Bahati is a human rights advocate who has advocated for the rights of refugees since his teenage years in his former refugee camp in Uganda. Born in the DR Congo, he fled his home country to Uganda at 14, where he was a refugee for 17 years before he was resettled to the U.S. in 2016. He has worked with refugees for over 20 years and was a refugee for 23 years. He is the co-founder of COBURWAS International Youth Organization to Transform Africa (CIYOTA), a nonprofit organization that supports conflict-affected children and youth in Africa’s Great Lakes region to access quality education and supports refugee families to start income-generating initiatives to earn a living. His work has been recognized both nationally and internationally by Ashoka, American Express, UNHCR, and Echoing Green. Bahati is a published author, and his articles have been published in the FMR, HPN, ODI, Reuters, and others. He is currently working on a memoir capturing his childhood in DR Congo and refugee experiences both in Uganda and the U.S. He is also an advisor to the United States Refugee Advisory Board (USRAB). He holds a Master’s of Arts degree from the School for International Training.