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

ANEESA AHAD

Alternatives to Military Service Coordinator

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 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.

FIONA MARTINEZ

Communications Intern

Fiona Martinez is a poet and student from Boise, Idaho, of Mexican and Irish descent. She is currently studying Creative Writing at Western Washington University, with minors in Spanish and Education & Social Justice. As a proud leader and member of Honors Students of Color, she advocates for creating a safe and inclusive space for BIPOC students within a predominantly white institution. Fiona is devoting her time at WPJC to growing community relationships, expanding her knowledge of peace and abolitionist efforts, and engaging in transformative work beyond the university. She believes in creativity as an act of resistance and seeks to harness the power of her poetry as a tool for activism.

JOSH CERRETTI

Secretary
​Board of Directors

KAT DAVID

President
​​Board of Directors

MATTEO TAMBURINI

Vice-President
​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.

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.

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.

EVE SMASON-MARCUS

Board of Directors

​DESTINY DUNBAR

Board of Directors

YOAV LITVIN

Treasurer
​​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.

Born in Arkansas and raised across seven states, Destiny has a deep appreciation for the variety of natural landscapes and rich cultures that exist in the U.S. She has lived in Bellingham for nearly five years and holds a B.A. in environmental policy and natural hazards risk reduction from Western Washington University. She works for a local environmental advocacy nonprofit, bringing the perspective that liberation is found in the intersections of social and environmental justice. She also loves to read, dance, and create art.

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.

KEY VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers power the work of the Whatcom Peace & Justice Center

MARTINA 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.

KEARA RYAN

WWU, Climate Leadership Fellow

Keara Ryan (she/her) is a senior at Western Washington University pursuing a major in Sociology, a double minor in Political Science and Holocuast & Genocide Studies, and the Climate Leadership Certificate. She has served as the ASWWU Director of the Office of Civic Engagement and Student Trustee. Recently, she has been elected as the Associated Students President at WWU. Keara hopes to use her time at WPJC to gain hands-on experience community building and organizing around social justice, peace, and the intersections of both of these with the environment. Being raised in Snoqualmie, WA by a single-mother Keara’s family experienced yearly flooding that impacted her childhood. These experiences and her interdisciplinary education have been foundational in fueling her passion for environmental justice.

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.