In-Sight Collaborative

Who are we? In-Sight Collaborative is a humanitarian NGO founded in 2016 by a group of friends volunteering in refugee camps in Northern Greece. In an acute humanitarian crisis spanning acres and acres of farm fields, train tracks, gas station parking lots, and abandoned hotels, our founding members recognized that the current lens we had grown up with to view the world was dangerously misleading. We saw a need for more collaboration, for more championing of the agency of the people who call these camps home; for more platforms where the experiences of the displaced could be magnified rather than told on their behalf.

What do we do? In-Sight Collaborative is a facilitator to those in the humanitarian sector who recognize that cultivating an equitable aid system starts with oneself. Moving from its direct aid model in refugee camps throughout Turkey and Greece, In-Sight Collaborative now works globally to embody the accompaniment model. We educate humanitarians to be intentional and empowered to cultivate a more equitable system by providing educational tools, programs, and platforms to address harmful policies and practices.

We envision a world where interactions with migration systems go beyond doing no harm.

Despite altruistic motives, well-meaning humanitarian responses tend to have negative and irreversible effects on the affected population. We cannot assume that taking action is a given or that mitigating unintended consequences are guaranteed. This is why we rally to build communities of care, learning and organizing. We dream of a system that listens to lived experiences and champions the agency of individuals affected by forced displacement. 

Our mission is to unite humans under a new narrative through adaptive and intentional humanitarian work.

Our mission is rooted in the idea that anyone can be a humanitarian with the right resources and platform. Being a humanitarian is a mindset, a way of grounding yourself in kindness and empathy in all you do to improve the lives of all humankind. As our understanding of complex problems evolves, we must be able to create more flexible human-centric solutions. 

Values and Strategy
- Partnership and Accompaniment
- Moral imagination and creativity
- Self-reflection and listening
- Learning and Unlearning
- Human-centric, asset-based
- Inclusion and Accessibility

Activities

Education Modules: Develop education tools for volunteers, on a series of necessary skills and knowledge to navigate the complex industrial system in which humanitarians work. Our modules have covered topics such as moral injury, criminalization of humanitarian action, accompaniment, and ethical social media use. As of 2023, 187 humanitarians have completed our modules from over 21 countries. 

Webinars: Hold space for learning and unlearning the contexts of displacement and our humanitarian system’s responses to it. 

Research and Publication: Highlights stories from volunteers and diasporas, news and trends in the sector, reflections and analyses of systemic challenges.

Mentorship Program: Cultivate a welcoming space for aspiring humanitarians to refine leadership skills, learn and unlearn concepts, and build coalitions of action. In 2023, the program reached 63 participants from 28 countries. 

Migratory Pathway Simulator: Raise public awareness on pushbacks in the Europe by emulating the journeys of our displaced brothers and sisters. Since its launch on April 2023, over 275 people have gone through the simulation. The simulator has been used to supplement social studies curriculum in middle schools and high schools.

Digital Culture Box: promote the sounds, flavors, and stories shared by our displaced brothers to destigmatize migration from their countries of origin. Since 2021, we have co-created 8 boxes with our displaced friends exploring cultures from Afghanistan, Palestine, Syria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, and more. For every donation above $25, you will receive one digital culture box of your choice.

Brother’s Campaign: Supported refugee-led aid distribution in Greek camps and destigmatize the experiences of displaced men. This program reached over 3,500 individuals experiencing displacement in three different countries, who are displaced in camps, squats, urban areas, or acute crisis zones, through our activities and partnerships.

Book Club: Accessible learning opportunities for those unfamiliar with border imperialism and interested in the stories that color the experiences of forcibly displaced persons in an engaging and reflective format. During the first year of its iteration, the club has reached 88 people from 21 countries who are collectively learning and unlearning from themes sparked by the book Love Across Borders