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2017 Annual Report
Letter from the Executive Director Dear Friend for Peace & Life, 2017 was positively transformative for us! I’m proud to share with you just some of what we accomplished. In January, we attended the Women’s March one weekend, and the March for Life the next, both with our “Stop Killing Human Beings” banner and some great signs dedicated to nonviolence and nondiscrimination. At both events, we represented a holistic, intersectional, Consistent Life Ethic feminism -- and we were recognized for it! On the day of the Women’s March, I was interviewed by MSNBC and got nearly 4 minutes of nationwide airtime in one of the largest cultural moments of our generation. In February and March, we decided it was finally time to make the leap to a new name after years of trying to find a better fit. On a 5-hour drive home from a speaking engagement, I called up my friend and now co-worker Rosemary and we tossed around ideas. We eventually agreed that “Rehumanize” was a perfect fit. We announced the name change late in March, and it has proved to be a prescient choice in a time when dehumanizing rhetoric is so rampant. In April, we launched a packet of outreach materials specifically geared towards the March for Science events happening natiowide. We designed pamphlets, signs, and stickers all on the #proscienceprolife position, to send all over the nation to grassroots groups to educate folks on prenatal development at their own local marches. Beginning in May, we started developing a more vocal campaign to educate on the human-centered case for nuclear disarmament. Knowing that nuclear weapons can never be tools of a just war, we attended the Women’s March to Ban the Bomb and the Pittsburgh March Against War even though both events removed us from sponsorship due to our anti-abortion work. After I had a horrific nightmare in which San Francisco was bombed with nuclear weapons, I vowed to do everything in my power to ensure nuclear abolition. So in September, we hosted the Pro-Life March to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and spread the word about our white paper in our nation’s capitol. Finally, in October we hosted our fourth ever Life/Peace/Justice Conference. It was the most well-attended conference yet, and the feedback was almost unanimously positive. Our events included a profoundly diverse array of topics and speakers, and included our first-ever Create | Encounter Release Party. And upon the closing of the conference, we’d heard it so many times from the attendees that we decided to change the name of our conference as well: to the Rehumanize Conference on life, peace, and justice. The conference will, of course, be back this year October 12-14, this time in Pittsburgh, PA again -- we hope you can join us! For Peace & Every Human’s Life,
One of the initiatives we are most proud of is our summer internship program. Our internship program is unique: during the interview process, we inquire about each applicant’s interests, skills, and passions. In 2017, we hired three brilliant students who brought our mission to life in their uniquely tailored internship projects. The Politics of Human Rights project Emily S., Catholic University of America, Class of 2020 Since Emily’s academic focus and interests centered on politics, we brainstormed this project for her that consisted of the research for and creation of a complete set of outreach tools that ask the question, “Which political party really supports human rights?” With and banner that discusses it all, and pamphlets for libertarians, conservatives, liberals, greens, and socialists, there’s opportunity to call folks from every political background to greater consistency in the support of human rights. We’ve used this outreach tool often, and had great success in dialogue on streets and campuses around the nation.
Bad Words project Paige K., University of Texas (Austin), Class of 2020 Paige’s academic interests included rhetoric, and we discussed early on in her interview process the dehumanizing rhetoric that is used so often in common parlance. To counter the trend of dehumanizing language in our culture, Paige did weeks upon weeks of research that culminated in a full set of outreach tools that ask the viewer to examine their own “bad words” that dehumanize. Connecting the dehumanizing language against Native Americans, refugees, incarcerated inmates, preborn children, and more, the viewer is able to see where their own ethics has gaps and leaves some humans out. By using this outreach tool (which is a fun matching game!), we have had countless fruitful dialogues at conferences and on campuses, educating the public on ways to rehumanize through language.
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Create Encounter Maria P., University of Pittsburgh, Class of 2019 When Maria and I talked at her first interview, she brought up the idea of reaching young people through literature and creative media. From that interview blossomed one of our most prolific projects: Create | Encounter, a creative edition of our magazine, Life Matters Journal. Maria did everything from soliciting submissions, running the review board and meetings, designing the layout of the magazine, and arranging all of the details for the release party. This event was lauded by attendees as “the best social event [Rehumanize has] ever done.” Gratefully, Maria is back for a second summer and we are well underway for the second edition of Create | Encounter! The release party will be on Friday, October 12, in junction with our annual Rehumanize Conference. (Register now for 2018’s event: www.lifepeacejustice.com!)
By the numbers recap of 2017 2 full-time team members 6 interns 30+ news pieces on our work, including coverage in MSNBC, Marie Claire, The Washington Post, The Daily Signal, and Buzzfeed. 40+ presentations given by our team members at schools, churches, conferences, and community organizations. 140+ registrations for our annual conference. 3,500+ people reached with the #ProPeaceProLife message via our in-person outreach and talks on Consistent Life Ethic issues. 22,500+ miles traveled for speaking engagements to spread the message of human dignity around the United States. Current Board of Directors Phil Eddy, President Terrisa Bukovinac, Vice President Ifeoma Anunkor Andrew Kirchoff
Brian Lohmann, Treasurer Aimee Murphy, Secretary Ellen Finnegan
REVENUES Program Services Revenue: $8,514 Donations & Grants: $99,827 Other Income: $4,225 TOTAL: $112,566 EXPENDITURES: Salaries: $35,457 Contractors: $5,745 Facilities Rental: $1,254 Printing, Publications, & Shipping: $7,413 Other Expenses: $10,473 TOTAL: $60,342 2017 END BALANCE: $64,666 Administrative costs: 10% Fund-raising costs: 3%
Current Staff Aimee Murphy, Executive Director Rosemary Geraghty, Director of Communications ... and we are hiring! www.rehumanizeintl.org/workwithus