangok: Mangok Bol and other staff work to resettle Bol’s niece and nephews in the U.S.”
Special thanks to The Good Lie Fund for supporting Mangok’s search for his missing nieces and nephews. The Good Lie Fund is the philanthropic arm of the Warner Brothers film, The Good Lie, starring Reese Witherspoon, the film about the the resettlement of the Sudanese Lost Boys and Girls.
Samira and Omer Reunite
Samira and Omer, a mother and son, were violently separated while fleeing civil war in Sudan in 2016. Samira was unsure whether Omer had survived. After seven years apart, a RefugePoint Family Reunification Expert worked with Omer in Chad to help him reunite with his mother in Canada in May 2023.
“I’m proud of how far I have come. When I look back, compared to where I am, I feel I’m in a better place.”
—Mama Juma
Ready to find refuge together?
Contact us.
Have questions about VIP Tickets, Sponsor Opportunities, or the overall experience? Contact our event office, AJ Events. We will be happy to answer any of your questions or fill out the form above and we will respond within 24 hours.
AJ Events / Phone: 617-267-2244
Event Team
AJ Williams, Event Producer, Sponsorships
Maria Palienko, Guest and Sponsor Relations
Questions About RefugePoint?
Sarah Hidey, Chief Development Officer
Mobile Phone: 443-299-2538
Join the conversation about the Event on social media: #findingrefugetogether, @refugepoint, and #refugees.
