Priyali Sur

Priyali Sur serves as a Senior Fellow with Refugees International. She is a highly experienced development professional with nearly two decades of expertise spanning refugee protection and rights, advocacy, social safeguards, journalism, and strategic communications. Her work has focused on advancing the protection and inclusion of displaced populations across Europe, Africa, and South Asia. She has designed and implemented programs that have supported more than 8,000 refugees and migrants from countries including Afghanistan, India, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Niger, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen.

As the Founder of The Azadi Project, Priyali has provided strategic leadership to initiatives delivering integrated support services—encompassing education, livelihood development, and mental health care—to marginalized and displaced communities across South Asia and the Middle East. She is a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Program scholarship and a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow, distinctions that have contributed to her global perspective on public policy and social change.

Priyali has collaborated with leading international institutions, including the World Bank Group and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, advising governments on the integration of social safeguards and inclusive protection frameworks within development programming. Her areas of expertise include stakeholder engagement, monitoring and evaluation, research, and public policy, with a particular emphasis on gender equity and inclusive development.

She began her career as a journalist with CNN-IBN and has reported and provided commentary for international platforms including CNN International, BBC, DW News, PBS, and The Guardian. She is also a two-time TEDx speaker. Priyali holds a Master’s degree in International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University, along with advanced degrees in journalism and media, and is fluent in English, Hindi, Urdu, and Bengali.