Amel Mohdali is the Founder and Executive Director of the Sudan Humanitarian Foundation. A John Lewis Scholar and Social Justice Fellow at Spelman College, Amel is majoring in International Studies with a concentration in Africa and a minor in Economics on the pre-law track.

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As a Sudanese immigrant, Amel founded the Sudan Humanitarian Foundation after witnessing the devastating impact of war and famine on her homeland, the loss of friends and family, communities torn apart, and a country in ruins. She was moved to act after noticing a painful lack of international response and meaningful action toward Sudan’s crisis. Out of this urgency, she built the Foundation to ensure Sudanese families receive food, aid, and dignity when global systems fail them. Under her leadership, the Foundation has raised over $75,000 since its founding this year to fund food aid, refugee support, and community-led relief efforts. Its work has fed more than 1,500 Sudanese displaced families daily across multiple cities and states in Sudan and continues to grow through grassroots partnerships.

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Since the 2018 revolution in Sudan, Amel has been deeply involved in shaping how Sudan functions both at home and abroad. She supported MANSAM, the Women of Sudanese Civic and Political Groups, during the 2019 revolution, uplifting women’s political voices, and helped fundraise for protestors in need of treatment, including amputees, as well as for families of protestors who had lost their children, many of whom were the primary breadwinners. She has provided resources to sustain these families with food, water, and basic necessities, while also helping organize psychological support for women who were victims of sexual assault. As one of the founders of the ItsNotOkay Sudan movement, Amel played a vital role in amplifying survivors’ voices and demanding accountability.

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Amel’s leadership is grounded in years of advocacy and research. She has served as a Research Assistant at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she published work on the structural drivers of displacement from Sudan and contributed to collaborative studies on the right of return for refugees. She has presented at the United Nations, led a $20,000 fundraising campaign for Sudan with KandakaMagazine and Emory4Sudan as a freshman in college, and played a central role in lobbying for Bill H.Res.1328, which calls for the recognition of genocide in Darfur. Her advocacy, in collaboration with over 80 members of Congress, helped secure over $600 million in humanitarian aid for Sudan.

 

In addition, Amel serves on the Youth Council of the Tides Foundation, where she writes grants for grassroots 501(c)(3) organizations and advances participatory grantmaking strategies rooted in equity. She plans to pursue a legal career in international human rights law, using her policy expertise and advocacy background to drive systemic change.