Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
REFUGEE CONGRESS
REFUGEE CONGRESS (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $802,656 to it, the largest being CATENA FOUNDATION ($380,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.6M
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $803k
- Net assets
- $340k
What Refugee Congress does
Mission
promote the well-being, integration, and rights of refugees, asylum-seekers, and other vulnerable migrants by elevating their voices, informing policy, and fostering community leadership
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Refugee Congress contributed to public education about the positive social, cultural, and economic contributions of refugees by increasing the engagement of forcibly displaced persons (FDPs) in shaping the public narrative. As a result, more Americans gained exposure to the cultural, civic, and economic strengths refugees bring to their communities by hearing directly from FDP leaders. We also positioned Refugee Congress as a go-to organization for elevating lived expertise in spaces where policies and practices affecting FDPs are determined. Key accomplishments included issuing 28 press statements with quotes from more than half of our Delegates, supporting a record 25 Delegate-led World Refugee Day events nationwide through sponsorships, branded materials, and communications support, and ensuring thousands of people across the country engaged in these events. Delegates also spoke on major national and global stages.
$798,298 spent76% of program spendingRefugee Congress Delegates and their teams are the heart of our organization, using their lived expertise to shape priorities, strengthen advocacy, and lead awareness efforts nationwide. In 2024, we recruited 10 new highly skilled Lead Delegates across 10 states and onboarded 35 Associate Delegates, with participation on monthly calls increasing to an average of 30 attendees and demonstrating strong engagement across opportunities. We delivered consistent, high-quality trainings averaging 15 participants, and supported Delegates in building more strategic and diverse teams that expanded local capacity and strengthened partnerships. Delegates represented RC at key national events, including 25 Delegates and Associates at RCUSA Advocacy Days, 16 RC members at Welcoming Interactive, and more than 20 Delegates and staff at the National Immigrant Inclusion Conference. We also supported 25 Delegate-led World Refugee Day events through sponsorships, etc.
$171,136 spent16% of program spendingIn 2024, Refugee Congress and the US Refugee Advisory Board (USRAB)a partnership between Refugee Congress, Refugee Council USA, and Georgetown Universitycontinued to expand global engagement through collaboration with UNHCR and participation in multistakeholder pledges focused on resettlement advocacy, meaningful refugee participation, and family reunification. Following the Global Refugee Forum (GRF), we worked closely with UNHCR, including co-hosting a debrief with the Regional Americas Office, and joined the first session of a new discussion series, Refugees and Migrants in the Americas: A Discussion about a New Framework for Collaborative Action. Refugee Congress and USRAB also participated in the 2024 Working Group on Resettlement in Sydney and the Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways in Geneva, gaining greater visibility and offering substantive leadership as panelists and moderators.
$84,761 spent8% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,054,195.
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Nili Yossinger
Executive director
Board chair
Lourena Gboeah
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
From the IRS filings of REFUGEE CONGRESS’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
REFUGEE CONGRESS leans on a few funders — its largest provides 47% of grant income and the top three 90%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
40% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund REFUGEE CONGRESS.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
REFUGEE CONGRESS draws 64% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 4 states in all.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
REFUGEE CONGRESS runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 976 civil rights nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 976 civil rights nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding REFUGEE CONGRESS receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.6M on record.
- Department of Health and Human Services$2.6M
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like REFUGEE CONGRESS
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for REFUGEE CONGRESS: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds REFUGEE CONGRESS?
- REFUGEE CONGRESS (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $802,656 to it, the largest being CATENA FOUNDATION ($380,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does REFUGEE CONGRESS have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $802,656 in grants to REFUGEE CONGRESS, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of REFUGEE CONGRESS?
- CATENA FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $380,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like REFUGEE CONGRESS find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Refugee Congress →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2024–2024), and the filings of 6 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing