Kat Graham
Kat Graham
Newly appointed UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Kat Graham visiting refugees in Melkadida camp, Ethiopia, in July 2019.
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About Kat
Swiss-born American actress and humanitarian Kat Graham started working with UNHCR in 2013 as a high-profile supporter. In this role, Kat has helped support key UNHCR events and campaigns, including World Refugee Day, the Ramadan campaign, the iBelong campaign to end statelessness and the Nansen Refugee Award.
Kat has also supported UNHCR initiatives to bring attention to the challenges faced by LGBTQI refugees, as well as women and girl refugees around the world. With over 9 million followers on social media, Kat continues to bring awareness to the plight of refugees across her platforms.
Kat's breakout role was on the international hit TV show The Vampire Diaries. In addition to starring in feature films like How It Ends, Poison Rose, Emperor and Cut Throat City, Kat made history by being the first African-American April OʼNeil in the animated series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
US actress, singer and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Kat Graham performs live at the 2024 Nansen Refugee Award ceremony accompanied by a guitarist and youth choir.
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Events
In 2024, Kat took the main stage in Budapest, Hungary, at the Sziget festival, where she expressed solidarity with refugees sheltered in Hungary and encouraged the audience to support through donations. Later that year, Kat delivered a captivating performance at the 2024 Nansen Refugee Award ceremony, where she performed her original song, Peace Talks. The song conveyed a powerful and inspiring message of rising up for peace.
In 2020, Kat participated as a speaker at the Abu Dhabi Dream Ball fundraising event with UNHCR and visited UNHCR's headquarters in Geneva. During the same year, she reconnected with South Sudanese refugee Mary Maker in an Instagram live session to bring attention to the increased challenges refugees faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, Kat attended the L'Oreal Women of Worth Awards, bringing Mary Marker as her guest on the red carpet to highlight refugee stories.
Kat's advocacy began in 2015 when she served as the keynote speaker for the Girl Up Summit, demonstrating her longstanding commitment to refugee issues and education.
Kat Graham's work as a Goodwill Ambassador
