Migrants of the Mediterranean

What Migrants of the Mediterranean does

Migrants of the Mediterranean (MotM) is a global Humanitarian Storytelling nonprofit organization incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in Arizona, founded by Pamela Kerpius in autumn 2016 on Lampedusa island, Italy. The organization documents and publishes individual journey stories of people in the migrant community using a methodology that blends humanitarianism, journalism, and contemporary history. Its core output is the Journey Story Archive — a growing collection of over 100 first-person migration testimonies gathered through in-person fieldwork, with coverage now spanning Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, the US-Mexico border, and Asia-Pacific. Stories are published in five languages: English, Italian, German, French, and Spanish.

The organization's product surface centers on the Journey Story Archive, supplemented by the weekly Open Encounters podcast (distributed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, and Stitcher), The Beyond blog for analysis and Asia-Pacific coverage, and ad hoc COVID-era initiatives such as #HereTogether and the Calls From COVID-19 Lockdown series. The team comprises approximately 8 members including country correspondents, Ph.D.-credentialed language editors and translators, and a Historical Advisor. Distribution is multi-channel: free public access via the website and social platforms (Instagram, Facebook, X), plus curated academic ingestion through university partnerships (Occidental College, Brown University, UMass Boston, with additional speaking engagements at University of Toronto, Dartmouth, Brandeis, and University of Colorado Denver).

MotM is structured as a tax-exempt nonprofit; no products or services are sold, and content is freely available to the public. Funding comes from individual tax-deductible donations and episodic grants/sponsored research partnerships, the most prominent disclosed being a $15,000 community partnership with Occidental College in Fall 2023. Revenue is not publicly disclosed, and there are no investors, parent entities, or commercial revenue streams. The organization also holds a strategic partnership with Mediterranea Saving Humans and Saving Humans USA, linking its storytelling to active Mediterranean search-and-rescue operations.

Name

Migrants of the Mediterranean

Legal name

Migrants of the Mediterranean Corp.

Website

https://migrantsofthemed.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Migrants of the Mediterranean is a 501(c)(3) humanitarian storytelling nonprofit documenting individual migrant journey stories since 2016 across Europe and the US-Mexico border. It distributes content in five languages via its archive, podcast, and blog, serving migrant communities, academic researchers, and policy professionals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Migration Documentation Services

akta.pro primary industry

Refugee & Immigrant Support Services (BPAGAEAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Refugee & Migrant Integration Enterprises (Livelihoods, Services) (BPAGALAN)

Keywords

• Humanitarian storytelling
• Migrant documentation
• Journey story archive
• Nonprofit journalism
• Refugee advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Goodyear

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, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: Tax-deductible donations from individuals supporting the humanitarian mission. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation.
2. Grants and Partnerships: Academic partnerships providing funding for specific initiatives, such as the $15,000 community partnership with Occidental College in Fall 2023.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Migrants of the Mediterranean (MotM) is a 501(c)(3) humanitarian storytelling nonprofit that documents the individual migration journey stories of vulnerable people in the migrant community through in-person interviews. The organization publishes these stories as a multilingual Journey Story Archive, produces the Open Encounters podcast, and runs The Beyond blog to humanize the migration experience and preserve historical records.

Product overview

Migrants of the Mediterranean is a global Humanitarian Storytelling NGO that operates primarily through its Journey Story Archive — a collection of documented individual migration stories available in multiple languages (English, Italian, German, French, Spanish). The organization also produces the Open Encounters Podcast for audio storytelling and The Beyond Blog for expanded written coverage and analysis. All offerings are built around the Humanitarian Storytelling Methodology, a hybrid approach combining humanitarianism, journalism, and contemporary history to document and preserve the voices of vulnerable migrants.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Journey Story Archive An archive of over 100 documented individual migration journey stories from people in the migrant community, available in English, Italian, German, French, and Spanish. Stories are gathered through face-to-face interviews across Italy, The Netherlands, Europe, and the US-Mexico border zone.
• Open Encounters Podcast Official weekly podcast featuring audio conversations with migrants about integration, racism, language, labor, employment, missing persons, and daily life post-rescue and reception. Hosted by founder Pamela Kerpius and distributed across major podcast platforms.
• The Beyond Blog Official blog platform publishing stories, news, and analysis on migration with expanded coverage to Asia-Pacific. Archives essays dating back to 2017 and publishes work from correspondents in Italy and internationally.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100 journey stories documented and archived
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Brown UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 December 2024Collaboration with Brown University Dept of French and Francophone Studies for translation of Journey Story Archive into French. Approximately 30 stories translated initially with more to follow.
• University of Massachusetts BostoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 December 2024Collaboration with UMass Boston Dept of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures for translation of Journey Story Archive into French. Partnership expands access to French-speaking public, scholars, and policymakers.
• Occidental CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 October 2023MotM named Community Partner in Fall 2023. Founder Pamela Kerpius taught 'Displaced Peoples in the Mediterranean' course. Students developed resources to support the nonprofit's mission. Partnership valued at $15,000.
• Pro Bono ItaliaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 November 2020Founder Pamela Kerpius spoke at Pro Bono Italia Roundtable for the European legal community, sharing MotM's humanitarian storytelling work and documenting migrant journey stories.
• Mediterranea Saving HumanscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 September 2020Italian NGO collaboration for the 'People, Not Numbers' campaign supporting humanity in the Central Mediterranean. Mediterranea Saving Humans monitors the Central Mediterranean and rescues vulnerable people whose stories are documented by MotM. The partnership strengthens humanitarian advocacy efforts.
• Saving Humans USAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 September 2020US-based sister organization of Mediterranea Saving Humans, collaborating with MotM on the 'People, Not Numbers' campaign for humanitarian advocacy.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Amnesty International: Global human rights organization with extensive refugee and migrant rights programming. Comparable through storytelling, documentation, and advocacy for vulnerable migrant populations.
• UNHCR: United Nations Refugee Agency with global mandate for refugee protection. Comparable as the institutional authority on refugee issues with significant storytelling, documentation, and advocacy operations.
• HIAS: Global Jewish humanitarian organization assisting refugees through resettlement, advocacy, and legal services. Comparable as a broader humanitarian organization with a refugee focus and significant storytelling/advocacy content.
• International Rescue Committee: Global humanitarian aid organization responding to crises including displacement. Comparable as a major humanitarian organization combining on-the-ground services with content production and advocacy.
• Médecins Sans Frontières: International medical humanitarian organization providing emergency aid. Comparable as an established humanitarian NGO with journalism and storytelling components supporting advocacy.

Others

• Candid: Nonprofit data and transparency platform whose seal MotM displays on its website. Adjacent ecosystem enabler providing nonprofit financial transparency infrastructure for the sector MotM operates in.

Direct peers

• Lighthouse Reports: Investigative journalism cooperative focused on migration, displacement, and exploitation in Europe. Directly comparable to MotM through journalism-based documentation of migrant experiences and cross-border investigative methodology.
• StoryCorps: Nonprofit organization recording and preserving personal stories through oral history. Comparable through humanitarian/personal storytelling methodology focused on amplifying individual voices for the historical record.
• InfoMigrants: Multilingual news website about migration in Europe, founded by major European broadcasters. Comparable to MotM through multilingual content distribution and journalistic approach to migration storytelling.
• The Refugee Project: Interactive documentary and educational platform documenting refugee experiences worldwide. Directly comparable through multimedia refugee storytelling approach and educational content focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/migrantsotmed
• Facebookfacebook.com/migrantsofthemed
• Instagraminstagram.com/migrantsofthemed
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/migrants-of-the-mediterranean

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Migrants of the Mediterranean