This organizational directory is a collection of national organizations that engage in human rights education activities across the United States. If you would like to add your organization, please contact us.
* Indicates founding organization
** Indicates organizations that co-sponsors for HRE USA’s annual Training As Action Series.
The Advocates for Human Rights*
The Advocates for Human Rights is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights. Through cutting-edge research, education, and advocacy, The Advocates saves lives, fights injustice, restores peace, and builds the human rights movement in the United States and around the world.
American Friends Service Committee
AFSC is a Quaker organization devoted to service, development, and peace programs throughout the world. Their work is based on the belief in the worth of every person, and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.
American Red Cross*
The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education in the United States. Their resources for educators include a curriculum on exploring humanitarian law.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who take injustice personally. They campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all.
Amnesty International USA*
Amnesty USA investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and helps transform societies to create a safer, more just world.
Art and Resistance Through Education (ARTE)
ARTE (Art and Resistance Through Education) Justice is an organization dedicated to elevating the voices of young people. They promote an arts curriculum for young people which emphasizes creativity, global thinking, and local leadership to create advocates in the global movement of youth for human rights and global democracy.
Boat People SOS
Boat People SOS started as a nonprofit organization to save the Boat People of Vietnam who fled their home country under the communist regime. They have since expanded to the wider threats of exploitation, trafficking, and persecution of refugees worldwide. They provide educational and relief services to affected victims both in and out of the United States.
Bright Horizons Cornell
The Bright Horizons Day Care Center at Cornell University works to enrich early childhood education by instilling community-oriented values and using real-world hands-on activities.
Center for Africana Studies | Africana Studies
Center for Africana Studies | Africana Studies is recognized as a vital and forward-looking center where researchers, students and cultural and business entities come to gain knowledge of historical and contemporary Africa.
Center for Civic Education
The Center for Civic Education is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in California. The Center’s programs are implemented with the assistance of a network of public- and private-sector organizations and educational leaders in every state and congressional district in the country and in more than eighty other countries, many of which are emerging and advanced democracies.
Center for Global Awareness
Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, The Center for Global Awareness promotes a conversation about global change that transcends cultural boundaries by providing books and other study materials to high school and college students.
Center for Health and Human Rights
The Center for Health and Human Rights is a nonprofit based in Virginia dedicated to providing quality medical care and community education to underserved populations. CHHR runs programs focused on domestic abuse, substance abuse, homelessness, and immigrant health care in addition to a robust program in Human Rights Education for local communities.
Center for Human Rights, University of Iowa
Iowa Center for Human Rights’ mission is the promotion and protection of human rights at home and abroad through distinguished multidisciplinary leadership in human rights research, education, and public service to The University of Iowa, its surrounding communities, the State of Iowa, and beyond.
Center for Human Rights and Peace Studies, Lehman College promotes human rights, social justice, and peace through interdisciplinary research, education, and community engagement. The Center connects students, faculty, and community partners to local and global human rights issues while fostering scholarship and public dialogue. Its work builds on Lehman College’s unique place in human rights history, where the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights began when the United Nations met on campus in 1946.
Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education at Florida Atlantic University
The Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education (CHHRE) at Florida Atlantic University presents cutting-edge training and resources to teachers involved in Holocaust and genocide education. The Center offers workshops, advanced seminars, and summer institutes for K-12 teachers working in the fields of history, arts, languages, religion, science, technology, politics, and social studies.
Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights (CGHR) | Rutgers Global
Established in 2007, the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights (CGHR) based at the Rutger-Newark College of Arts and Sciences has established itself as a leader in the study of world challenges ranging from the devastation of genocide to the process of conflict resolution and peacebuilding.
College of Education and Social Services | The University of Vermont
The College of Education and Social Services (CESS) at the University of Vermont prepares outstanding professionals in education, social work, and human services. We are passionate and deeply committed to student engagement and success within a culture of academic excellence, innovation, experiential learning, and social justice.
Childhood Education International (CE International)
For over 125 years, the Childhood Education International (CE International) has addressed the underservice of children’s early education, responding to particularly staggering statistics in the developing world. ACEI runs three primary programs: The Center for Education Diplomacy (a leadership program), Global Schools First (a membership coalition for primary schools), and Innovation Exchange (a conference for groundbreaking ideas in education). Each program furthers its goals by operating on the basis that “education is essential to human development.”
Children of Imprisoned Parents International
COIPI addresses the tangible and intangible challenges faced by children with incarcerated parents. The organization practices a forgiving policy of unconditional support by helping children with parents incarcerated for any reason, recognizing that it is often due to circumstances larger than their own stories. COIPI also offers workshops for teachers focused on the effects of parental incarceration on children.
Creative Educators International Network
The Creative Educators International Network a non-profit NGO dedicated to inspiring educators who are implementing Value-Creating Education in different ways. Through deepening our own understanding and compassion, we are determined to lay the foundation and construction of a United Nations of Education.
Dorothy Cotton Institute*
Named in honor of Civil Rights legend, Dorothy Cotton, The Dorothy Cotton Institute advances the knowing, sharing, and protection of human rights. The institute offers popular education and training to inspire and support people who want to foster and protect human rights and to advance civic participation for social transformation.
Elizabethtown College
Elizabethtown is a private residential college of 1900 students pursuing degrees in liberal arts, STEM, professional fields and education. It is located in Elizabethtown, PA.
Embrey Human Rights Program, Southern Methodist University **
The Embrey Human Rights Program (EHRP) at Southern Methodist University educates students and other members of the global community to understand, promote, and defend human rights as responsible citizens of the world.
Facing History and Ourselves
Facing History and Ourselves is an international educational and professional development organization. Its mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and anti-Semitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry.
Girls Learn International **
Girls Learn International (GLI),a program of the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF), is educating and energizing middle and high school students to boldly take action for human rights, gender equity and access to education. Together with student leaders, including the Student Advisory Board, GLI is building a movement of informed advocates and a new generation of leaders and activists for social change.
We Unite Global Youth To Build A Better World | Gng.org
We Unite Global Youth To Build A Better World fosters dialogue and understanding among the world’s youth, using technology to enable conversations between middle school and high school students who otherwise would not meet.
Groton Public Library
The Groton Public Library serves the town of Groton, MA.
Human Rights and Humanitarianism Concentration, Macalester College allows students to study human rights questions across a range of academic disciplines. Students connect their coursework to practice through internships and other activities with human rights organizations in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota.
Human Rights Education & Transformative Justice (HRETJ) Advanced Certificate, Lehman College, CUNY prepares educators, community leaders, and practitioners to advance human rights, equity, and justice within schools and communities. Through coursework in human rights education, restorative and transformative justice, and nonviolent conflict resolution, the program equips participants with practical tools for building inclusive communities, addressing harm, transforming conflict, and creating meaningful social change. Housed within Lehman College’s School of Education, HRETJ connects theory with practice while preparing participants to become thoughtful advocates and change agents in their professional and community spaces.
Human Rights Connected
Human Rights Connected is a nonprofit based in Washington DC comprised of a network of resources about the legal framework of human rights. The organization believes in the power of knowledge as a vital step toward change. It conducts research and continues to build a vast library to empower individuals and communities on issues of human rights.
Human Rights Education Associates (HREA)* **
HREA is an international non-governmental organization dedicated to human rights education and training. Since its founding in 1996, HREA has worked with human rights defenders, educators, civil society organizations, international organizations, governments and educational institutions around the world.
Through online learning, educational resources, curriculum development, training, research and international partnerships, HREA seeks to strengthen the capacity of individuals and organizations to promote and protect human rights.
Human Rights Center | University of Minnesota Law School *
The University of Minnesota Human Rights Center and its Human Rights Library disseminates human rights education primary documents and teaching and training models, manuals, and other resources.
Human Rights Library- University of Minnesota
Human Rights Library disseminates human rights education primary documents and teaching and training models, manuals, and other resources.
Human Rights Practice, University of Arizona, is cost-effective, action-oriented, and fully online. Our degrees or certificates enable students to develop a portfolio of applied work, a network of contacts, and marketable skills. Courses feature project-based learning and guest lectures by active human rights practitioners.
Human Rights Program, University of Minnesota,** based in the Institute for Global Studies, is a hub of interdisciplinary research, teaching, and outreach in the field of human rights. The Human Rights Program has a threefold mission to: (1) Advance human rights scholarship through support for research and publications, (2 )Educate the next generation of human rights scholars and professionals, and (3) Engage with serious human rights issues through timely and meaningful projects, public programs, partnerships, and internships
Human Rights Watch Student Task Force*
The Human Rights Watch Student Task Force (STF) is a youth leadership-training program that brings together high school students and educators from the Los Angeles area and empowers them to advocate for human rights issues, especially the rights of children.
Humane Education Coalition
The Humane Education Coalition collaborates internationally to ensure humane treatment of all living things. Their Education Initiative hosts the annual Humane Summit bringing together voices from the fields of human rights, social justice, animal and environmental rights, and education for a truly collaborative approach to the mission. Also read this Partner Highlight by 2018 HRE USA intern, Lucy Knox.
i-ACT
iACT provides humanitarian action to those affected by mass atrocities. It trains and employs refugees to adapt and lead education, sports, and human rights programs in their communities.
Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University **
The Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR) is committed to its three core goals: providing interdisciplinary human rights education to Columbia students, fostering innovative academic research, and offering its expertise in capacity building to human rights leaders, organizations, and universities around the world.
Interdisciplinary Human Rights Initiative, San Diego State University
The Interdisciplinary Human Rights Initiative (IHRI) of the College of Arts and Letters (CAL) at San Diego State University (SDSU) supports and promotes human rights research and education at SDSU, as well as opportunities for engagement with human rights organizations in San Diego County and in the San Diego-Tijuana binational area.
It Gets Better Project
The It Gets Better Project is a global movement to uplift LGBTQ+ youth and empower queer communities to overcome the societal challenges they face. The Project’s educational initiatives focus on core ideas of acceptance, inclusivity, and compassion.
Justice Revival
Justice Revival is a Christian community with a mission to mobilize people toward the “biblical call to justice.” The organization aims to defend human rights for everyone by envisioning an educational curriculum which highlights the scholarship of human rights education paired with the values of Christianity.
National Youth Leadership Council
The National Youth Leadership Council works to create a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world with young people, their schools, and their communities through young people, their schools, and their communities through service-learning.
New Roads School
New Roads School provides an inspired college preparatory program to a diverse student population that mirrors the rich diversity of Los Angeles. It encourages collaboration among students, parents, and teachers to develop the tools needed for social, political and moral participation as well as personal fulfillment.
Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy – School of Law
The Program is affiliated with the Northeastern University School of Law. PHRGE supports scholarship with a focus on economic development and social transformation. The Program aims to foster a dialogue about human rights within the community at Northeastern and beyond.
PRYDE
PRYDE partners with communities to engage their youth on nonviolent, restorative approaches to conflict, and equip them with the knowledge and skills they seek to be leaders for the peaceful social development of their societies.
Puffin Foundation**
The Puffin Foundation Ltd. provides grants to artists and art organizations who are often excluded from mainstream opportunities due to their race, gender, or social philosophy.
Re-imagining Migration builds the infrastructure of belonging inside and outside America’s schools, creating environments where every young person is known, valued, and connected, and where migration is treated and taught as part of the shared human story.
Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center
Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center is a nonprofit human rights advocacy organization. It was named after United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, a few months after his assassination. It advocates for human rights issues and pursues strategic litigation to hold governments accountable at home and around the world.
Robert H. Jackson Center
Robert H. Jackson Center advances public awareness of the principles of justice embodied in the achievements of Robert H. Jackson, U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Chief U.S. Prosecutor at Nuremberg. The Center engages educators to design creative ways to educate and school children, college students, attorneys, judges and public officials to discuss and reflect on the universal principles of equality, fairness, and justice.
Schools for Chiapas
Schools for Chiapas is an organization of grassroots activists and communities working to support the autonomous, indigenous Zapatista communities of Chiapas, Mexico. It was created in the mid-1990’s by individuals searching for ways to make the world a better place and working to create a world where all worlds fit.
Social Impact Media Awards
The Social Impact Media Awards support work in film with outstanding social impact. Their mission is to “amplify creative storytelling that inspires activism, compassion and social transformation.” SIMA honors documentary films that use the medium to advocate for human rights issues.
Teaching for Change
Teaching for Change provides teachers and parents with the tools to create schools where students learn to read, write and change the world.
Learning for Justice
Learning for Justice combats prejudice among US youth while promoting equality, inclusiveness, and equitable learning environments in the classroom. It produces and distributes free anti-bias resources to educators across the country.
The Dodd Center | Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute | University of Connecticut**
The Dodd Center seeks to advance human rights education through its K-12 initiative in Connecticut public schools, through the scholarly use of the Thomas J. Dodd Papers, and through its International Justice Research
The Forsythe Family Program on Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, fosters students’ curiosity about human rights by offering challenging courses with inspiring professors, by encouraging our students to engage in hands-on human rights work, and by engaging in cutting-edge, interdisciplinary human rights research. Through our undergraduate minor and graduate specialization, students are challenged to understand the roots of today’s most difficult human rights issues and given the critical thinking skills and inspiration to go out and solve them.Fellowship.
The Initiative for Civility in Everyday Life (ICEL) works with organizations and communities worldwide to advance civility, human rights, and human dignity through education, research, capacity building, and collaborative action. With our programs and products we seek to help people in organizations and communities move from awareness to action to further community engagement that generates a greater sense of belonging, compassion and social responsibility.
The World As It Could Be is a Human Rights Education Program (TWAICB) that provides educational information and resources to advance the implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) principles in contemporary life. Its initiatives use the creative arts to deepen learning about the UDHR and give communities, organizations and youth ways to share the importance of the UDHR.
Universal Human Rights Initiative **
Universal Human Rights Initiative seeks to educate about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Its UDHR Video Project of seeks to record native speakers reading the Declaration in every known language.
University and College Consortium for Human Rights Education – HRE USA
The University and College Consortium for Human Rights Education (UCCHRE) is a network of members of the university and college communities globally engaged in human rights education. The Consortium’s mission is to further human rights learning, research, policy, and practice within and across university and college communities through collaboration.
Upstander Project
Defining upstander as someone who stands up, speaks out, and/or takes action in defense of those who are targeted for harm, the project challenges indifference to injustice and raises awareness of the need for upstanders, especially among teachers and their students.
US Fund for UNICEF
UNICEF USA supports UNICEF’s work through fundraising, advocacy, and education in the United States.
Voice of Witness
Voice of Witness (VOW) promotes human rights and dignity by amplifying the voices of people impacted by injustice. Through its oral history book series and education program, VOW fosters a more nuanced, empathy-based understanding of human rights crises.
Wings Academy High School
Located in the Bronx, Wings Academy is a small, personalized learning-centered public high school focused on preparing students for the 21st century. A member of the Coalition of Essential Schools, Wings Academy is committed to a philosophy of small classes, student-centered classes, teachers-as-coaches, and performance-based assessment.
World Savvy
World Savvy is a national education nonprofit that works with educators, schools, and districts to integrate the highest quality of global competence teaching and learning into K-12 classrooms so all young people can be prepared to meet the challenges of 21st-century citizenship.
Woven Teaching**
Dedicated to the inclusion of human rights and social responsibility in the curriculum. Woven Teaching offers online forums for collaboration, comprehensive historical information, unit planning, age-appropriate lesson plans, effective communication strategies, and in-person workshops.
Xicanx Institute for Teaching & Organizing (XITO) is a grassroots, education consulting collective committed to training teachers, school districts, and higher education institutions in decolonial and re-humanizing pedagogies and curriculum development. XITO has worked with thousands of educators, administrators and community organizers, and has become a leading national organization for training teachers on how to implement Ethnic Studies.