Support the Lab

Why Donate to the Human Rights Investigations Lab?

Donations ensure this transformative experience for students continues while strengthening our ties to social justice organizations and news media agencies. With donations, the Lab can continue to train the next generation of human rights investigators at UC Santa Cruz, launching them into new career fields in public interest technology, human rights research, journalism, academia, and the law.

Donations enable UC Santa Cruz to accomplish its greatest priorities to secure the Lab’s future:

  • Continue to recruit and train outstanding student researchers at the undergraduate and graduate levels;
  • Provide technical and digital verification support to global human rights partners;
  • Support exceptional research for the public good conducted in this Lab; and
  • Prepare students for new career opportunities.

What do our students say about their experience?

students gathered with papers at an HRIL event

“I really see our work as shaping a unique vision of how to resolve human rights violations in our digital age”

“It is rewarding to know our research helps to tell the stories of people(s) and communities whose voices are silenced by those who are in a position of power”

“Undergraduates spend a lot of time in classes learning about human rights abuses. The Lab gives us a chance to be engaged beyond the classroom setting.”

“The Human Rights Investigations Lab has opened up a whole new world for me. The Lab has deepened my interest in human rights work and I want to now pursue a career in the human rights field”

“Being in the Lab is an empowering educational experience. I am very grateful for the opportunity to bring my social science and humanities knowledge into action to make a difference in communities of color and regions I have been studying during my time at UC Santa Cruz.”

“The Lab has helped open up a whole new world for me about how we can impact change in the twenty-first century. I feel more globally connected and confident in my new online research techniques.”

“Being a student researcher in the Lab and learning about open source investigations has made my college experience feel uniquely empowering. In a world where disinformation and misinformation are on the rise, it is empowering to learn skills that can counter this unfortunate reality.”

students in a lecture hall watching a presentation at an HRIL event

Want to make an impact that propels us to the next step? View our
Case Statement and see how your gift can propel our mission and vision forward!

Last modified: Oct 06, 2023