Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Ahead of Print.
Small, grassroots organizations in the Global South play an increasingly prominent role in political advocacy and service provision for displaced populations. Literature on both diasporic organizations and civil society organizations has largely focused on those based in the Global North, however. This article examines the formation of a transnational women’s organization—Mouvement Inamahoro: Femmes et Filles pour la Paix et La Securité—by refugees following Burundi’s 2015 electoral crisis. We focus on the diversity of motivations for individual members in founding and joining it based on 68 interviews conducted in 2019 and 2021. We find that members’ geographical location (Global North vs Global South) played a role in the motivations for membership. Our findings suggest a form of diasporic organization currently untheorized, but one relevant to understanding the influence of displaced groups in local, regional, and international politics.