WHO WE ARE
Pedacito de la Tierra is a project brought to you by Burners Without Borders, Alight & our trusted partners.
BWB.
Burners Without Borders is a grassroots, volunteer-driven, community leadership program whose goal is to unlock the creativity of local communities to solve problems that bring about meaningful change. Supporting volunteers from around the world in innovative disaster relief solutions & community resiliency projects, BWB is known for the unbridled creativity they bring to every civic project they do. BWB is a program of the Burning Man Project 501(c)3.
Ron ‘RAEL’ Rael.
Professor Ronald ‘RAEL’ Rael is the Eva Li Memorial Chair in Architecture and Director of the Masters of Architecture program with a joint appointment in the Department of Architecture, in the College of Environmental Design, and the Department of Art Practice. He is both a Bakar and Hellman Fellow, and directs the printFARM Laboratory. His research interests connect indigenous and traditional material practices to contemporary technologies and issues and he is a design activist, author, and thought leader within the topics of additive manufacturing, borderwall studies, and earthen architecture. Rael is the recent winner of the 2020 Beazley Design of the Year Award - to create human-worthy spaces for migrant families in Mexico. Learn more at: https://ced.berkeley.edu/ced/faculty-staff/ronald-rael
Charles Michel.
Charles Michel is a renowned Food Educator whose work revolves around the idea that bringing back food at the center of our lives can be a catalyst for inner, social, and environmental change. With the belief that food literacy can change the world, Charles is creating Food Education content on Patreon, crowdfunding ideas and prototyping systems and multimedia content hand-in-hand with the Patreon Community. Charles is currently leading and partaking in grassroots community activism, advising regenerative food projects, and working as a consultant for the World Food Programme in Colombia. Learn more at: https://charlesxmichel.com/
Alight.
Alight is an international humanitarian organization working to create the conditions for refugees and displaced people to build full, meaningful lives. Lives worthy of them. Lives alight with joy, connection and purpose. We work in more than a dozen countries around the world, providing healthcare, clean water, shelter, and other essential life-saving services. Building on the basics, we’re in the constant pursuit to do more, to do better, by the people we serve. Learn more at www.wearealight.org.
Lina Lyte Plioplyte.
Lina Lyte Plioplyte is an Emmy, Silver Lion and Clio-winning director and cinematographer. As a filmmaker, her work bridges documentaries, commercials, music videos and short films that have aired on MTV, PBS, VICELAND, Pitchfork, A&E and screened at various film festivals, including Hot Docs, MIFF and IDFA. Plioplyte's feature-length directorial debut Advanced Style is currently streaming on Hulu after a successful run on Netflix. Plioplyte loves featuring individuals living unapologetically and striving to make the world a better place. Her goal as a director is to provoke change through storytelling in front and behind the lens, hiring women and minorities, highlighting and supporting the communities that she films in and making her film sets plastic-free. Learn more at: http://linaplioplyte.com/
Leigh Glynn-Finnegan.
Leigh Glynn-Finnegan is an Irish artist, filmmaker, and activist working in the intersections of empathy-centered storytelling and advocacy. He works internationally on projects aiming to amplify the voices and experiences of communities often made marginalized. His past projects have focused on; equitable education, domestic and sexual violence, Migrant and Refugee's rights, racial justice, and Indigenous justice. Through ongoing collaborations with various organizations and a global collective of artists—Leigh's priority is to co-create and nurture positive and sustainable impact for the communities he works alongside. Learn more at: http://congruentstudios.com/
Catholic Sisters.
Catholic Sisters are our guiding stars. Pedacito de la Tierra is non-sectarian. But we know incredible humanitarians when we see them, and Catholic Sisters wrote the book. When we first began to partner with Sisters Rising Worldwide in Latin America, we saw firsthand the unique position that Sisters hold in the communities they serve – as trusted, beloved, human-centered, and critical providers. We work to amplify the stories of these incredible women and their communities across the wider world..
Kai Schoenhals.
Kai Schoenhals was raised in Central Europe, behind the Iron Curtain, and is committed to building bridges that break down ideological barriers. His groundbreaking documentary work in Chernobyl earned a scholarship to film school in Denmark. Schoenhals volunteers much of each year as a chef first responder feeding people harmed by natural and human-made disasters, from hurricanes in Cuba to wildfires in California, as well as migrants and refugees around the world. He has designed and operated award-winning restaurants in over a dozen countries that have been featured in BBC, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Wallpaper. Schoenhals applies diverse experiences and skills to design tools for humanitarian purposes. Learn more at: http://onetankadventure.com/bio/
Casa de la Misericordia.
Casa de la Misericordia shelter in Nogales, Mexico provides support to more than 200 people of different nationalities in their journey north in search of a better life. Families leave their countries and risk their safety along the way without food or money, looking for peace and stability. Led by Sister Lika Macías, Casa de la Misericordia offers a home and a family that welcomes those who knock on its door. This year the COVID-19 pandemic presented new challenges for the shelter, with the closure of borders, the need for strict quarantine measures, and the increase in time shelter residents need a safe place to stay. Through outbreaks in Nogales, Sister Lika’s Casa is the only shelter that remains open and continues to receive new families.
Support.
Pedacito de la Tierra is the kick-off of a global movement to create sustainable spaces of hope and refuge for people experiencing migration, beginning at the U.S./Mexico border. Your donation allows us to make real change on some of the toughest issues alongside community members and trusted partners. They’re our guiding stars. And through community, change, and storytelling, we’re making deep impact in the places they live and work.