Leadership for the
ECOZOIC

Abraham A. Awolich was born and grew up in rural South Sudan in a pastoral family. Awolich joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) at roughly age 10 during the long Sudanese civil war and became a child soldier although he never been in direct combat. Unable to go to the frontline, Awolich lived as a refugee in Ethiopia and Kenya for 12 years combined.
 

Awolich resettled in the State of Vermont, Burlington, in 2001 where he attended the Community College of Vermont (CCV) and later the University of Vermont (UVM) where he was a McNair Scholar and graduating in December 2005 with BA in Anthropology and minoring in Business Administration, receiving the William A. Haviland Medal for outstanding achievement in Anthropology. In 2006, he won the prestigious Samuel Huntington Public Service Award for his commitment to public service and was granted $ 10,000. 
 

In June 2008, Awolich was admitted to the prestigious Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in New York for a Master’s degree in public administration. He was a McNair Fellow at Maxwell and graduated in 2009 with an MPA. After graduation, Awolich cofounded the Sudan Development Foundation, an organization providing support to villages in South Sudan to rebuild.
 

After voting in Washington DC for the Southern Sudan Referendum for independence in January 2011, Awolich returned to South Sudan as a consultant for the government. Awolich and his colleagues cofounded the Sudd Institute in 2012, now the premiere think tank in South Sudan. Awolich also worked briefly for the Ministry of Defense as Deputy Director for Policy Planning from 2011 to 2012 before moving to the Sudd Institute. Awolich was promoted as the Managing Director of the Sudd Institute in 2019 until the government forced his resignation in November 2021. 
 

Awolich was a Technical Adviser to the Minister in the Office of President, Hon. Mayiik Ayii Deng from 2016—2020. He was also the Deputy Coordinator of the South Sudan National Dialogue Steering Committee Secretariat and served as a member of the Board of Directors at the National Revenue Authority of South Sudan from 2018—2019. Awolich was the head of government delegation Secretariat to the Rome peace talks.
 

On the 30th of July 2021, Awolich colleagues signed the People’s Coalition for Civil Action (PCAA) Declaration, a South Sudan based non-violent pro-democracy civil rights movement. The PCCA Declaration prompted the government to seek his arrest or his life. Awolich left South Sudan in October 2021 and returned to the United States where he is currently running an advocacy campaign and pursuing a doctoral degree in Sustainable Development, Policy, Economics, and Governance (SDPEG) at the University of Vermont where he is a Gund Fellow and L4E Scholar. The Vermont Council on World Affairs (VCWA) awarded Awolich the Person of the Year Award in 2022. This award is given annually to someone who, in VCWA's view, embodies the qualities inherent in promoting international understanding and building ties between the US and the world.