Amy Dott Harmer

Amy Dott Harmer is the executive director of the Utah Refugee Connection, which connects the community at large with unmet needs in the refugee community. Amy has been serving refugees for almost a decade and has been innovative in the way she uses her gifts and talents. She has a knack for connecting people to meet needs. One of the reasons the URC has had such great success is Amy’s skill at making people see the gift and mutual benefit of service. When refugees come to the Sharehouse to get needed items, they are welcomed with open arms and leave with their dignity intact. Additionally, donors and volunteers love the positivity Amy and the staff share when they come.

Amy has contributed to local refugees by using social media to help the community at large have meaningful ways to learn about, serve, and give to local refugees. The “Serve Refugees” social media feeds make it easy for Utahns to know how to engage with our displaced friends from around the world.

Before running the URC, Amy taught elementary school for several years. She has a creative streak and is an accomplished artist. After starting a family, Amy worked from home as a freelance artist for several years. Her artwork was widely distributed on media from clip art software to several fabric lines. She has also worked in the social media/blogging industry in several creative and marketing capacities.

A lifetime of service led Amy to her work at the URC. As a college student Amy found she had a knack for organizing and executing large-scale service projects. When she eventually became involved (originally as a volunteer) with some of URC’s large-scale service initiatives, she knew she’d found her new professional home.

Amy and her husband live in Sandy, Utah, and are the parents of four amazing children. When she’s not engrossed in the next big refugee service event, Amy enjoys taking advantage of recreating in the beautiful Wasatch mountains just minutes from her home. She is an avid mountain biker and hiker. Some of her other favorite pastimes include gardening and spending time doing just about anything with her family. She hates snakes and heights.