Skoll Entrepreneur(s):
Change(s) Addressed: Tolerance & Human Rights

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DESCRIPTION:

WITNESS was launched in 1992 with the goal of putting video cameras into the hands of human-rights activists. One of these activists was Gillian Caldwell, who was using undercover cameras to investigate Russian mafia involved in trafficking women into forced prostitution. Gillian became executive director in 1998. She realized WITNESS partners needed training on how to film a compelling story, get their films before decision makers who could make a difference and access more media outlets so that their films could be seen by larger audiences. She built the organization into a major international resource for the media and the human-rights field during her decade at the helm. 

From 2007-2010, Gillian was the founding Campaign Director of 1Sky, one of the largest collaborative climate and energy campaigns in the U.S., combining the force of over 545 allied organizations, a team of 43 including organizers in 23 states, more than 190,000 climate advocates and more than 3400 volunteer “Climate Precinct Captains” covering every state.  She currently works as a freelance consultant to NGOs and businesses.

Yvette Thijm is now CEO of WITNESS.

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS OF 2010

• WITNESS pioneered a global site for human-rights video, setting a standard for contextualized online video for social change and creating a community of 9,700 registered accounts, 177 organizations, and 3,000 videos (watched 8 million times).
• WITNESS and partners used video to support an international campaign to stop the conscription of child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The International Code Council (ICC) has now brought war-crime charges against four warlords.
• In a landmark decision — which for the first time included the use of video as evidence — the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights ruled that the expulsion of Kenya’s Endorois people from their ancestral land was illegal — a major victory for indigenous peoples across Africa.

SEE THEIR WORK IN ACTION: