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.

STAFF & BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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

ALINE PRATA

Executive Director
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Aline is the director of the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center. With over 15 years of experience, she has organized on intersectional issues locally and globally, including immigrant rights, police demilitarization, and campaign finance reform. Originally from Brazil, Aline has been involved in student movements since high school and co-founded a local chapter of the World March of Women. After moving to the U.S. in 2015, she worked as a writing mentor at Northwest Indian College and co-founded the Environmental Studies Equity and Diversity Committee at WWU. Aline's work centers around popular education, transnational solidarity, and connecting peace activism in Whatcom County to a global perspective. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, watercoloring, and salsa dancing with Rumba Northwest.

ANEESA AHAD

Alternatives to Military Service Coordinator

Aneesa has actively been involved with the Peace Vigil and served on the board of WPJC and Veterans for Peace, Chapter 111. Aneesa is dedicated to promoting peace, justice, and equity through volunteering with AMS and engaging in various projects. Inspired by her experiences volunteering in Indian orphanages and driven by her own encounter with military sexual abuse, Aneesa actively works to dismantle toxic masculinity and fight against the ongoing militarization of civilian life. She advocates for alternatives to the draft, supports defunding the police, and protests against the carceral system. Aneesa's commitment to the struggle against militarism is shaped by both her experiences and continuous learning within the Bellingham Peace community.

NAIRA

Communications Intern

Naira was born in La Paz, Bolivia. Her experience as a first-generation immigrant, alongside her familial history with dictatorships and the Bolivian revolution, has inspired her academic pursuits and various career endeavors. Naira graduated from Fairhaven College at Western Washington University with a Bachelor’s in Law, Diversity and Justice, and a Political Science minor. At Western, she served as the ASWWU Vice President for Diversity and the Director of Legislative Affairs. Alongside the Washington Student Association (WSA), she successfully lobbied for the passage of bills protecting survivors of sexual assault and addressing students' basic needs, including financial aid. When she is not working or with her friends she can be found painting, reading, or writing in her room or under the sun (Inti.)

KAT DAVID

President
​​Board of Directors

Kat David was born and raised on the Kitsap Peninsula and moved to Bellingham in 2012 to attend Western Washington University. With a Masters of Science from WWU in Mental Health Counseling, Kat has been practicing counseling for over 6 years. She is passionate about supporting healing in oppressed communities, understanding ancestral and racialized trauma, and studying different systems of healing. She also loves spending time with her cat, creating, singing karaoke and reading graphic novels.

HARMONY DEVANEY

Vice President
​​​Board of Directors

Harmony is an Iñupiaq Alaskan Native artist and advocate. They were born and raised in Bellingham and now attend Western Washington University studying American Cultural Studies with an emphasis in American Indian Studies and minoring in Education and Social Justice. From a very young age Harmony always knew they wanted to help people.

JOSH CERRETTI

Secretary
​Board of Directors

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.

MATTEO TAMBURINI

Board Treasurer

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.

​BETH GIRMA

Board of Directors

Beth Girma (she/they) was raised between the Pacific Northwest and across the world in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, where most of their family resides. Beth moved up to Bellingham in 2018 and is studying Law, Diversity & Justice, and pursuing a minor in Education & Social Justice at Western Washington University (WWU). Beth has been working in direct service and youth advocacy in shelters, schools, jails, and other programs. In addition to her advocacy work, Beth is a teaching artist at Make Shift Art Space as their Education Director. Beth is passionate about implementing revolutionary and abolitionist thoughts & practices into art curriculums and believes in the importance of creativity as an outlet for the trauma and oppression that marginalized people face, especially those incarcerated in jails and prisons. This is why most of her organizing work focuses on building support systems for unhoused & incarcerated folks. In her downtime, Beth enjoys practicing her creative skills by writing, doing graphic design/illustration, reading, and watching lots of movies!

YOAV LITVIN

​​Board of Directors

Yoav Litvin is a doctor of psychology, a photographer and writer. In his work, he investigates the intersections of science, the arts and politics and aims to promote creative and radical causes with a focus on the natural environment, urban culture, social movements and peoples.

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EVE SMASON-MARCUS

Board of Directors

Eve Smason-Marcus [they/them] was born and raised in Seattle’s Northend Jewish community. They moved to Bellingham in 2008 to attend Western Washington University, where they graduated with a Bachelors of Music in Vocal Performance. They have lived in Bellingham for the last 14 years as a renter, musician, organizer, teacher, service industry worker, baklava baker, and avid card player. Over the years they have been involved with the Whatcom Human Rights Taskforce, Whatcom Youth Pride, Birchwood Food Desert Fighters, People First Bellingham, Bellingham Unity Committee, and other local groups. They believe in building community power as a sustainable movement through radical self-love, community accountability, transformative justice, mutual aid, art, and dreaming into reality, a world without policing and prisons.

NADA ELIA

Board of Directors

Nada Elia teaches Cultural and Gender Studies at WWU. A Far Diaspora Palestinian, she has long understood the interconnectedness of struggles against imperialism, militarism, incarceration, and heteropatriarchy, among other systems of structural oppression which she organizes against.

KEY VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers power the work of the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center

MARIANA BOYD

Volunteer

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.

RAVEN OTT​

Alternatives to Military Service Liaison

Raven, a tasteful individual, lives and perceives life in a lens of discipline, is the newest WPJC intern serving as Alternatives to Military Service Youth Liaison. Under the motto “Finish what you start”, essentially is a goal for them to dismantle barriers and bring an end to all conflicts. Currently, Raven is pursuing a GED to amplify their influence and ignite change within education and systems of power. Alongside a list of pursuits, he serves as an intern for Whatcom Peace and Justice Center, where they focus on Alternatives to Military Service, further highlighting their dedication to peaceful solutions and unity. They envision a world devoid of boundaries, where authenticity reigns supreme, envisioning communities where individuals can express themselves without constraints. The path from envisioning to manifesting is but a thought away in what you speak. Raven uses literature to illustrate and communicate ideas within the world around him.

JANET MARINO

Volunteer

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.

KAIA GILJE

Volunteer

Kaia became activated through art and community, finding collaboration as a place of practice. She brings experiences of witnessing and participating in mutual aid and cooperative organizing, networks of care and of ruptures, teaching/taking care of children, and working with others to create non-exploitative food systems. From these communities they have learned the need for fostering intentional spaces for people to create our own conditions and that we must take care of each other. She is thrilled to be a part of WPJC where she is learning from incredible people and hopes to contribute to collective power and resistance.