Witness Change

What Witness Change does

Witness Change is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2015 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, by photographer Robin Hammond. The organization operates three interconnected visual storytelling campaigns — Where Love Is Illegal (LGBTQI+ rights), In My World (mental health), and 1000 Dreams (refugee advocacy) — that use ethically sourced photography, first-person interviews, physical exhibitions, and digital distribution to amplify marginalized voices and support narrative self-representation. Participants control how their stories are told, distinguishing the organization's approach from external documentary journalism.

The organization's core 'technology' is a content production and distribution methodology rather than a software platform: trained refugee storytellers, in-house photographers, and an advisory committee of human rights experts produce portraits and interviews that are then distributed through dedicated project websites, Instagram accounts (200,000+ followers on the main account), earned-media partnerships with Time, National Geographic, The New York Times, The Guardian, and Le Monde, and physical exhibitions on five continents. The 1000 Dreams project has trained 40 refugee storytellers across Europe and reached 100+ million people in its first week of release.

Witness Change is funded almost entirely by tax-deductible charitable donations under EIN 47-3491964, with 90% of every donated dollar allocated to campaigning and storytelling work and 10% to administrative costs. Distribution occurs through a direct donation website, peer-to-peer fundraising (charity races, birthday fundraisers), and corporate giving partnerships. The beneficiary populations — LGBTQI+ individuals in 70+ criminalizing countries, refugees globally (43.7 million worldwide per cited data), and people with mental health conditions — are not paying customers but advocacy audiences. Revenue and financial scale are not publicly disclosed, and the organization operates without disclosed venture, institutional, or government funding rounds.

Name

Witness Change

Legal name

Witness Change

Website

https://witnesschange.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Witness Change is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2015 that uses ethically sourced visual storytelling — photography, interviews, and exhibitions — to amplify the voices of LGBTQI+ people, refugees, and people with mental health conditions across global campaigns.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Human Rights Advocacy

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Media Arts & Film/Photography Nonprofits (BPAGAHAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Nonprofit & Cause Communications (BPAFADAK), Community & Cultural Screenings (Museums, Cultural Centers) (MPADAKAH)

Keywords

• Visual storytelling campaigns
• Human rights advocacy
• LGBTQI+ storytelling
• Refugee narrative documentation
• Mental health awareness

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Witness Change is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (EIN 47-3491964). Donations are tax-deductible for US taxpayers. The organization allocates 90 cents of every dollar to campaigning and storytelling work, with 10 cents going to administrative costs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Witness Change is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that produces visual storytelling campaigns documenting the lives of marginalized communities through photography, interviews, and exhibitions. The organization operates three interconnected campaigns—Where Love Is Illegal (LGBTQI+ stories), In My World (mental health), and 1000 Dreams (refugee narratives)—where participants control their own representation and storytellers often come from the communities being documented.

Product overview

Witness Change is a non-profit organization that operates three interconnected visual storytelling campaigns: Where Love Is Illegal (LGBTQI+ rights), In My World (mental health awareness), and 1000 Dreams (refugee advocacy). Rather than a traditional software product, Witness Change offers advocacy campaigns and storytelling platforms that use photography, interviews, and exhibitions to amplify marginalized voices and drive policy change. These three campaigns work in concert to address different marginalized communities, all united by the core methodology of ethical visual storytelling and survivor-led narrative control.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Where Love Is Illegal: A platform for LGBTQI+ stories of discrimination and survival, allowing participants to share their stories unmanipulated and uncensored.
• In My World
• 1000 Dreams

Products and services

• Where Love Is Illegal A global visual storytelling campaign documenting LGBTQI+ stories of discrimination and survival across 75+ countries where same-sex acts are criminalized. Participants choose how to present themselves and control their own narratives, with stories distributed through major media, exhibitions, and online platforms.
• In My World A mental health awareness campaign using visual storytelling to humanize mental health issues, break down stigma, and support marginalized people living with mental health conditions globally. Documents stories from individuals in countries where mental health patients face stigmatization, neglect, incarceration, and lack of treatment.
• 1000 Dreams A refugee storytelling initiative that trains refugee storytellers to document 1,000 refugee stories through photography and interviews, enabling refugees to tell their own stories and reclaim their narratives. Workshops have been conducted in Athens, Lesvos, London, Sarajevo, Istanbul, Barcelona, New York, San Antonio, Detroit, and online. The project reached more than 100 million people in its first week.

Quantifiable outcome

• Freed 4 men imprisoned in Nigeria
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Human Rights WatchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEmina Ćerimović, a researcher on disability rights at Human Rights Watch, is part of the Witness Change advisory board. She leads HRW's work on people with disabilities in emergencies and has investigated chaining of people with mental health conditions in Nigeria.
• The MINDS FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPragya Lodha serves as Programme Director for The MINDS Foundation in Mumbai. Witness Change has partnered with mental health organizations globally, and The MINDS Foundation is a key partner for mental health advocacy in India.
• Kuchu Times Media GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKasha Nabagesera, founder of Freedom and Roam Uganda and Board Member of Witness Change, serves as Executive Director of Kuchu Times Media Group in Kampala, advancing LGBTQI+ media advocacy.
• She Writes WomancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHauwa Ojeifo, mental health advocate and coach, leads She Writes Woman, a movement giving people with mental health conditions a voice. She serves on Witness Change's advisory board representing Nigerian mental health advocacy.
• PASSOPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBram Hanekom founded PASSOP, a refugee rights organization in South Africa. He serves on Witness Change's board as Program Advisor. Leigh Ann Webster also worked with PASSOP during law school.
• DeSousa FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPragya Lodha serves as Clinical Psychologist and Research Associate at DeSousa Foundation, working on mental health programs in India that align with Witness Change's mental health advocacy work.
• Youth Empowerment Group CocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Witness Change for three months interviewing 48-49 children across five US states about their mental health struggles. Views shared through publications, school programs, and social media.
• The Center OrlandocoreGTM or Marketing PartnerWhere Love Is Illegal exhibition was displayed at the Doctors Without Borders office in Rome for their LGBTQ+ inclusion project. The Center Orlando partnered on this initiative and found the collaboration effective in making LGBTQ+ seniors feel valued.
• PeriFerrycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPeriFerry supports LGBTQ+ refugees in India. Witness Change's Where Love Is Illegal project share led to an overwhelming response on PeriFerry's page, with supporters from India also messaging to support COVID-19 relief efforts.
• Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders)majorGTM or Marketing PartnerWhere Love Is Illegal project exhibited at MSF's Rome office for their LGBTQ+ inclusion project at the 30th Anniversary of MSF in Italy. Approximately 300 people attended the exhibition.
• Mental Health Advocacy FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWitness Change funded this Ghanaian grassroots organization to free and support mental health patients living in chains. This partnership directly supports the In My World campaign's grassroots efforts.
• Handicap InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWitness Change's advocacy helped Handicap International achieve four years of funding for their mental health programs. Partnership supporting mental health initiatives globally.
• Transgender Law CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMariah Moore works at Transgender Law Center as a Program Associate and serves on Witness Change's advisory board, bringing transgender rights activism expertise.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pulitzer Center: Nonprofit that funds and distributes underreported global stories through photography and journalism; comparable through visual storytelling campaigns on refugee, human rights, and identity issues with global media distribution.
• Magnum Foundation: Nonprofit arm of Magnum Photos that supports socially engaged photography and visual storytelling for justice; directly comparable through photography-driven humanitarian narrative production and exhibition programming.
• WITNESS: Global nonprofit that uses video and storytelling to support human rights defenders; the most directly comparable peer given shared focus on ethical visual storytelling for marginalized communities and similar organizational scale.

Others

• Amnesty International:
• National Geographic Storytelling Portfolio: Major media partner of Witness Change with extensive documentary photography on marginalized communities; not a peer organization but functions as a primary distribution and credibility partner for the campaigns.

Broad incumbents

• Refugees International: Established refugee advocacy nonprofit that influences policy and donor mobilization on displacement issues; comparable in serving refugee constituencies but operates through policy advocacy rather than survivor-led storytelling.
• Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders): Global medical-humanitarian organization that has partnered with Witness Change to exhibit Where Love Is Illegal; overlapping advocacy for refugee and LGBTQI+ populations with significantly larger operational footprint.
• Human Rights Watch: Major global human rights organization with extensive LGBTQI+ and refugee advocacy work and an active advisory board relationship with Witness Change; broader scope and significantly larger scale make it a broad incumbent rather than direct competitor.
• International Rescue Committee: Major humanitarian organization serving refugees across multiple continents with programs including mental health; overlaps with Witness Change on refugee and mental health advocacy but operates as a direct service provider at much larger scale.

Emerging players

• PhotoVoice: UK-based nonprofit that uses participatory photography for social change with marginalized groups; highly comparable methodology (participant-led photography) but smaller scale and primarily UK/EU focused.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/witness_change
• Xx.com/witnesschange_
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/witness-change

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Witness Change