Whatcom Peace & Justice Center in Bellingham, Washington
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  • Home
  • Who we are
    • Blog
    • Press
    • Video
    • Archive of Newsletters
    • Financials
    • Contact
  • What we do
    • Learn with us
      • Alternatives to Violence Workshop
    • Alternatives to Military Service
      • College opportunities
      • Opt-out of military recruitment
    • Whatcom Civil Rights Project
      • Whatcom Civil Rights Project Web Page
    • Resources for Community Use
    • Library
  • Get involved
    • Volunteer
  • Donate
    • Become a monthly donor
    • Wish List
  • Link Page
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MISSION

The Whatcom Peace & Justice Center promotes lasting peace, social justice, and a culture of nonviolence at home and worldwide. We accomplish this through partnerships, education, and direct action.

VISION

The Whatcom Peace & Justice Center works to create a voice for peace and social justice in Whatcom County through partnerships with local community and religious organizations, direct action, public witness, and education on alternatives to violence and war. We call on our government and society to disavow policies of violence and seek a culture of peace.

HISTORY

The idea for the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center (WPJC) came about in early 2002 among participants of the Bellingham Peace Vigil, the nation’s longest-running weekly peace vigil (1967-present). WPJC began under the sponsorship of the Bellingham Quakers and received its own non-profit status in February 2005.

The center was formed not only to address U.S. aggression against the people of Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq, but to establish an organization fostering nonviolence as a way of life and as a tool of domestic and foreign policy.
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STAFF & BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Our Executive Director collaborates closely with our working Board of Directors.

ALINE PRATA

Executive Director

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Aline is the new Executive Director of the WPJC! She has worked for 13 years as a grassroots organizer on a variety of intersectional issues, both locally and globally: from immigrant rights to political reform, gender equity and police demilitarization. Aline earned her bachelor’s degree in Conservation Biology from the Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos - Sorocaba, Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2015, and is currently working on her Master’s in Environmental Studies at Western Washington University focusing on science policies and social engagement. During her undergrad, Aline was a student movement leader and later became an organizer with the World March of Women. After moving to the U.S., Aline worked as a writing mentor at Northwest Indian College and became one of the founding members of the Environmental Studies Equity and Diversity Committee at WWU, being committed to bringing Freirean popular education praxis to her work in and out of the classroom. Aline’s work is grounded in transnational solidarity and she is devoted to connecting peace activism in Whatcom County to a perspective from the global South. In her spare time, you can find her reading, dancing salsa with Rumba Northwest or hanging out with the Oasis family.

JANET MARINO

President, Board of Directors

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Raised in the Pacific Northwest, Janet holds a B.A. in political science from Western Washington University and has over 18 years of experience in nonprofit management and operations. She is currently Program Director at a regional environmental nonprofit. She can be found volunteering for the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center, at the Subdued Stringband Jamboree, and for various campaigns throughout Whatcom County. In her spare time you can find her making music with friends, working in the garden, drawing, or coordinating some sort of delicious gathering.

ASHANTI MONTS-TREVISKA

Vice-President, Board of Directors

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Intersectional acknowledgement: I acknowledged myself as a Deaf person of colour with intersectional background of Afro Cuban and Native American/or First American descent. Currently lives in Bellingham, WA. Received Master's in Transpersonal Psychology from Sofia University (Palo Alto, CA). Actively pursuing Ph.D in Transformative Studies at California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS)(San Francisco, CA).Currently co-manages Cascadia Deaf Nation while working on various transformative justice/social justice & equity work.

MATTEO TAMBURINI

Board of Directors

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I grew up in Pistoia, Italy. My father and all his family were Italian. My mother’s family was primarily composed of Irish immigrants to the United States. Lucky to have dual citizenship, I moved to the United States in 1999 to go to college. Since 2009, I have been teaching (and learning) mathematics at Northwest Indian College, a college chartered by the Lummi Tribe. I have served on the board of the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center since 2010. My primary cultural commitment is my dedication to study the Afro-Brasilian artform Capoeira Angola, under the guidance of my teacher, Mestre Silvio Aleixo dos Reis, of the International Capoeira Foundation, who I have been learning from since 2008.

JOSH CERRETTI

Secretary, Board of Directors

ALBORZ MONJAZEB

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Josh Cerretti is an organizer and educator who has lived on Coast Salish territory since 2014. He is a co-founder of the prison abolition organization Imagine No Kages and works as an Assistant Professor of History and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Western Washington University. Prior to moving to the Pacific Northwest, Josh earned his PhD in Global Gender Studies in Buffalo, NY where he also worked in LGBTQ health. His writing has appeared in Radical History Review, Gender and History, WIN: The War Resisters League Journal, The Feminist Wire, and Peace and Conflict Monitor.

Treasurer, Board of Directors

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Alborz Monjazeb joined the board of the WPJC in early 2013. As a caretaker of the historic Bellingham Majestic and as servant and steward to the local community, he enjoys working with all comers to find synergy to uplift the status quo and create meaningful, memorable impacts. He is a family man who works to create conditions of peace and stability for all his relations. A naturalist at heart, he holds deep appreciation for human ability to grow, adapt and seek harmony with an ever changing environment. His interests include architecture, living systems, horizontal integration of vital information services and democracy in the IT age. He holds an MA in international relations and high hopes.

KEY VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers power the work of the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center.

MARTINA BOYD

Volunteer

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As a German immigrant, I learned early of the injustices perpetrated by the Hitler regime. I knew my passion would be to help, never harm, and make a difference. I have spent 45 years caring for all peoples as a registered nurse. In my retirement, I continue to serve by volunteering, which encompasses not only the WPJC but Lydia Place, the Friday peace vigil and NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Health). I enjoy spending time with my wonderful, loving family, hiking the trails around Bellingham and good friends.

ALEX HAFT

Volunteer AMS Coordinator

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I grew up in Chicago and lived in DC and Miami before joining AmeriCorps NCCC for 10 months. Living and working in the West Coast for nonprofits earned us congressional service awards. I moved on to work trails in California and do Conservations Corps in Colorado, and then I moved to Chicago and worked in homeless services. I moved to Washington to be a student at Fairhaven College at WWU. I work at Oasis Youth Shelter at the Skagit YMCA, and am a nonfiction writer working on a book about US hegemony, to be completed in the course of my Independent Studies major.

The Whatcom Peace & Justice Center calls on our government and society to disavow policies of violence and seek a culture of peace.
  • Home
  • Who we are
    • Blog
    • Press
    • Video
    • Archive of Newsletters
    • Financials
    • Contact
  • What we do
    • Learn with us
      • Alternatives to Violence Workshop
    • Alternatives to Military Service
      • College opportunities
      • Opt-out of military recruitment
    • Whatcom Civil Rights Project
      • Whatcom Civil Rights Project Web Page
    • Resources for Community Use
    • Library
  • Get involved
    • Volunteer
  • Donate
    • Become a monthly donor
    • Wish List
  • Link Page