Yucca Wai

Yucca Wai is the Program Director at Exile Hub, where she leads protection, wellness, and capacity-building programs for human rights defenders (HRDs), activists, and journalists from Myanmar. Since the 2021 military coup, Yucca has been instrumental in designing and scaling Exile Hub’s holistic support model, which integrates emergency response, safe housing, mental health care, and professional development. Under her leadership, Exile Hub has supported over 2,100 at-risk individuals through more than 800 workshops and services. Yucca's work bridges field-based research, policy advocacy, and community organizing. She has co-authored multiple studies on the safety needs of exiled journalists, gendered impacts of authoritarianism, and the role of youth and deserters in the resistance movement. As a Civic Space Fellow with Amnesty International, she advances strategies for protecting civic actors and expanding democratic space in Southeast Asia. Yucca works across borders to strengthen solidarity and mutual aid networks among exiled communities. She is a vocal advocate for feminist and decentralized approaches to governance and has convened international dialogues on civic tech, digital safety, and trauma-informed practices in frontline work.