Creative Activist Masterclass Series

Laura Ligouri is the Founder and Executive Director of Mindbridge, a nonprofit organization utilizing psychology and neuroscience in support of human rights. Laura’s interest in the intersection of neuroscience and human rights emerged while at the Saxelab Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory at MIT, where neurobiological research often sought to understand the biological underpinnings of implicit bias, inter-ethnic social conflict, violence and conversely collective empowerment and change.

Laura’s interests lie at the intersection of how neurobiological processes, culture and societal influences converge to give rise to and perpetuate bias, discrimination and violence within and among groups. Laura is currently working to complete her PhD in clinical psychology and is a lecturer here at the University of Southern Maine where she teaches on the Neuropsychology of Social Conflict.

Srdja Popovic is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Applied Nonviolent Actions and Strategies (CANVAS), a non-profit organization based in Belgrade, Serbia, that aims to teach the use of nonviolence to make a change. In 1998, Popovic founded the student movement “Otpor!” (“Resistance!”), which played a crucial role in ousting President Slobodan Milosevic. After Milosevic was defeated in 2000, Popovic was elected to the Serbian Parliament, where he served from 2000 until 2004.

Popovic then went on to found CANVAS, acting as its Executive Director ever since. So far, the organization has worked with activists from 46 different countries, spreading the knowledge of the nonviolent strategies and tactics used by Otpor! worldwide. Popovic was also the 53rd Rector of the University of St Andrews.

Apart from being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012, Popovic was listed as one of the “Top 100 Global Thinkers” of 2011 by Foreign Policy magazine. In 2014, he was listed as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum in Davos. Popovic is also the author of the book Blueprint for Revolution.

Yosi Sergant has worked in community organizing, communications, marketing, and business development for over 15 years—integrating art, music, and culture into his work whenever possible. During the 2008 Presidential campaign, Sergant engaged artists from across the globe in a vast viral movement in support of Barack Obama, the most prominent of which is the now ubiquitous “HOPE” campaign he managed with artist Shepard Fairey.

Following the election, Sergant served in the White House Office of Public Engagement before accepting an appointment to the National Endowment for the Arts as the Director of Communications.

Sergant then launched TaskForce, a pro-social cultural strategy agency headquartered in Los Angeles and New York. TaskForce engages leaders of the creative community in systemized and strategic initiatives designed to raise awareness and build momentum for organizations and businesses tackling the world’s most pressing challenges. TaskForce is behind some of the most notable public will campaigns of the past decade and continues to lead the field of cultural organizing and strategy.

Amanda Alampi is Director, Campaigns and Public Engagement at Human Rights Watch. She is a social media strategist specializing in global digital advocacy, developing campaigns to help advance human rights and social change. Previously, she worked at MWWPR as a Vice President in Digital Strategy overseeing a portfolio of public affairs, nonprofit and corporate clients. Amanda also worked for Amnesty International USA where she oversaw social media, creative and brand for the U.S.

Amanda is an alumni of the NYC based firm Sunshine Sachs working with clients like Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Center for Reproductive Rights, Alicia Keys’ Keep a Child Alive and Malaria No More. Her digital advocacy work has been featured in outlets like TMZ, the Washington Post, Business Insider, Teen Vogue and the New York Post. Amanda currently teaches at Fordham University and NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, helping to empower the next generation of digital activists. She has a BA and MPA both from NYU.

Yana Buhrer Tavanier is the co-founder and executive director of Fine Acts, a global nonprofit creative studio for social impact. As a creative activist, she explores human rights innovation at the intersections of activism, art, tech, and science.

Yana is also the co-founder of TimeHeroes.org, the largest volunteer platform in Bulgaria, and has a background as an award-winning investigative journalist. She holds a BA in Communication and an MA in Political Science from Sofia University, as well as executive education from Harvard University, Yale University, Oxford University, and NTU-Singapore.

Yana is a TED Senior Fellow, a Fulbright Scholar, a WEF Young Global Leader, an Allianz Foundation Fellow, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and was named one of 50 people who will change the world in WIRED’s Smart List 2012. Her most recent TED talk, viewed close to 2 million times, introduces her concept of playtivism—the importance of creative play and experimentation in activism.