What migration advocacy means with us.

History doesn’t happen in a vacuum and neither do the stories in our archive. There are broad dynamics at play dictating the highly personal accounts we document, and our goal is to connect the dots between the two.

Research, advocacy and conversations in migration traditionally tend toward the abstract, relying upon numbers, graphs or statistics to convey its message. But with Humanitarian Storytelling, we are able to ground these conversations at a human level that is both textured and authentic, ensuring it is first the people in our work who remain front and center, or at the core of our cause.

The benefit of our methodology is that it allows us to identify with the vulnerable or marginalized people we meet and profile, as seen in the Journey Story Archive; something that happens, as well, in the ongoing personal relationships we keep with our community. These are one-on-one encounters that have an immediate personal impact on their lives. But the methodology of Humanitarian Storytelling also creates an opportunity to share their stories, or select elements therein, with high level advocates who can help pivot the migration narrative in a direction that is more humane and holistic.

These stories have the ability to function as specific examples, or case studies, in unique areas of research and scholarship, cause storytelling, and policy development and diplomacy. Humanitarian Storytelling and its preservation in the Humanitarian Archives, can elevate existing work in migration advocacy, promising a human dimension that has not been accounted for in the same way anywhere else.

Migration does not have to be understood and intellectualized only on the page. We can bring to it what’s missing—a human touch. We can make the connection from migration authority to the heart of the mission we strive for, to dignify each and every “amazing human being” with the capture of their experience as they tell it.

What we fight for.

Migrants of the Mediterranean stands by the people whose stories we report through your partnership. So while our organization itself does not operate as an advocacy agency, we are able to provide access to our community’s stories—key data, at a textured, human level—for those developing specialized causes, positions or policies in migration.

Because what makes up each Journey Story goes beyond just the narrative points we record, but how those moments—whether in transit, at sea, or during life as it is lived post-rescue and arrival—connect to the legislation and ideas we promote in scholarship, media and diplomacy today.

Resources we have available.

Advocates will have access to a rich collection of data and resources unique to Migrants of the Mediterranean, to help illuminate their areas of expertise or interest, including:

• Journey Story Archive – over 100 stories and growing

• Photo archive – documentation of people, places + events (from 2016- )

• Audio interviews – conversations on the Open Encounters podcast

• Testimonials – from people in the MotM migrant community, live or in-person

• Unique data – collection of key data from every Journey Story

Join our board.

We’re calling on a diverse panel of leaders in academia, journalism, creative industry professionals and more to form a robust board, at both the advisory and fiduciary level, who can mobilize the personal stories in our archives, allowing the world to see wider policy issues and historical shifts through the eyes of those in the migrant community.

Scholars + Professors
Researchers can drive agendas in scholarship using the Journey Story Archive, additional testimonies from our community and other resources we have available. The archive is open for use by scholars and teachers to develop research and teaching in a number of disciplines, including history, social justice, peace and conflict studies, gender studies, languages and literature studies, psychology and interdisciplinary migration studies and more; and is a place to find qualitative and quantitative data that is professionally managed and adhering to academic standards.

We welcome its use in classrooms to educate the next generation about the human issues at the core of migration, and to provide an alternative to prevalent, and often only quantitatively driven studies and histories. Likewise, as an organization, we look to your own rigorous standards of scholarship to help strengthen our existing methodology of documentation and preservation. Your insight as scholars and scientists is critical to shape our ongoing work and impact.


Diplomats + Policymakers
One of our key initiatives is to show policy impact on a human level—to reveal how people in the migrant community are affected by the policies that govern them. For this, we invite diplomats and other leaders in policy and human rights offices to use the expansive, qualitative information we’ve developed across the Journey Story Archive and use it to ground the topics you’re examining—to guide your work back to the cause of dignifying humanity directly. In short, we’re here to help you put a face to the issues you’re fighting for.

We welcome the support of leaders who can not only commit themselves to advocating for causes across migration with the Migrants of the Mediterranean name, but join us in taking further steps to help shape our work as we document, share and preserve it for future use.


Tech + Finance Leaders
We understand the barriers of access—whether linguistic, cultural or general literacy—that preclude vulnerable portions of the migrant community from engaging on technological platforms, especially as they relate to banking, finance and currency, or administration.

Trust and security in the platforms people use is a first test of viability, and we look to you for support in imagining, scoping and scaling such projects at Migrants of the Mediterranean, while promoting the humanitarian values of the organization with us alongside. Your perspective can help us shape the platforms we imagine, for example the Humanitarian Archives. We seek smart ways to streamline our methods, tools and platforms to keep in meaningful contact with the growing number of people in our migrant community.


Journalists, PR, Artists + Filmmakers
Journalists, media professionals, artists and filmmakers can play a vital part in shaping the migration narrative, as well as supporting the organization to enhance its current standards of storytelling. If we are to continue to adapt and increase the impact of our stories, your perspective is essential. As such, we invite your collaboration to help support humane, holistic change in how the stories of people in the migrant community are shared and told.

The Journey Story Archive and its participants can become a key resource in shaping stories. We look to you to help broaden the reach of fact-based yet human-centric migration narratives, as well as creative works that inspire us to rethink the modern migration experience.

Partner with us.

Partnering with Migrants of the Mediterranean is another way you can support our cause while activating further development and reach of your own. There are multiple areas where you or your organization can offer vital support.

NGOs + Institutions
At the core of what we do is listening to the needs of the community we serve. This means that beyond the manifest Journey Story and ongoing documentation of people’s lives in narrative form, we also develop a comprehensive catalog of the things people in the migrant community need addressed now. These can be essentials ranging from housing and food assistance, legal and asylum rights support, healthcare, language learning and education to job placement and more.

Our aim is to serve our community by connecting them with NGOs and other institutions with whom we may partner that specialize in just these areas. So while we work on the long-term development of historical documentation and policy shifts, we too, with your partnership, can help our community find the assistance they need in the short term.

Organizers + Activist Groups
We are looking to collaborate with organizers and activists who have on-the-ground experience and meaningful community connections. You are the frontline and at the forefront of social justice initiatives that support individuals and families in the migrant community on a day-to-day basis. The stories we preserve at Migrants of the Mediterranean are as much about the initial departure and arrival as they are about the journeys that come after: reception, seeking asylum, and navigating integration in a new context and culture. It is a priority to document the difficulties and obstacles people in the migrant community face in order to bring fundamental change to policy and their public perception.

We look to your expertise in advocacy against discrimination and injustice, while collaborating on the development and growth of, and promoting access to the Journey Story Archive for activist purposes.

Contact us to begin.

Migrants of the Mediterranean is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in the United States, currently developing a board of directors and advisors with a shared concern for the world’s most vulnerable and impoverished people in the migrant community. If you are an established diplomat or advisor, leader in tech, finance, scholarship, activism, journalism, or any other relevant expert in your field, and would like to apply your support at a board level, we welcome hearing from you.

This is a role that will make you an active part of the global cause of human rights in migration that will define a generation. It will offer you a chance to give dignity to the unseen people who deserve our attention and help institute change and reverse inequalities that people in the global migrant community face—so that together we may leave a positive mark on humanity and history.