The Prizm Project is a global not-for-profit organization that educates young women ages 14 to 18 about human rights and gives them the resources they need to create social change. This is done through ' retreats,' fun and intensive free-of-cost programs designed especially for young women.

• To create a safe space for young women to discuss the issues most important in their lives
• To make Human Rights Education accessible to women of all economic, ethnic, and social backgrounds
• To promote awareness of Human Rights issues at home and abroad
• To cultivate women's leadership by encouraging women to take social action

Retreats have taken place and continue annually in the United States (New Jersey) and Kenya and are in the works in South Africa and Bulgaria !

• Retreats are free-of-cost programs held all over the world. They are designed for young women and led by women organizers from participants' communities.
• Participants are exposed to speakers, films, discussions and other activities that encourage meaningful and critical dialogue about Human Rights and Social Justice issues.
• Young women also develop skills for community organizing such as grant writing and working with the media, and may be expected to organize a ' social action project' or volunteer for a human rights organization following their graduation from the retreat.

• What is the vision of PRIZM?


• Why only young women?


• What is the PRIZM toolkit?


• What is the difference between global and local retreats?


• How does PRIZM create and sustain a global network?


• Where has PRIZM done work?


• How does PRIZM accommodate cultural relativity?


• Can I run a PRIZM in my town?


• How can I/my organization get involved with and/or support PRIZM?


• How do I get in touch with PRIZM?

Olubayi Olubayi
Co-founder and Board of Trustees Member of the Global Literacy Project

Denniston Bonadie
Co-founder and Board of Trustees Member of the Global Literacy Project

Danielle Gougon
Director of Global Affairs of Douglass College at Rutgers University

Julie Rajan
A Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Literature at Rutgers University and professor of Global Human Rights whose primary research focuses on comparing women's resistance writing in Pakistan and India post-1947.




Natalie Jesionka
(Executive Director)

Natalie Jesionka is an independent filmaker and media literacy advocate. She has produced documentaries about human rights issues such as illegal immigration, human trafficking, and gender discrimination throughout the world. Over the last five years, Natalie has worked closely with Amnesty International and UNESCO to promote global human rights through media and film. Currently, Natalie works as a media consultant for non-governmental organizations in the global south. She also serves on the Advisory Board for P.O.V American Documentary and Idealist.com. Natalie is the Executive Director for the PRIZM project. Through PRIZM, she hopes to make human rights education accessible while dispelling media myths so that young women may realize their potential as agents of change.

'Well behaved women rarely make history" -Laurel Thatcher Ulrich


Sumia Ibrahim
(National Programs Coordinator)


Sumia Ibrahim is a university student and activist working to build peace and preserve women's rights in her country of birth, Iraq. She has also worked to promote funding for higher education and poverty relief in the United States. Sumia has worked to advocate against racial profiling after her experience at Kennedy airport in the Fall of 2006, which gained national media attention. She enjoys drawing and reading novels in her spare time.

"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." -Arundhati Roy


Ria Dasgupta
(Global Programs Coordinator)


Ria Dasgupta has been a human rights activist for the last four years. She has worked to shut down the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSC), helped to organize day laborers in her community, and raised awareness of women's struggles locally and abroad. As a dancer trained in ballet, modern, and bharatanatyam, Ria also uses her art of fusion choreography to illustrate complex human rights issues. She most recently participated in the dance dramas Africa based on Rabindranath Tagore's poem regarding the horrors of colonialism and Pujarini, Tagore's poem describing the injustices of religious intolerance. While currently exploring new styles of dance, Ria is also researching the effects of human rights education upon the self-confidence and sense of empowerment within young women.

"The most violent element in society is ignorance." -Emma Goldman, 1940


Liane Ventura
(PRIZM Fellow)


Liane Ventura has been involved with human rights work for the past four years. She is a graduate of the first PRIZM retreat in New Brunswick, New Jersey. A few of the issues she has been involved with are human rights in Tibet, refugees in Burma, and local community outreach. She has worked with many communities to promote human rights education and knowledge, through documentary film screenings, discussion, and giving student activists a chance to share their stories, ideas, and passion. Liane is also a trained Hatha yoga instructor and hopes to bring her skills to PRIZM programs to talk to young women about staying centered while working for social justice.


Desiree Ficula
(Outreach Coordinator)


Desiree Ficula is a Douglass College student and became involved in human rights through her interests and activism in women's rights. She hopes to return to Thailand to continue working on the Burmese border with the local NGO's with which she was so fortunate to have been involved, and to continue her travels with PRIZM to educate young women around the world. As PRIZM Fundraiser, she is responsible for securing donations for the organization. Desiree believes in female patronage and the importance of female leaders and role models. She loves painting and dogs. Her dream is to be the psychologist at a PRIZM school for girls.



Maria Spirova
(PRIZM Field Organizer)


Maria Spirova is a Cultural Studies Bachelor-to-be and a journalist. She works as a reporter for the Bulgarian News Agency and as a contributing writer and media analyst for several nation-wide magazines in her home country. She is currently working on a diploma thesis exploring the cultural conditions of Bulgarian prejudice against state authority and law abidance. As a Student Representative at the Sofia University’s Faculty of Philosophy she has advocated students who felt discriminated, abused or mislead by teachers or administrative staff. She has designed and implemented university-based community service projects for raising awareness of environmental issues and sustainable development. Her interests in human rights revolve around the prevention of human trafficking, gender inequality and domestic violence.

“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.” ~ Marie Curie