Women's Refugee Commission

What Women's Refugee Commission does

The Women's Refugee Commission (WRC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1989 and headquartered in New York, NY, with a secondary office in Washington, DC. It conducts research, advocacy, and coalition-based programs to protect and empower women, children, and youth displaced by conflict and crisis. Its core programmatic products include the Detention Pregnancy Tracker (a nationwide documentation tool for conditions affecting pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in US immigration custody), the Global Refugee Youth Network (GRYN, an independent youth-led network spanning 6+ countries and 20+ organizations), the Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises, the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights (operating in 24 countries), and a Research and Resource Library of 964 publications. Sub-products include a detained/deported parental toolkit and field tools on sexual violence against men, boys, and LGBTQI+ individuals in humanitarian settings.

WRC operates on a donation- and grant-funded revenue model. It accepts individual donations (including a matching gift program), and receives institutional funding from foundations, corporations, government agencies, and UN entities; its stated annual operating budget is approximately $5.3 million, with 90% allocated to program services, 8% to fundraising, and 2% to management. Distribution is mission-driven rather than commercial: free online distribution of research and toolkits, field missions to refugee-affected countries across North/Central America, Africa, the Middle East, South/Southeast Asia, and Europe, direct Congressional and administration advocacy, and statements at UN forums including the Security Council and the Commission on the Status of Women.

Its primary customer segments are displaced women, children, and youth themselves; humanitarian organizations and UN agencies; and US immigration stakeholders including policymakers and impacted families. Strategic partners include UNHCR, UN Women, UNICEF, WOLA, the National Immigration Law Center, Physicians for Human Rights, and Refugees International. The organization maintains dual Candid Platinum and Charity Navigator Platinum transparency seals (2023 and 2026) and received the Humanitarian Award at Cannes 2026. Leadership transitioned in June 2026, with Dr. Xanthe Scharff succeeding Sarah Costa (who served for nearly 16 years) as President and CEO.

Name

Women's Refugee Commission

Legal name

Women's Refugee Commission, Inc.

Website

https://womensrefugeecommission.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Women's Refugee Commission is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1989 that conducts research, advocacy, and coalition programs to protect and empower women, children, and youth displaced by conflict and crisis across more than 20 countries, with a $5.3M operating budget funded by individual donations and institutional grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Humanitarian Advocacy Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Individual and Family Services (6241), Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Immigrant & Refugee Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Refugee, IDP & Migration Humanitarian Assistance (BPAGAAAH), Integration & Inclusion Services (Housing, Education, Employment) (BPADAHAI), Refugee & Migrant Integration Enterprises (Livelihoods, Services) (BPAGALAN)

Keywords

• Humanitarian advocacy services
• Refugee rights research
• Gender-based violence prevention
• Immigration policy advocacy
• Displacement research resources

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: WRC accepts tax-deductible donations from individuals to support its programs and advocacy work for refugee women, children, and youth. The organization runs donation campaigns and has a matching gift program.
2. Institutional Funding: WRC receives funding from foundations, corporations, government agencies, and UN organizations. The job posting mentions annual operating budget of $5.3 million, indicating significant institutional funding.
3. Donor Matching Program: WRC runs periodic matching gift programs where donors match contributions, such as a $200,000 matching campaign mentioned on the donate page.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Women's Refugee Commission is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization that conducts field-based research on the conditions facing refugee and displaced women, children, and youth, and uses that evidence to drive policy change and humanitarian program improvements. Its core deliverables include targeted tools and programs such as the Detention Pregnancy Tracker for ICE custody documentation, the Global Refugee Youth Network, the Research and Resource Library of 964+ publications, the Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises, and the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights, alongside family separation and sexual violence toolkits for humanitarian practitioners and migrant families.

Product overview

The Women's Refugee Commission operates as a research and advocacy organization offering a portfolio of programs and tools focused on protecting and empowering displaced women, children, and youth. The core offerings include the Detention Pregnancy Tracker for documenting treatment of pregnant women in ICE custody, the Global Refugee Youth Network (GRYN) for refugee youth empowerment, a Research and Resource Library containing reports and field manuals, the Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises, and the Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights. Additional products include family separation toolkits for migrant parents and sexual violence prevention tools. These products function both as standalone resources and as integrated components of WRC's broader advocacy and research mission.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Detention Pregnancy Tracker A nationwide documentation tool that collects evidence of detention conditions for pregnant, postpartum, and nursing women in U.S. immigration custody, enabling advocacy for detained women and oversight of immigration detention.
• Global Refugee Youth Network (GRYN) An independent youth-led network housed at WRC that supports young refugees to develop their capacities, empower themselves, and lead initiatives to respond to their communities' needs, spanning over 20 refugee youth-led organizations in more than 6 countries.
• Research and Resource Library

Quantifiable outcome

• GRYN supports over 20 refugee youth-led organizations in over 6 countries
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• UNHCRcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWRC partners with UNHCR on the Global Youth Advisory Council, which brings together young refugees to make recommendations on addressing challenges and priorities of refugee youth.
• Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights (GCENR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGCENR is housed at WRC and works to promote equal citizenship laws in 24 countries that prevent women from passing citizenship to their children on the same basis as men.
• Global Refugee Youth Network (GRYN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGRYN is an independent youth-led network housed at WRC that supports young refugees to develop their capacities and lead initiatives to respond to their communities' needs. GRYN supports over 20 refugee youth-led organizations in over 6 countries.
• Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in CrisescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWRC houses the Inter-Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in Crises, coordinating efforts across agencies to ensure reproductive health services in humanitarian settings.
• NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and SecuritycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWRC is part of the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security and supported Haitian civil society leader to deliver a statement to UN Security Council on conflict-related sexual violence.
• Physicians for Human Rights (PHR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint research partnership producing reports on family separation, including interviews with deported parents in Honduras documenting violations of US immigration policy.
• WOLAmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for research trips to Central America and Mexico to meet with recently deported people and service providers assisting them upon arrival.
• UN WomenmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint work including toolkit development on sexual exploitation, support for adolescent boys and male youth survivors, and collaboration on GRYN initiatives.
• UNICEFmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint publications including field guides for frontline workers supporting young male refugees and migrants who are survivors of sexual violence.
• National Immigration Law Center (NILC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint analysis of ICE data on pregnant and postpartum women detained, joint amicus briefs on birthright citizenship, and joint issue briefs on detention conditions.
• Refugees InternationalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on research documenting how aid cuts have disproportionately impacted women-led organizations in conflict settings including Afghanistan, Lebanon, Sudan, and Ukraine.
• WRC Detention Pregnancy Tracker PartnersmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with service providers to gather documentation of detention conditions for pregnant women, foster data collection, and advocate for detained women.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/wrcommission
• Facebookfacebook.com/wrcommission
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wrcommission
• Instagraminstagram.com/womensrefugeecommission
• Xx.com/wrcommission

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Women's Refugee Commission