Digital Media for Human Rights
Join our Digital Commons.
Elitist and infused with jargon, narratives of the academy are often barred or lost to non-academic audiences. Our program, Digital Media for Human Rights (DMHR) exist to challenge this. We incorporate diverse narratives around social justice, ranging from discussions around Indigenous land defenders in the Amazon to Ghanaian youth leadership in water adaptation projects. We believe that knowledge is best accessible and democratized when presented in palatable formats.
Through DMHR, we foster and clarify the importance of global, intersectional, multidisciplinary, and intergenerational conversations around what justice means.
Join Us!
We Engage with…
practitioners
Work on the intersection between the academy and organizations. Exist as interlocutors between the two communities.
activists
Operate on the frontlines of human rights issues and understand the on-the-ground realities around the pursuit of justice.
researchers
Provide open-access knowledge from the academy to communicate peer-reviewed research to the masses.
Our Speakers
RAFAEL FORSETTO
Rafael Forsetto (he/him) is a Brazilian international affairs analyst and journalist based in Curitiba, Brazil who covers social and environmental issues through his writing and filmmaking. Covering themes such as migration, climate change and Indigenous communities, his craft reflects his unique approach to addressing social and climate inequalities through under-appreciated media narratives. He is the co-founder of Human Voices, a communications company that uplifts narratives from marginalized communities in Latin America. He has written for Mongabay, Civil Eats, and Connect4Climate, and has been awarded by the UN for his work on agroecology in Brazil.
DESMOND ALUGNOA
Desmond Alugnoa (he/him) grew up in one of the underdeveloped regions of Ghana and in a community that is battling with desertification, Desmond developed a strong passion for decentralization of development policies and focused his work on Rural Innovation, which aims at promoting the growth of local economies in Africa. He is zealous young man with a proven track record of successful team leadership and community empowerment. As a natural relationship builder, Desmond’s work focuses on building movements to support young people and frontline communities to adapt to climate change. Desmond is the co-founder of Green Africa Youth Organization.
NEHA MOHARIR
Neha Moharir (she/her) is a graduate with an MPhil in Sociology from the University of Cambridge in the UK and a Bachelor’s Degree in Women and Gender Studies and Equity Studies from the University of Toronto in Canada. Originally from Toronto, she has worked on research and policy projects on issues surrounding, but not limited to, gender based violence, social justice education, immigration, and anti-racism in the UK, Canada, Ghana and India. Professionally, Neha has worked in research, policy work, and community development. Neha is interested in further exploring how research can be used towards anti-oppression resistance within social movements across the world.
ZAMIWE PHIRI
Zamiwe Phiri (she/her) is a young climate activist from Lilongwe, Malawi who correctly works as a policy advocate. She is an experienced Technical Assistance Professional who carries specialization and expertise in Econometrics, Monitoring and Evaluation, Knowledge Management (systems and processes), Gender programming, Program Implementation Analysis and Compliance; and Stakeholder Engagement as they pertain to Gender Equality and Public Policy. She is passionate about the intersectionality of gender in climate change and how the digital divide in the long run increases social inequalities, drawing a perspective from Malawi.
RENATA KOCH ALVARENGA
Renata Koch Alvarenga (she/her) is a gender and climate justice youth advocate from Porto Alegre, Brazil, and currently lives in Rio de Janeiro. She is the Founder and Director of EmpoderaClima, a multilingual platform about gender equality and climate action for youth in the Global South. She has a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations from Unisinos (Brazil), and studied a few years at the School of Diplomacy at Seton Hall University (United States). Renata is involved in various UN processes, including UN Women as one of the 5 Gender Youth Activists of Brazil; the UN Girls' Education Initiative as a Guiding Group member; as UN Climate Change, as the Gender Co-lead of their Youth Constituency.
COLLINS GAMELI HODOLI
Dr. Collins Gameli Hodoli (he/him) holds a PhD in Environment and Agrifood from Cranfield University, UK where his research focused on the applicability of low-cost sensors for ground-based air quality monitoring in resource-constrained environments like Ghana. He is the Founder + Director of Operations at Clean Air One Atmosphere (CAOA), a not-for-profit in Ghana that uses DIY approaches and low-cost environmental sensing tools to revolunise AQ monitoring in Ghana and wider Africa. Collins is also the West African Regional Director at Sedulitas - a shop offering occupational hygiene services, instrumentation, and training to anyone concerned with health, safety, and environmentally related matters. Find him on Twitter.
JOHN LEO ALGO
John Leo Algo (he/him) is the Deputy Executive Director for Programs and Campaigns of Living Laudato Si Philippines (LLS), an interfaith movement campaigning for fossil fuel divestment and sustainable development, and a member of the interim Secretariat of Aksyon Klima Pilipinas, the country’s largest CSO network for climate action. He has represented the Philippines and the youth sector in regional and global conferences under the UNEP and UNFCCC since 2017. He has been writing climate and environmental stories for numerous international and local platforms since 2016. He earned his MS Atmospheric Science degree from the Ateneo de Manila University in December 2018.
