Ama R. Francis

Ama is a non-resident fellow at the Sabin Center, and the Climate Displacement Project Strategist at the International Refugee Assistance Project, where they are spearheading efforts to expand legal protection and pathways to safety for climate displaced people. 

Ama first joined the Sabin Center in September 2018 as the 2018-2021 Climate Law Fellow to develop legal solutions to internal and cross-border climate-induced migration. Ama served as a Steering Committee member of the Climigration Network, Executive Board Member of the Climate Action Alliance, and Sabin Center representative on the Platform on Disaster Displacement Advisory Board. Ama is the author of multiple papers on climate-induced migration, including Migrants Can Make International Law (Harvard Environmental Law Review) and Global Southerners in the North (forthcoming in the Temple Law Review). Ama has presented their work at the World Bank, Clinton Global Initiative Action Network, United Nations Development Program, and UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 

Ama’s work also supports small island state and developing country governments. As a consultant to the Open Society Foundations International Migration Initiative, Ama developed a regional initiative to protect the rights of climate displaced persons in the Caribbean. Ama was also a legal consultant to Dominica’s Ministry of Health & Environment before joining the Sabin Center. 

A native Dominican, Ama received their J.D. from Yale Law School, and B.A. (magna cum laude) from Harvard University, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the New York bar.