Our Work
Mindbridge is a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the impact of local, national, and international human rights work by integrating psychological and neurobiological applied science.
Our collective strength as Agents for Change is grounded in our extraordinary ability not only to remain steadfast in the face of the ongoing harm and injustice found throughout the 21st century but in our commitment to seek out ever more impactful and sustaining routes for change.
From the growing threat of domestic terrorism and violent extremism to the destructive and dehumanizing impacts of racism and discrimination to the continued trafficking of human beings to the eradication of reproductive freedoms, and beyond, a call arises that perhaps our traditional methods of intervention and change are no longer enough.
For decades our approach has been steeped in efforts focused on structural, institutional, and policy-based forms of change. And while these efforts were and continue to be utterly necessary, we are missing a critical piece of the puzzle: an understanding and functional ability to engage with the human at the center of the frame.
To change hearts and minds, you first must learn to access them.
Mindbridge uses neuroscience and psychology to access the values, beliefs, motivations, and drivers of violence in order to develop more effective interventions and propel change. We partner with government and community-based organizations in order to co-develop a holistic approach to societal transformation. Here neurobiological and psychological sciences propel data-driven intervention and program design, giving human rights defenders access to the hearts and minds they need to connect to most.
Today’s 21st-century challenges need a new approach. Join us in bringing science to human rights.
Programming
Through our understanding of how the brain gives rise to the mind, we are able to move beyond simply combatting human rights abuses in an endless cycle of violence. Through accessing the latest in psychological and neurobiological research, Mindbridge programs work to guide the psyche toward the strengthening of society built on the tenets of human rights itself.
Whether addressing structural and institutional equity work through the Implicit Bias Project, or designing original research in efforts to rehumanize populations through social media-based strategies, our partners access psychological and neurobiological science through one of the following four-core programming areas:
The Equity Implementation Program (EIP) provides an adaptable approach to research application by bridging science directly to the needs of the organizational partner and region or application of interest. Examples include but are not limited to:
Media & Communications for Human Rights Defenders
Direct Organization and Government Programming to Stop Violence & Build the Path Towards Peace
Truth Telling Commissions & Narrative Design for Cultural Change
The Healing Racial Trauma Initiative (HRTI) is a program designed for and by members of Maine’s BIPOC community that seeks to heal compounded wounds from exposure to structural violence and inequity through the regeneration of the collective body. HRTI works to develop a lay-practitioner certification program bridging traditional therapeutic techniques with integrative community-based healing practices.
Through the Implicit Bias Project (IBP), Mindbridge customizes change strategies for organizations. Our short and long-term training opportunities capitalize on neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to change over time—to mitigate bias and discriminatory behavior directly. Our unique educational model leverages the power of integrative capacity building and focuses on linking awareness building directly to outcome. Using psychological and neurobiological science, each component is designed to encourage a more holistic, integrative, and effective approach to incorporating anti-bias and anti-racism practices within organizations.
The Mindbridge Research Program partners with human rights defenders to design and implement original research programs aimed at furthering the impact of their work and achieving their goals. At times, Mindbridge acts as the connecting point, linking labs around the world to human rights organizations to further the impact and reach possible. Finally, Mindbridge catalyzes innovative research directions designed to investigate novel approaches to human rights, breaking new ground in the human rights arena.