- M.S., Michigan State University
Gund Institute for Environment
Areas of expertise
International Development; Forced Displacement and Refugee-Led Development; Financial Inclusion and Community Finance; Cooperatives; Social Entrepreneurship; Community Economic Development; Sustainable Livelihoods; Refugee and Immigrant Integration
BIO
Daniel Muhwezi is a scholar from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a Ph.D. student in Sustainable Development Policy, Economics and Governance (SDPEG) at the University of Vermont. Supported as a Gund Institute Ph.D. Research Fellow and a Leadership for the Ecozoic (L4E) Fellow, he is advised by Dr. Anaka Aiyar and Dr. Pablo Bose.
His emerging doctoral research explores how refugee- and immigrant-led economic initiatives can advance sustainable livelihoods, financial inclusion, and community resilience. Drawing on ecological economics and sustainable development, he is interested in how communities create economic, social, institutional, and ecological value beyond conventional measures of economic success.
Following forced displacement, Daniel spent many years in Uganda's Kyangwali Refugee Settlement, an experience that deeply informs his scholarly and practitioner focus on locally led development. He is a co-founder of CIYOTA, which expands educational opportunities and youth leadership in displacement contexts, and the founder of Ubuntu Trust, which advances financial inclusion and entrepreneurship among refugee and host communities. In the United States, he co-established the Congolese Community Empowerment Project to advance immigrant integration, economic mobility, and community well-being.
His leadership has received international recognition, including selection as a United States Institute of Peace (USIP) Generation Change Fellow and an Obama Foundation Africa Leader, as well as participation in the Clinton Global Initiative University. Prior to UVM, Daniel earned an M.S. in Community Sustainability from Michigan State University as a Mastercard Foundation Scholar and a degree in Information Technology from Makerere University in Uganda.
Bio
Daniel Muhwezi is a scholar from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a Ph.D. student in Sustainable Development Policy, Economics and Governance (SDPEG) at the University of Vermont. Supported as a Gund Institute Ph.D. Research Fellow and a Leadership for the Ecozoic (L4E) Fellow, he is advised by Dr. Anaka Aiyar and Dr. Pablo Bose.
His emerging doctoral research explores how refugee- and immigrant-led economic initiatives can advance sustainable livelihoods, financial inclusion, and community resilience. Drawing on ecological economics and sustainable development, he is interested in how communities create economic, social, institutional, and ecological value beyond conventional measures of economic success.
Following forced displacement, Daniel spent many years in Uganda's Kyangwali Refugee Settlement, an experience that deeply informs his scholarly and practitioner focus on locally led development. He is a co-founder of CIYOTA, which expands educational opportunities and youth leadership in displacement contexts, and the founder of Ubuntu Trust, which advances financial inclusion and entrepreneurship among refugee and host communities. In the United States, he co-established the Congolese Community Empowerment Project to advance immigrant integration, economic mobility, and community well-being.
His leadership has received international recognition, including selection as a United States Institute of Peace (USIP) Generation Change Fellow and an Obama Foundation Africa Leader, as well as participation in the Clinton Global Initiative University. Prior to UVM, Daniel earned an M.S. in Community Sustainability from Michigan State University as a Mastercard Foundation Scholar and a degree in Information Technology from Makerere University in Uganda.