www.activatelabs.org Open in urlscan Pro
198.49.23.144  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

Our Work
Our Team
Our Mission
The Hive
The Hive
our board
Partners
In the News
Welcome
People-Powered Design™
Graphic Facilitation and Graphic Recording
Constellations
Beautiful Resistance Store
Our Work
Our Team
Our Mission
The Hive
The Hive
our board
Partners
In the News
Welcome
People-Powered Design™
Graphic Facilitation and Graphic Recording
Constellations
Beautiful Resistance Store
Our Work
Our Team
Our Mission
The Hive
The Hive
our board
Partners
In the News
Welcome
People-Powered Design™
Graphic Facilitation and Graphic Recording
Constellations
Beautiful Resistance Store


ACTIVATE LABS GLOBALLY SUPPORTS NONVIOLENT SOCIAL MOVEMENTS THROUGH TRAINING,
FACILITATION, GRAPHIC SERVICES, DIGITAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL ACCESS AND
MOBILIZATION INNOVATIVE WORKSHOPS, AND PARTICIPATORY MEDIA, CREATING A MORE
INCLUSIVE, JUST AND PEACEFUL WORLD.


PEACE DESIGN™



Design thinking without a practice of embedding transformational principles,
community, and creative empathy can be extractive while perpetuating oppressive
human behaviors and unjust systems that can stunt social innovation.
People-Powered Design™ centers the margins, develops affirmative agency,
liberates creativity, and shifts power. People-Powered Design™ is a process used
by frontline communities and organizations to co-design, plan, and co-create
interventions for peacebuilding, human rights, gender justice, international
development, and social impact.

Our experiential and participatory labs include four modules – Perspective,
Purpose, Plan, and Power. Workshops usually have 20-30 participants and run
between 3-5 days. Whether it is to create a campaign, transform conflict,
co-design a strategic plan, team building, or get unstuck.


CULTURAL ORGANIZING AND MOVEMENT BUILDING



Since 2017, we have organized and curated hundreds of events and actions where
we take up public, often political, space for peace to memorialize, build power,
and shift culture. To date, our activations have engaged thousands of
communities through art, music, theater, dance, and more. Based on the
People-Powered Design pedagogy, we have led activations to support inclusive and
peacebuilding policies, which include artistic design, logistical organizing,
and outreach to key constituents and stakeholders. We would love to connect with
you on how we can help lead a peace activation for your issue or policy.


PARTICIPATORY AND EXPERIENTIAL TRAINING FACILITATION



Participatory Media is a methodology with a series of tools that provides any
community members with enough technical skills to plan, film, edit and screen a
video or photographic gallery on their own. We use participatory video and
photography to shift power. With Participatory Media, frontline communities and
those impacted by violence or injustice tell their own stories in a holistic and
transformational way. In many ways the camera is a tool to spark up dialogue,
reflection and build power for those directly impacted by today’s most pressing
issues like gender justice, climate change, identity based violence, refugee
crisis and many more. The ideal participatory media process involves trainees
belonging to a group or community who have the commitment and willingness to
pursue a change based on their communities’ needs and not only their own. Even
though the product (final video or photography series) is important,
participatory media is more about the process than the product. However the
final product is a powerful way to increase knowledge, shift attitudes and
change behavior towards peace, justice and transformation.


OUR TEAM

 
 


MONICA CURCA

Founder and Director

Monica is a social movements strategist, facilitator, and process designer
leveraging storytelling, art, experiential design, and human-centered design.
She has led Activate Labs with the vision that we must “Shift Power to Share it
- so we can together co-create shared futures.” She is the creator and designer
behind the Peace Design Process™ and People Powered Design™.

As the founder and director of Activate Labs, she leads strategy, design,
training, and development. Her experience as the Director of Nonviolent Action
at the United States Institute of Peace, Director of the +Peace global
coalition, community organizer, and communications manager at Faith in Action,
and a consultant for Oxfam, Sojourners, GPPAC, and many more. Monica has led
award-winning work and has recieved the 2019 Human Rights Educator O’Brien
Award, Seeds of Peace 2019 Gather Fellow, Spirit in Action Award, and is a
finalist for the Peace Direct: Tomorrow's Peacebuilders 2018. She holds two
master’s degrees from the Heller School for Social Policy in Management at
Brandeis University in Sustainable International Development and Conflict and
Coexistence. Languages: Spanish, English, Romanian

 



THOR MORALES

Director of Storytelling

 

For more than 15 years, Thor has conceptualized and facilitated storytelling
processes and products. His expertise includes photography, videography, editing
and research, facilitation, and creating stories from found footage. He’s been
involved with participatory video & photography for a decade, working in North
and South Mexico, West and East Africa, and North and South America,
facilitating participatory media projects and experiences.

Thor has a B. Sc in Biology but has devoted much of his career to supporting
media initiatives in rural, urban, and indigenous communities in their quest for
self-determination, autonomous narratives, and a better future. Through his work
at Activate Labs, he is now developing participatory design methodologies that
combine peace and media with helping collectives and organizations unveil
viable, feasible, and transformational paths in a non-violent way.  Thor is also
a professional photographer and videographer who has produced content for
clients as diverse as World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Aids Healthcare Foundation
(AHF) Languages: Spanish, English and Portuguese

 


ASEEL ZAHRAN

Research and Learning

Aseel is a peacebuilding practitioner with eight years of experience in
instructional design, curriculum, and training development, covering a variety
of cross-cutting themes. Including arts-based peacebuilding, CVE/PVE, Social
Emotional Learning ( SEL), social inclusion & social cohesion, and child
protection & safeguarding. She is currently exploring participatory M&E
frameworks and processes in PSS programming. Aseel graduated from Notre Dame,
earning a Masters's Degree in International Peace Studies. Languages: English
and Arabic

 

 

Alan is a digital advocacy campaign expert with over ten years of experience in
advocacy and policy analysis, mixed-method research, and data analysis. He has
led policy and advocacy initiatives to advance human rights at different levels
and has coordinated multiple coalition-building initiatives to strengthen
organizations and networks from the Global South. He has significant experience
in utilizing digital tools for campaigning and data visualization. He has
experience in website design and development of research tools (survey design,
FGDs, interview) and has experience working with indigenous peoples
organizations. Alan has also conducted research on climate justice and
indigenous peoples' paradigms. He received his JD from Oxford University.
Languages: Spanish and English


ALAN JARAMILLLIO

Digital Platforms and Organizing

 

 

Meghan is a seasoned project manager, strategist, and program designer with a
special lens on feminist futures and disability rights. She has led processes
and strategies for just futures within philanthropic, feminist, and disability
rights spaces. She holds a Master’s Degree in Peace Operations and Humanitarian
Action from George Mason University.


MEGHAN CORNEAL

Special Projects

Activate Labs unlocks the creativity and innovation of people-powered social
movements by building community, facilitating co-design and activating
collective action.

Our training and facilitation approach is based on People-Powered Design™. It
combines behavioral science, peacebuilding, participatory Action Research,
Social Action and Human-Centered Design. It is our belief authentic learning
happens by doing and doing happens when power is shifted so it can be shared.
People-Powered Design™ uses experiential and participatory cutting edge tools,
processes and methodologies to build community, co-design and strategically plan
collective action.

Principles:

 * centering the experience of those directly impacted by violence and
   oppression - because the ones who can name the world can change it

 * We designing for the margins - in so doing we design for the whole

 * our trajectory: head > heart > hands > feet

 * we are most powerful at our intersections

 * we will always choose curious empathy and hope… even in the darkness

 * radical inclusion in systems thinking is intersectional and interdependent

 * we learn by doing, playing and showing up - we are participatory and
   experiential



Thursday,February 9th 2023

Human RSVP only (Not for real bees)


REVIVING THE HIVE!

The Hive is Revived! After an extended break from flapping our wee wings, the
bees are once again ready to pollinate! Register below to join our online zoom
gatherings.  The Hive will gather on the second Thursday of each month at 1 pm
EST for our global honey making happens.


WHAT IS THE HIVE?

The Hive is a monthly gathering of peacebuilders, activists, and change-makers
to build resilience and solidarity across regions, issues, and movements.  It is
a facilitated 1.5 hour zoom call (in person/hybrid convenings possible in the
future) where participants share knowledge, skills, creative expression, art,
music, stories and dialogue around a focused idea, topic, process, or exercise. 
The space is hosted and facilitated by the Activate Labs team, with
contributions and offerings from Hive participants and others.


WHO IS THE HIVE FOR?

The Hive might be for you if you are a peacebuilders, activists or change maker
looking to connect with others, share experiences and grow through facilitated
peer to peer coaching and mentoring. 

The Hive might be for you if you have a creative idea or a new approach to
building peace through collective action you want to share, receive support on
or even co-design with others. 

The Hive might be for you if you have been tired, defeated, lonely, weary, or
burnt out, if you want a safe space to be heard, seen, and included, then the
Hive might be for you.   

The Hive might be for you if you long for inspiration and connecting to all the
parts of yourself through creative expression, art, story, music, co-design,
co-learning etc.  


WHO IS THE HIVE NOT FOR?

If you are an actual bee or bear, we are sorry, we are using the word “HIVE” as
a metaphor – as in a place where different people bring themselves, their
experiences, skills, knowledge, ideas etc. so that together we can co-create
something good …. Like honey.  Sorry if there is any confusion.

Thursday, March 30th 2023

TOPIC: The NGO Capture of the term “Decolonization”

Human RSVP (sorry not for bees)


REVIVING THE HIVE!

The Hive is Revived! After an extended break from flapping our wee wings, the
bees are once again ready to pollinate! Register below to join our online zoom
gatherings.  The Hive will gather on the third Thursday of each month at 1 pm
EST for our global honey making happens.


WHAT IS THE HIVE?

The Hive is a monthly gathering of peacebuilders, activists, and change-makers
to build resilience and solidarity across regions, issues, and movements.  It is
a facilitated 1.5 hour zoom call (in person/hybrid convenings possible in the
future) where participants share knowledge, skills, creative expression, art,
music, stories and dialogue around a focused idea, topic, process, or exercise. 
The space is hosted and facilitated by the Activate Labs team, with
contributions and offerings from Hive participants and others.


WHO IS THE HIVE FOR?

The Hive might be for you if you are a peacebuilders, activists or change maker
looking to connect with others, share experiences and grow through facilitated
peer to peer coaching and mentoring. 

The Hive might be for you if you have a creative idea or a new approach to
building peace through collective action you want to share, receive support on
or even co-design with others. 

The Hive might be for you if you have been tired, defeated, lonely, weary, or
burnt out, if you want a safe space to be heard, seen, and included, then the
Hive might be for you.   

The Hive might be for you if you long for inspiration and connecting to all the
parts of yourself through creative expression, art, story, music, co-design,
co-learning etc.  


WHO IS THE HIVE NOT FOR?

If you are an actual bee or bear, we are sorry, we are using the word “HIVE” as
a metaphor – as in a place where different people bring themselves, their
experiences, skills, knowledge, ideas etc. so that together we can co-create
something good …. Like honey.  Sorry if there is any confusion.

 


OUR WISDOM

(the board)

 


EVA ARMOUR

Eva Armour has spent the past 20 years in peacebuilding, working with
communities in conflict to envision and work towards a more just and peaceful
reality.

She has created every job she has ever held, each one born from seeing and being
willing to meet a pressing need. Eva currently serves as the Director of Impact
and Strategy with Seeds of Peace, a non-profit working at the intersection of
leadership development and conflict transformation with communities in the
Middle East, South Asia, and United States. In that role, she gets to ask and
test hard questions about what works, what doesn’t, and how we know. Previously,
she spent 10 years as the Director of Global Programs, where she built a theory
of change and programmatic framework to support teams leading local programs
with youth and educators; the years before that were spent living in
Israel/Palestine, bringing young people together throughout the Middle East to
deepen relationships and develop leadership skills.

Eva believes deeply in non-hierarchical structures, collective liberation, and
building community as the foundation for social justice organizing. She gets the
chance to actively practice that by organizing for prison abolition through her
involvement in Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) in Boston.

She has published in The Christian Science Monitor, been featured in Le Figaro
and a best-selling book featuring rising social entrepreneurs and serves on the
Board of Directors of Empathy for Peace and the podcast, This American Teenage
Life. She lives in Cambridge, MA, and finds herself at home in London,
Israel/Palestine, and New York City. She lives for her two children, Annie and
Amos; writers like June Jordan, Audre Lorde, Arundhati Roy, and Shailja Patel
who expand and evolve her imagination for a better world; and the pursuit of all
things hygge.


ROBERT HAFERD

Robert "Roman" Haferd is a restorative justice practitioner, civil rights
lawyer, organizer, and cultural innovator. He has focused his career on
advocating and building capacity with marginalized families. Roman serves as the
Restorative Justice Coordinator for the Attorney General for the District of
Columbia, where he has helped build a first-of-its-kind restorative justice
program inside Washington D.C.’s justice department.  In this role he is the
team’s primary point of contact with system stakeholders, speaks regularly on
restorative justice, while also facilitating a full caseload of restorative
justice conferences referred by local prosecutors and other community partners
in the District.

An active community organizer, Roman is a co-founder of Catharsis on the Mall, a
nonprofit arts and advocacy community dedicated to facilitating community art in
public spaces and demonstrations.  Prior to joining the AG’s office, Roman
worked as a senior program associate with the Restorative Justice Project at
Impact Justice, an Oakland, California-based research and innovation institute.
A lawyer by training, Roman has represented plaintiffs in cases around the
country involving deprivations of Constitutional rights and official
misconduct.  While earning his JD, Roman represented juvenile and adult
defendants in the Boston Municipal and Juvenile Courts through the Harvard
Criminal Justice Institute, interned at the National Prosecuting Authority of
South Africa, and served on the editorial board of the Harvard International Law
Journal.  After law school, Roman served as a law clerk for the Hon. Algenon L.
Marbley, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio and as a
Voter Protection Coordinator for Northeast Ohio during the 2012 national
election. He also worked in the Washington, D.C. office of WilmerHale LLP as a
litigation associate.  Mr. Haferd is a native of Akron, Ohio, with roots and
relatives in the farming trade across the mid-Ohio region.  He spends as much
time as possible enjoying nature and making moves to good music.


JOHANNA MUSTAFA

Johanna Mustafa is a Palestinian racial justice community organizer and movement
builder. She led grassroots organizing efforts, as the Advocacy Specialist for
the Campaign to Take on Hate of ACCESS, in Anaheim California. Her work was
centered around the Muslim Ban, racial profiling, and hate crimes pertaining to
the Arab and Muslim community in Southern California. Before joining ACCESS
(Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services), she participated in
the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) Transformative
Leaders Fellowship with the Arab American Civic Council (AACC) were she led
civic engagement programs in the Greatest Los Angeles area. She also served as a
Field Organizer with the Arab American Institute (AAI), where she spearheaded
the Yalla Vote initiative in California and mobilized Arab voters in the 2018
election cycle. She continues to work towards the advancement of marginalized
communities through community organizing, advocacy, public policy, and
leadership development. She currently serves as a member of the Board of
Directors with the Arab American Civic Council. She is also a steering committee
member with Transforming Justice Orange County, a local organizing
group addressing conditions of injustice and harm carried out through the
criminal punishment system and prison industrial complex, locally and broadly.
Johanna received her B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Law and Society
from the University of Southern California in 2016.




OUR PARTNERS




ACTIVATE LABS IN THE NEWS

HRE USA is pleased to announce the winners of the 2019 Edward O’Brien Award for
HRE.

The O’Brien Award was established in 2015 in memory of Edward O’Brien, pioneer
human rights educator, to recognize both an individual and an organization that
has made an outstanding contribution to human rights education in the United
States. The 2019 Individual Award Winner was our co-director, Monica Curca.

Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG Documented a Peace Activation with
Asylum seekers Activate Labs provided Protective Accompaniment. We held a baby
shower for Erly Mother of Baby Alvin see full story here



The San Diego Tribune covered our Peace Activations on the US Mexico Border when
the first Migrant Caravan from Honduras arrived in April 2018. The video shows
our art, music and theatre based work which we have carried to more than 20
spaces since.

Telemundo: Rapid Response Trauma Healing Spaces on the US/Mexico Border

Telemundo covered our Families Belong Together work and -Peace Activations,
providing creative trauma healing to migrant children and parents that had been
separated in at Ursula, the colloquial name for the Central Processing Center,
the largest U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention center which was the
epi-center of family separations under the administration zero tolerance
policies.

Orange County Register covered our Families Belong Together work and -Peace
Activations providing creative trauma healing to migrant children and parents
that had been separated in at Ursula, the colloquial name for the Central
Processing Center, the largest U.S. Customs and Border Protection detention
center which was the epi-center of family separations under the administration
zero tolerance policies.

Los Angeles Times:

Refugees Welcome

The Los Angeles Times covered our Refugees Welcome Guidebook - a 200 page
hyper-local guidebook in Arabic and English to support refugees as they resettle
in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The guidebook also included sections with
resources and processes to heal trauma, gain coping skills in stressful times
and understand how complex trauma affects the resettlement process for refugees.

NPR: KPCC-Take Two:Refugees Welcome Guidebook

National Public Radio local affiliate, KPCC 89.3 covered our Refugees Welcome
Guidebook - a 200 page hyper-local guidebook in Arabic and English to support
refugees as they resettle in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The guidebook also
included sections with resources and processes to heal trauma, gain coping
skills in stressful times and understand how complex trauma affects the
resettlement process for refugees.


Back To Top
Activate Labs, 7127 MD-195, Takoma Park, MD, 20912, United States(714)
473-4152monica@activatelabs.org