About Ubuntu Institute for Community Development
A nonprofit, community-rooted human rights organization advancing justice, dignity, and self-determination through education and action. We make human rights accessible, relevant, and liberatory—especially for those long excluded. Not lawyers. Not academics. Just people building power through human rights.
Mission
Our mission is to empower communities through education and action to advance justice, dignity, and self-determination. We strive to make human rights accessible, relevant, and liberatory, especially for those who have been historically excluded.
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Vision
Our vision is a world where every individual's human rights are respected, protected, and fulfilled. We envision empowered communities driving positive social change and upholding the principles of justice and self-determination.
What We Do
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Host community-centered Human Rights and Reparations Conferences
Uplifting local voices, global frameworks, and intergenerational knowledge.
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Facilitate introductory and advanced workshops on:
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
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UN Conventions such as CERD, ICCPR, CAT, and CEDAW
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The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process and how to engage it
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Support community groups in writing and submitting shadow reports to the United Nations
Promote and help develop Human Rights Cities rooted in local power and people’s law
Values
We aim to offer a clearer, stronger, and more urgent vision of what human rights work looks like when led by and for the people. Whether you're a seasoned advocate or new to the idea of human rights, we invite you to join us in this space of learning, organizing, and transformation.
We are powered by community. We are sustained by donations. We are building a human rights culture from the ground up.
Accessibility over elitism
A commitment to ensuring that knowledge, tools, and opportunities are open to all people—not reserved for the privileged few. It means centering everyday people, lived experience, and plain language instead of academic jargon, gatekeeping, or credentials. At its core, accessibility over elitism is about sharing power, removing barriers, and recognizing that communities have always held wisdom—whether or not it's recognized by institutions.
Political education rooted in lived experience
We believe that the most powerful education begins with the truth of how people live. Political education rooted in lived experience means we teach from the ground up—starting with the realities of injustice, survival, resistance, and community. We center the voices of those most impacted by systemic oppression, not as case studies, but as teachers and leaders. This kind of education connects history to now, theory to struggle, and ideas to action—so that learning becomes a tool for transformation, not just information.
Cultural relevance that honors Black history and global liberation struggles
We believe that meaningful education must reflect the histories, identities, and struggles of the people it serves. Cultural relevance means our work is rooted in the lived realities, ancestral knowledge, and ongoing resistance of Black communities and oppressed peoples worldwide. We honor Black history not as a month, but as a foundation, and we connect our work to global liberation movements—from anti-colonial revolutions to workers’ struggles, to reparations demands. This value guides us to teach with truth, to organize with dignity, and to build toward justice that remembers the past and reclaims the future.
A deep belief that human rights are tools for transformation—not just legal theory
We believe that human rights are not just documents or laws—they are living tools for justice, survival, and liberation. Human rights must be more than theory. They must be felt in housing, wages, health, safety, and dignity. Our work treats human rights as a framework to organize, educate, and resist—a way to challenge power, repair harm, and build new futures. This belief grounds our commitment to making human rights real in everyday life—not only in courtrooms or conferences, but in the hands of the people.