Dauda Sesay, a former refugee from Sierra Leone, Dauda fled his homeland at 16 due to a terrible war and resettled in the U.S. in 2009.

Dauda serves as National Network Director for African Communities Together (ACT). He is also a founding member and President of the Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants, a nonprofit community-based organization that assists refugees and immigrants through their various stages of integration into the United States. He works with refugee families, coordinates help to New Americans during times of natural disasters and works to connect communities, amplify refugee voices, and build bridges. Dauda is also a member of the Mayor Sharon Weston Broome International Relations Commission and Chairperson of the Commission on Culture and Art Engagement, a commission established to help make the City of Baton Rouge more inclusive and welcoming. He was recently appointed as the first refugee to serve as a U.S. Advisor at the UNHCR High-Level Officials Meeting on Global Impact on Refugees in December 2021 and the Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement in June 2022. Most recently, Dauda was among the first Advisors to serve on the United States Refugee Advisory Board.

Dauda received the 2021 Refugee Congress Excellence Award for Honorary Delegate. He has a degree in Applied Science in Process Technology from Baton Rouge Community College and is currently pursuing his bachelor’s degree in Administrative Management at Louisiana State University-Shreveport. Prior to joining ACT, he worked as a Process Technician at Dow Chemical. He recently received the ACT Kofi Annan Award.
In his free time, he likes playing soccer, doing fun activities with children, and listening to music (afro beats, Zydeco, and country). Dauda also watches American football and is a big fan of the New Orleans Saints and LSU Tigers.