New Tactics | Kristin's bio

Kristin's bio

Personal Information

First (Given) Name:

Kristin

Last (Family) Name:

Antin

Country or Region:

United States of America

I have been working with the New Tactics project as the Online Community Builder since January of 2008. Since then, I have been learning from and sharing with human rights activists and defenders from all over the world. It has been a great opportunity - I have learned so much from this community.

Before working with New Tactics, I was an advocacy intern for the African Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (ACTV) in Uganda. I really enjoyed my time there and can't wait to work in Africa again someday. I am currently brushing up on my French...

I have a BA in Humanities from the University of Colorado and an MA in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights from the University of Essex.

I look forward to continuing to learn about the innovative human rights being done by courageous human rights defenders.

Organization:

Center for Victims of Torture

Organization website:

http://www.cvt.org

This member's recent comments:

Thanks, Hakima! was added to the dialogue: What dialogues do you want to have in 2012?

Happy New Year, Hakima! Thank you for sharing these ideas!

The first topic is great, but really large. It really is the point of our entire project. :) I hope that we will soon be able to share some of our trainings on how to integrate tactics into your work - online.

I really like your other ideas, too! I will see how I can integrate these into the plan for 2012 or perhaps for 2013. Thanks!
AWID wiki on monitoring and evaluation resources was added to the dialogue: What are the components of a sustainable funding strategy for human rights work?

Thank you, Vincent, for sharing all of the great resources with us! I am eager to take a closer look at them.

I wanted to connect Amanda Shaw's comment in another thread to this conversation on measuring impact. In addition to all of its other great resources, AWID has developed the...
Link to Maureen's heavenly doc was added to the dialogue: What are the components of a sustainable funding strategy for human rights work?

Thanks for sharing how WITNESS collects and stores information on its progress towards goals! This is great info!

Here is Maureen's "humble" 2011 Programme Summary.

Thanks for being so open to share all of this great information, everyone!
Putting time for planning and reflection into your budget was added to the dialogue: Where is the money for human rights?

Great posts, Vincent! Thanks for sharing these. They really highlight the importance of taking time to reflect on your work and make realistic goals. I completely agree with Sonia's encouragement to "change the culture" around the nonprofit "always being busy syndrome". She writes:

In my experience it is often by changing small things that you can start changing the culture. We use a tool called the action learning cycle (you can read more about it in the...
Accessing resources to help you find funders was added to the dialogue: Where is the money for human rights?

Welcome to the New Tactics online community, Idelbert! It's great to have you in this dialogue.

Can you tell us more about why finding partners for your work is so difficult?

I think it would be difficult for practitioners in this dialogue to address the needs of specific organizations, like the Youth South South Cooperation for Human Rights. Instead, we are participating in this dialogue to share resources, ideas and experiences that can be used by many...
Is WITNESS' criteria for funding public? was added to the dialogue: What are the components of a sustainable funding strategy for human rights work?

Thanks for sharing the criteria that WITNESS has developed for accepting funds, Sara! Is this information available publicly, perhaps on your website?

It would be great to hear from others on how their organization decides from whom they will receive funding from and why!
Let's talk about those heavenly annual programme summaries... was added to the dialogue: What are the components of a sustainable funding strategy for human rights work?

Maureen - that does sound "heavenly"! I love it. And I also love that you have reflected on the process and shared it here! I have so many questions about how you actually did this...but I'll start with a few specific questions:

Regarding your annual programme summary,

Maureen James wrote:

So now we have something that all staff live by called our annual programme summary...which summarises...
Dialogue on collaboration in 2012! was added to the dialogue: Where is the money for human rights?

rajasvini wrote:

I am delighted to add that we are experiencing immense creativity and innovation in partnerships being forged amongst smaller grantmaking entitites like ourselves as well with and amongst our grantee partners. The spirit of collaboration is well and alive! What it takes tangibly to make a visionary collaboration a reality is hard work, setting aside of personal and organizational egos, shared...
What resource are needed for a sustainable fundraising strategy? was added to the dialogue: What are the components of a sustainable funding strategy for human rights work?

Thanks, Jane, for starting this conversation on the role of fundraisers in human rights work, and the role of human rights practitioners in fundraising! I wanted to bring up a related question about fundraising capacity:

What resources are needed for a sustainable fundraising strategy?

Dedicating too many resources might dissuade potential funders/donors (most Americans think that...
Is human rights work more threatening than other sectors? was added to the dialogue: Where is the money for human rights?

Thanks for starting this conversation, Jane! I wonder if another reason why human rights work is unique with regard to fundraising is because it can sometimes (unfortunately) be political. As you say:

Revolutions wrote:

Human rights work is complex. It is uncomfortable and emotionally challenging.

Yes - completely! And I think successful human rights work can also be...