Rez Gardi
Co-Managing Director, R-SEAT
| Degrees: | LL.B (Hons) (Auckland), BA (Auckland), LL.M (Harvard) |
| Email: | rez.gardi@refugeesseat.org |
| Website: | Browse |
| LinkedIn: | Connect |
| Twitter: | Follow |
Rez Gardi is an international human rights lawyer, advocate, and a trailblazer in the global refugee leadership movement. Born stateless and as a refugee to survivors of genocide, she has dedicated her career to advancing justice for marginalized communities and addressing systemic inequalities through both legal expertise and grassroots advocacy. Her work bridges law, policy, and lived experience, driving systemic change for those most affected by displacement and persecution.
Rez is the Co-Managing Director of Refugees Seeking Equal Access at the Table (R-SEAT), a global refugee-led organization pushing for more effective refugee responses worldwide by challenging top-down governance and advocating for refugee co-leadership in decision-making. Based in New York, she works to connect refugee realities with the global refugee regime.
Rez is a Harvard-educated lawyer admitted to the bar in New York and New Zealand, and holds degrees in international relations, politics, and peace and conflict. Her past roles include working for the New Zealand Human Rights Commission, as a lecturer on international law and human rights, and serving as a Harvard Human Rights Fellow in Iraq, building cases for the prosecution of ISIS for their genocidal campaign against the Yezidis. She also co-founded the Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies at the University of Auckland and founded Empower, a refugee-led organization focused on increasing access to education for refugee youth.
She has been recognised with numerous honours, including being named Young New Zealander of the Year in 2017 and appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2025.