Emily E. Arnold-Fernández

Emily E. Arnold-Fernández, the founder and Executive Director of Asylum Access (AA), is a social entrepreneur and human rights pioneer. A lawyer who has advocated nationally and internationally for the human rights of women, children, and other vulnerable individuals, Ms. Arnold-Fernández first became involved in refugee rights in 2002, when she represented refugees in UN proceedings in Cairo, Egypt. Her first client was a young Liberian who had fled to Egypt to avoid being abducted and forced to fight as a child soldier. Denied refugee status, he was at constant risk of arrest, detention, and deportation by Egyptian authorities unless he could get the decision reversed. Ms. Arnold-Fernández’s legal advocacy won her client protection and safety in Egypt until his eventual resettlement in the U.S. Cairo was one of very few places where refugees had access to legal assistance. Ms. Arnold-Fernández founded AA to change this.

For her innovative approach to the global refugee crisis, Ms. Arnold- Fernández was honored by the Dalai Lama as one of 50 ‘Unsung Heroes of Compassion’ from around the world (2009). She has also been recognized as Pomona College’s Inspirational Young Alumna (2006), awarded the prestigious Echoing Green Fellowship (2007), and recognized as the New Leaders Council’s 40 Under 40 (2010). Her ground-breaking work with AA has earned her international speaking invitations and widespread media attention, including the Rotary International Peace Symposium (2008, 2009), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ Annual Consultations (2008, 2009), a cover feature in the Christian Science Monitor (September 2009), and the San Francisco Examiner’s Credo column (July 2011). She holds a B.A. cum laude from Pomona College and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and taught Social Entrepreneurship as an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco in Fall 2010.