Short Bio

Semhar Araia is the CEO and Founder of The Diaspora Academy, an online diaspora leadership institute, designed to support and strengthen diaspora changemakers around the world. Semhar is a technical advisor to IOM, African Union, USAID, and various governments and non-profits around the world. Semhar previously led Diaspora Policy at Meta and Diaspora Partnerships UNICEF USA. A lawyer by training, Semhar began her career as an attorney for the implementation of the 2000 Eritrea-Ethiopia peace agreement and served as a public policy advisor for Oxfam International, the US House of Representatives and Nelson Mandela’s organization, The Elders. 

Semhar is a White House Champion of Change, an African Union Diaspora Awardee of the Year, and a former UN Delegate for Civil Society. She is recognized as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People of African Descent, as well as The Root’s Top 100 and OkayAfrica's Top 100 Women awardees. Semhar was most recently profiled as one of the five individuals in the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture's Next-Generation Voices exhibit. She is a former Council on Foreign Relations Term Member and previously served on USAID's Advisory Committee on Foreign Voluntary Aid (ACFVA) and has been featured in The Africa Report, Financial Times, BBC, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Ventures Africa, AfroElle, and other media outlets. Semhar was born in New York City to Eritrean immigrant parents and resides in Washington, D.C.

Full Bio

As the CEO and founder of The Diaspora Academy, Semhar Araia is a recognized thought leader, strategic advisor and policy practitioner on diaspora engagement, African affairs, women's leadership and global development.  She has been named one of the Most Influential People of African Descent, and is the recipient of global awards and honors for her work. 

Semhar built and led the Diaspora Public Policy at Meta (formerly known as Facebook) for the Africa, Middle East and Turkey Public Policy team. She also led UNICEF USA's diaspora partnerships, building philanthropic partnerships with diaspora organizations. Her earlier roles include serving as a public policy advisor at Oxfam International, the US House of Representatives and Nelson Mandela’s organization, The Elders. A lawyer by training, Semhar began her career as an attorney for the implementation of the 2000 Eritrea-Ethiopia peace agreement.

Semhar testified as an expert witness to Congress' Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, and the United Nations ECOSOC.  She has delivered remarks before the International Organization for Migration, Concordia Summit, and the International Conference of Eritrean Studies, among others. 

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