About Upstander Project

Upstander Project’s work is drawn from our vision for the future and our mission for today. Every project we embark on, event we host, and workshop we facilitate is part of our effort to move toward the better world we believe we can build together.

Our vision

We envision a world rooted in responsibility and respect for all where upstanders confront injustice and repair harm to ensure all beings thrive together.

Our mission

Upstander Project uses storytelling to amplify silenced narratives, develop upstander skills to challenge systemic injustice, and nurture compassionate, courageous relationships that honor the interconnection of all beings and the Earth.

WHAT WE DO

Upstander Project produces Emmy® Award-winning documentary films, creates learning resources, facilitates educator workshops and impact campaigns.

Built around our films and learning resources, our educational programming aims to create opportunities for deep engagement for K-12 classroom teachers, museum professionals, faith leaders, public sector workers and officials, and community educators.

We hope to inspire and guide them to create more inclusive curricula, schools, public spaces and conversations, so that in turn, they influence others to become truth-tellers and upstanders.

Our story

Upstander Project’s work is rooted in the idea that the Earth and its inhabitants thrive when humans acknowledge and nurture the complex relationships that connect us all. In 2009, Mishy Lesser and Adam Mazo founded Upstander Project (then the Coexist Learning Project) in response to the conflict they were witnessing in societies around the world. They believed — and still do — that when we forget that we are part of a larger, interconnected community, we are more likely to cause harm. We lose our power to protect and nurture ourselves and our communities.

The devastating effects of colonization span all aspects of our lives, from wealth inequality to climate crisis. Rather than working together toward a better world, we find ourselves constantly responding to social and environmental challenges. Out of exhaustion, frustration, and fear, we become numb — indifferent to suffering and injustice.

Only by nurturing our sense of connection to the past and responsibility for the present and future can we work together as upstanders, confronting injustice and healing past harm for a stronger future together.

There are many paths to becoming an upstander, but we at Upstander Project believe one of the most powerful is storytelling. Our small team is dedicated to telling stories that have been silenced, and through them encouraging people to engage in self-reflection and meaningful dialogue. We do not view our documentaries as films to be sent out into the world on their own, but rather as part of a constellation of resources to help people see that it is possible to face hard truths about ourselves personally and collectively, find our place in the world, and use that understanding to build strong, just communities.  

Wherever you are in your lifelong journey toward being an upstander, we invite you to explore the resources on our website. Watch our films, reflect on the stories, learn from our guides, and engage in our community. We are all learning together here.

Upstander Project in the news

Featured
Yo-Yo Ma on the perils of being disconnected from nature and each other

“Shortly before dawn on a June day in 2021, I stood in the middle of a field in Acadia National Park in Maine. Beside me were my hosts: elders, storytellers, and musicians from the Wabanaki peoples who have lived in this place — which they call Moneskatik — for thousands of years. We were gathered to celebrate a centuries-old tradition of music and story. Roger Paul began by sharing the legend, first in Wabanaki then in English, of Koluskap, the first man, who had placed their Wabanaki ancestors on the eastern edge of the American continent for a purpose: to welcome the sun each morning. We listened to Lauren Stevens sing against a background of the softly breaking waves of the Atlantic. And as the sun rose through the pines, I was invited to take out my cello. I played a Mongolian tune, a piece that tells of the grasslands that my ancestors may have wandered, long before they came to the concrete of Hong Kong and Paris and New York.”

Late American Indian activist shines in 'Dawnland,' 'Georgina'

“All of the Conestoga remains were not “returned to their original resting places” in 1979.

The Central Park staff retained the finger bones from an Indian child’s hand and displayed them for the public along with other artifacts uncovered during the excavation.

Georgina Sappier, a Lancaster resident and originally a Passamaquoddy from Maine, said no one should be treated like that. Sappier led an effort that resulted in the ceremonial reburial of the child's hand bones and other bone fragments at the site in 1987.”

Award-winning 'Dawnland' screens May 10

“The culminating event of the Waldo Reads Together program is a showing of the documentary "Dawnland" Wednesday, May 10, at 6 p.m. at Belfast Free Library, 106 High St. There will also be a post-viewing discussion led by WRT facilitators. This program is free and open to the public.”

Upstander Project is supported in part by a grant from the Boston Cultural Council, administered by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture.