PR OOF
“I always, always wanna tell people, organize wherever you at.� Tory Burch Ferguson Voices: Disrupting the Frame
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CONTENTS Message from our Executive Director
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About Us 6 Who We Are
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Our Mission 7 Our Vision 7 Why PROOF Works: A two-part approach
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Changing Attitudes
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Changing Policy
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How PROOF Works: What We Do
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Exhibitions 9 Education 9 Academic Research 9 Where PROOF Works: Mapping the year in review
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PROOF10: 2006-2016 12 Picture Justice 14 The Moral Courage Project
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Imagine a Day: Kosovo
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Witnessing: refugee testimony and advocacy
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Our Impact 21 PROOF Financials: 2016 22 Our Partners 23 How You Can Help
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Cover: Tony Rice Ferguson Voices (Photo: Mark Katzman)
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MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Dear Friends, For the past 10 years, we’ve been inspired by the words of the late Nelson Mandela, who wrote, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Through powerful images, compelling stories, and onthe-ground engagement with diverse communities, we have educated thousands of individuals about atrocities around the globe and right in our own neighborhoods. PROOF works to break the silence of suffering and social injustice. In 2006, when mothers in the Sudan were being attacked as they searched for kindling wood to make a fire to cook for their children, and rampant violence was afflicting the people of Darfur, I reached out to a group of internationally renowned photojournalists to see how we could tell these women’s stories, and put a human face to the appalling suffering of brutal genocide. We joined forces with Amnesty International to give voice to the innocent victims of Darfur, and produced a book of photographs and essays called Darfur: Twenty Years of War and Genocide in Sudan. And that is how PROOF: Media for Social Justice was born. Over the years, we’ve exposed the inhumanity of child soldiers in Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, Burma, Nepal, Afghanistan, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Palestine, and Iraq. We interviewed and captured the stories of farmers, taxi drivers, nuns, and moms and dads in Central Europe, Rwanda, Cambodia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, who risked everything to save neighbors, friends, and even strangers.
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We created exhibits and curriculum guides for teachers to talk about moral courage. Our exhibit: “Picturing Moral Courage: The Rescuers" reached more than 2 million people across the country and around the globe. In response to the ever-growing horror of rape as a weapon of war, PROOF produced an exhibit on sexual violence in DRC, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nepal and Colombia, holding workshops across the countries. This effort empowered victims of rape to break the silence, overcome their sense of shame, and demand services and accountability. The exhibit, "The Legacy of Rape", has traveled to legal aid clinics in DRC and community centers Colombia. PROOF’s next exhibit, “Unearthed: Stories of Courage in the Face of Sexual Violence”, has traveled throughout India, and has raised awareness and inspired change. Most recently we have turned our attention to domestic issues. In partnership with the United Nations International School (UNIS), PROOF launched an intensive, hands-on summer workshop for young people. “Picture Justice” gives high school students the skills and confidence to address social injustices in their own communities through the study of photography, storytelling and human rights education. Ten Years of visual dialogue, oral testimonies, educational programs and collective introspection. Ten Years of passion, determination, and unwavering focus to eliminate gender-based violence, to raise public awareness of crimes against humanity, and to fight social injustice. Ten Years of fighting for public policy changes. And ten years of celebrating the human spirit and the capacity to heal. As Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” In Peace,
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ABOUT US WHO WE ARE STAFF Leora Kahn | Executive Director Willhemina Wahlin | Creative Director Debra Driscoll | Director Abby MacPhail | Human Rights Educator Sid Mishra | Graphic Design Associate Shelby Quackenbush | Marketing & Development Associate Michael Kirby Smith | Teaching Photographer Sebastian Meyer | Teaching Photographer Will Stolarski | Communications Associate Ronnie Weyl | Grants & Development Consultant
BOARD OF DIRECTORS David Garrison | Chair Fran Kaufman | Vice Chair Corey Sclar | Treasurer Leslie Thurman | Secretary Sherri North Cohen Dean Foster F. Robert Stein Lee T. Bycel
ADVISORY BOARD Jonathan Alter Olivia Drier | Karuna Center for Peacebuilding Adrian Edwards | Panos Pictures Alex Gibney | Jigsaw Productions Ed Kashi | V11 Photo Agency Ben Kiernan | Yale University Tali Nates | Johannesburg Holocaust Centre Mark O’Brien | Pro Bono Net Erik Parens | Hastings Center Marc Skvirsky | Facing History and Ourselves John Withers II | Former U.S. Ambassador
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OUR MISSION PROOF: Media for Social Justice is a nonprofit organization based in New York City that uses visual storytelling and education to inspire changes in global attitude and policy. Our mission is to bring together photographers, documentarians, journalists, academics, students, and activists to create photo exhibitions, publications, and educational workshops that document social injustices and empower people to act. PROOF’s exhibits and workshops aim to engage the broader public in conversations about human rights, peace, and justice through moving firsthand testimonies and powerful photo narratives.
AN UPSTANDING VISION PROOF envisions a world full of Upstanders standing up and taking action in defense of others. We strive to be a premier visual storytelling institution that galvanizes global dialogue on human rights through empowering imagery and education. By countering violence with positive action and raising our collective, global consciousness with stories of moral courage, PROOF acknowledges and celebrates Upstanders around the world.
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WHY PROOF WORKS A TWO-PART APPROACH PROOF uses visual storytelling, research, and education to inspire global action on human rights for two reasons: 1. To build support for change through the minds and behaviors of regular citizens; 2. To advocate for change through the policies and actions of global leaders. CHANGING ATTITUDES PROOF’s work aims to dissipate myths about the “other” and open the door to new ways of thinking about marginalized communities. PROOF’s exhibitions and educational workshops provide opportunities to learn from others while respecting and valuing their differences. At PROOF, we believe tolerance works as a barrier to prejudice and changing attitudes about the “other” can bring communities across the world together for good. CHANGING POLICIES Advocacy is an essential component of PROOF’s mission. We believe we have a responsibility to effect change and use our exhibitions and education programs to raise community awareness, highlight unheard voices, and create space for public discourse. PROOF actively engages in policy change by working with policymakers, activists, and intergovernmental organizations to push for legislation that positively impacts the people we work with including post-conflict communities, children in armed conflict, and survivors of sexual violence.
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HOW PROOF WORKS WHAT WE DO
EXHIBITIONS The heart of PROOF’s work lies in our photographs and visual stories. We produce exhibitions in partnership with organizations around the world that highlight the untold testimonies of people who have suffered from and stood up to human rights violations. These visual productions provide the impetus for ordinary citizens and policymakers to respond to injustice and empower others. EDUCATION The subjects and stories of our exhibitions form the basis of PROOF’s educational programs. At PROOF, we believe that education is one of the most powerful tools we can use to change the world. In addition to standalone educational programs like “Picture Justice”, “The Moral Courage Project” and “Witnessing”, PROOF develops symposiums, workshops, and learning toolkits to accompany our photo exhibits. ACADEMIC RESEARCH PROOF contributes to a wide range of global research and scholarship on peacebuilding, social justice, and moral courage. Through this academic branch, PROOF produces printed literature, conference presentations, and expert panel discussions that prompt engaged global responses to crises and encourage the powerful work of activists around the globe.
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WHERE PROOF WORKS MAPPING OUR YEAR IN REVIEW
ACADEMIC RESEARCH
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Executive Director Leora Kahn presents paper on using refugee testimony for advocacy at the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration hosted by the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland.
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Creative Director Willhemina Wahlin delivered a Special Lecture to postgraduate students at Parsons School of Design in New York, based on her doctoral research into difficult exhibition design practice.
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Symposium at UNIS on the criminal justice system (March) and Immigration (November)
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University of Artistotle Rescuers Lectures
EDUCATION • Witnessing • Picture Justice • Moral Courage Program • Imagine a Day Project
EXHIBITIONS Broken? •
Photoville, September
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Michigan State University, December
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Fortune Society Arts Festival, April
(un)DOCUMENTED United Nations International School Rescuers ArtWalk 2016 Port Macquarie, NSW, Australia My Body a War Zone Santa Marta, Colombia
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PROOF 10 2006-2016
2006 At a photojournalism conference Leora Kahn and Colin Finlay dream up a new grassroots organization called PROOF! to use the power of photography to call attention to the genocide in Darfur.
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2007
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Building on small donations and large acts of courage, “Darfur: Twenty Years of War and Genocide in Sudan” is published by PROOF in partnership with Amnesty International while the accompanying exhibition “Darfur: Photo Journalists Respond” opens at the Holocaust Museum of Houston.
The mission expands as PROOF creates the book, Child Soldiers, and the accompanying exhibition “Children of War: Broken Childhood” opens at the U.N. and subsequently travels to Bonn, Rome, Vienna, Mexico, Tokyo and several other locations around the world.
PROOF moves from victims to documenting the unlikely upstanders who have defied genocide, traveling the globe to gather their stories, and launches “Rwandan Rescuers” in Rwanda with Agesis Trust at the Kigali Memorial Museum.
“Picturing Moral Courage: The Rescuers” tells the story of remarkable people who put their lives at risk crossing lines to rescue others in genocidal situations. The exhibition travels throughout Spain with the support of the U.S. Embassy.
2016 PROOF launches the Moral Courage Institute at Dayton University in Ferguson Missouri with those transformed to activism by the protests following the death of Michael Brown.
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“Picturing Moral Courage” opens in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of a conference on post confliction reconciliation and then goes to Cambodia for an exhibition and workshops with young adults held with local partner Youth for Peace. NATO and US State department sponsored the programs, planting seeds for a better generation.
Gathering the words of victims long suffering in silence, “The Legacy of Rape” focuses on sexual violence as a weapon of war. The exhibit opens in the Republic of Congo in conjunction with Open Society and the American Bar association.
While PROOF travels the world, building new programs and presentations, Yale University’s Genocide Studies Program incorporates PROOF’s work on Rescuers into its archives.
“My Body: A War Zone” opens in Columbia with UNFPA and University of Los Andes in Bogota continuing the documentation of wartime rape victims. “The Legacy of Rape” is shown at Yale. Picture Justice, a photojournalism program for high school students to learn about social justice issues and empower change, launches in partnership with the UN International School.
“Unearthed: Stories of Courage in the Face of Sexual Violence” debuts in India with the Center for Social Research and the National Foundation of India, while “Broken?” an exhibition examining mass incarceration in the U.S. debuts at the U.N. International School.
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Picture Justice is a creative photojournalism program designed to educate high school students about social justice issues and empower them with the tools and confidence they need to lead change in their own communities. The program fosters critical thinking and active citizenship, promotes compassion and empathy, and equips students with the communication skills they need to relay their experiences to the wider public. In 2014, PROOF partnered with the United Nations International School (UNIS) and internationally-renowned photojournalists to pilot and develop the Picture Justice program, a summer social justice and photography intensive for New York City high school students. This past year, PROOF built on its success with Picture Justice and expanded the program to accommodate students from public and private schools. Students worked with professional photographers, journalists, and educators, to explore issues of mass incarceration and the U.S. Criminal Justice System (July) and Immigration (August). Participating students conducted research, met with community leaders and spoke to those with firsthand experiences with the criminal justice system and immigration in the US. Students honed their listening skills, learned ethical reporting and photojournalism techniques, and expanded the large-scale photo exhibition, “Broken?” (criminal justice) and produced a new exhibit, “(un)DOCUMENTED” (immigration), with an accompanying day-long symposium and theatre production on immigration and the need for reform.
Photos courtesy of the United Nations International School.
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“This is an organization that more than accomplishes what they set out to do. I was able to hear from the students what a life changing experience it was for them. Two students now plan on starting their own film production company entitled Flores Films, complete with a logo they have designed and a mission to tell untold stories of people from their community.� Taeko Onishi, Principal Lyons Community School (Picture Justice)
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“Thinking back on my time in Ferguson, it was a mix of emotions and reactions. It was inspiring, eye opening, sad, scary, crazy, just a mix of everything. It was inspiring to see how people rose up and sacrificed everything for something they believed in.”
Even in the 21st century, our world continues to witness, confront and survive genocide and mass atrocities. From the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, to the voting booths in Kenya, widespread and systematic human rights violations persist despite the growth of international human rights and humanitarian law. For every case of violence, abuse and exploitation, however, there are stories of people relentlessly fighting these same injustices.
Student, University of Dayton (The Moral Courage Project)
Even though we don't often hear about it, moral courage can save lives. It is critical to have a better understanding of these extraordinary acts among ordinary people as the global community continues to grapple with how best to respond to emerging violence. It is the aim of this project to bear witness to the heroic work being done by seemingly average people across the world, and to bring these stories to light in order to better understand the impact of micro-level human rights advocacy.
In all communities, one can find individuals who are standing up on behalf of others in danger, regardless of the risk in doing so. These people embody moral courage. These people are what Ambassador Samantha Power calls human rights "upstanders." This project aims to tell the stories of upstanders and by giving a face and name to this notion of moral courage, this project seeks to inspire others to be upstanders and to confront injustices in their own communities.
In 2016, PROOF launched the Moral Courage Project in collaboration the University of Dayton’s Human Rights Center (HRC) and the Human Rights Studies Program (HRS). This program represents a new initiative to study, collect, archive and publicize instances of moral courage around the world. Trained by PROOF on the ethics and methodology of collecting witness testimony, teams of students and faculty traveled to Ferguson, Missouri, to collect interviews, photographs, and other materials documenting instances of moral courage and Upstander behaviour in the weeks, months and years following the shooting death of Michael Brown in 2014 and subsequent uprising. The program culminated in the creation of a new exhibit, “Ferguson Voices; Disrupting the Frame”, which launched post program in January 2017.
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IMAGINE A DAY KOSOVO The “Imagine a Day Project” (IADP) invites participants to imagine the future they wish to see, to trust in their imagination and abilities, and to believe in the impossible dream.
IADP responds to the creative capacity of children and youth to see beyond the ordinary and to envision potential possibilities for themselves, their community, and our world. The project also supports teachers, trainers, arts workers, and community engagement specialists by offering training in creative ways to engage children and their imagination. IADP was developed by PROOF Director Debra Driscoll and colleague Dr. Hayley Linthwaite as a response to children as leaders, and the desire to create spaces for children to engage as global citizens and changemakers. Since its inception in 2014, IADP has been to Sri Lanka, Australia, Brazil, UK and in 2016, Kosovo. PROOF partnered with the University of Northhampton to implement the project in Kosovo, with a particular focus on engaging community leaders who are working towards unifying youth post conflict. The project worked with the diverse range of cultural and ethnic communities in Kosovo, and collaborated with local agencies to train 22 leaders and embrace more than 50 children and youth. The project was supported by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (Kosovo) and is ongoing. IADP was awarded the University of Northampton’s Change Maker of the Year award.
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Witnessing is a professional development workshop in New York City that engages participants in exploring ways of drawing out, preserving, and sharing refugee narratives.
"Not since the end of the Second World War have there been so many refugees, displaced people and asylum seekers,” said Ban Kimoon in his speech at the opening the 69th United Nations General Assembly. PROOF, in partnership with Clark University, has developed “Witnessing: Refugee Testimony and Advocacy” in order to train practitioners, researchers, and students in the field of refugees, displacement, and forced migration. It explores methods and ethics of testimony-taking and examines the uses and importance of refugee testimonies. “Gathering migration stories and sharing refugees’ backgrounds and experiences are crucial aspects of securing legal and political access and protections, as well as aiding in resettlement for these growing populations,” stresses Anita Häusermann Fábos, Associate Professor of International Development and Social Change. “We need a clearer awareness for the ways people move and how societies make room for newcomers.”
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OUR IMPACT
40 18 24 1000+ 45 160 2,000,000+ global partners host countries
academic conferences, education workshops & creative events students
survivors of rape are supported to tell their stories stories of moral courage
exhibition attendees
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PROOF FINANCIALS: 2016 INCOME Donations: $96,2709,930.07 Grants: $53,650 Exhibit Income: $5,900 Other: $5,870
EXPENSES Program Expenses: $70,830 Fundraising: $24,390 General Operating: $13,370
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OUR PARTNERS The organizations we choose to partner with demonstrate a community-centered approach and a deep knowledge of photojournalism, visual communication and human rights issues across the globe. They are some of the best in the world at documenting injustices, educating young people, and advocating for people in need.
EDUCATION PARTNERS
CHILD SOLDIERS: FORCED TO BE CRUEL
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University of Dayton
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Clark University
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New Visions for Public Schools
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
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Yale University
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Amnesty International
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United Nations International School
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The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative
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University of Northhampton PICTURING MORAL COURAGE: THE RESCUERS
PROJECT PARTNERS
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Yale University
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The Legacy of Rape
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Holocaust Museum Houston
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United States Institute of Peace
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Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre
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Columbia University Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality
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The Anne Frank Center USA
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United Nations Population Fund
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Karuna Center for Peacebuilding
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TRIAL: Track Impunity Always
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Open Society Foundations
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Man Up Campaign
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Youth for Peace
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American Bar Association
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Sarvodaya
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Open Society Foundations
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Post-Conflict Research Center
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Himalayan Human Rights Monitors
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UNEARTHED: STORIES OF COURAGE IN THE FACE OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE
PICTURE JUSTICE •
United Nations International School
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Democracy Now!
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Youth Initiative for Human Rights
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NyS Youth Leadership Council
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Centre for Social Research India
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Columbia University Institute for Research on Women, Gender, and Sexuality
CREATIVE PARTNERS
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National Foundation for India
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Braenchild Media
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The Rape in India Project
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Parsons The New School of Design
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HOW YOU CAN HELP HIRE AN EXHIBIT All of PROOF’s exhibitions are available for hire. Email us at info@ proof.org to arrange for an exhibit to travel to a participating institution in your area. Additional information, including exhibit specifications, is available on our website. VOLUNTEER PROOF relies on volunteers to power its work collecting stories, creating educational workshops, and producing meaningful exhibitions. For more information about how you can help, visit: proof.org/getting-involved BID Attend PROOF’s annual photography auction and bid on beautiful images and limited-edition photographs from internationally-renowned photographers and artists. DONATE Give online by visiting our website at www.proof.org or make a taxdeductible contribution by mail to the address below. JOIN THE CONVERSATION Facebook: @proofmedia Twitter: @proof_msj Instagram: @proofmedia
PROOF PROOF: Media for Social Justice Centre for Social Innovation 601 W 26th Street, Suite #325 New York, NY 10001 proof.org
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