ABOUT US
Founded in 2006, AWP’s projects have been presented on five continents, in dozens of countries, with hundreds of partners and artists to produce visual advocacy tools that produce action on human rights crises at the grassroots, media, and policy levels.
OUR MISSION
Art Works Projects (AWP), a Chicago and The Hague-based nonprofit, confronts human rights abuses, challenges injustice, and mobilizes audiences beyond awareness to action through visual storytelling, new media, and public engagement.
our TEAM
Steve Bynum
Steve serves as Interim Executive Director of Art Works Projects, where he leads the organization’s strategy at the intersection of documentary storytelling, public engagement, and human rights advocacy. A longtime collaborator and former board member, he has a relationship with ART WORKS Projects that spans more than two decades—from early work on DARFUR/DARFUR to sustained collaborations on conflict-related violence and global justice—reflecting a deep commitment to using storytelling to drive awareness and action. He brings over 35 years of experience building platforms, partnerships, and audiences that connect media, policy, and advocacy on a global scale.
As Senior Producer of Worldview with Jerome McDonnell, Chicago Public Media’s 25-year global affairs talk show, he helped shape a leading global affairs program through reporting, live events, and partnerships with organizations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Oxfam, and leading universities. He led initiatives such as the Global Activism series and the Global Activism Expo, convening advocates, artists, and policymakers to address urgent global challenges.
He centers a “global majority” mindset and philosophy— global citizenship being essential to dismantling psychological and structural racism. Steve’s philosophy in leading “Worldview” is derived from the words of the ancient Roman playwright Terence: “I am human, and I think nothing human is alien to me.”
In parallel, his leadership across Chicago’s cultural institutions—including as Board President of Theatre Y, Vice President of Fulcrum Point New Music Project, and collaborator with Facets Film Forum—has supported the development of artist-driven, justice-oriented work across performance, music, and film, reflecting a sustained ability to build cultural and civic infrastructure that advances human rights through storytelling and collaboration.
Steve holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration from Northwestern University.
E-mail: steve@artworksprojects.org
Interim Executive Director
Founder, Interim Director of Programming and Development
Leslie Thomas
Leslie Thomas serves as Interim Director of Programming and Development and leads the design and implementation of documentary-based advocacy campaigns addressing urgent human rights issues. As the organization’s founder and co-founder of MIRA Studios, Leslie brings decades of experience advancing global awareness around genocide, human trafficking, ethnic cleansing, gender apartheid, and conflict-related sexual violence. Her work has shaped major initiatives, including DARFUR/DARFUR, Congo/Women, and Covering CRSV, as well as the documentary films The Prosecutors and Letter to My Child. An Emmy Award–winning art director,
Leslie is currently co-directing the feature documentary Syria Justice, developed from AWP’s Children of Syria exhibition. She also serves as producer of The Sharp Edge of Peace, directed by Roya Sadat and launched with Meryl Streep during the United Nations General Assembly, contributing to global policy engagement on women’s rights in Afghanistan.
Throughout her career, Leslie has prioritized ethical, participatory storytelling practices grounded in consent and collaboration, and continues to expand this work as AWP enters its second decade. She holds a master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation and a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. A licensed architect, she is the founder of LARC Architecture and Design and serves on the board of Congo Kids Initiative.
Email: leslie@artworksprojects.org
board of directors
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Founder and president, Urban Innovations, LLC
Urban Innovations, a real estate development and property management company based in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, is where Howard leads acquisition and development, financial analysis, and negotiation of major transactions.
He has been a long-term supporter and partner of ART WORKS Projects, hosting the organization’s studio at 625 North Kingsbury, a unique non-profit incubator and programming center for free community gatherings, exhibitions, film screenings, and advocacy workshops.Howard holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University and a master’s degree in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to his involvement with AWP, Howard is active on the boards of Chicago Public Media, Restore Justice Illinois, the Writers Theater, and the Chicago Committee of Human Rights Watch. He and his wife, Anne, are long-time patrons and supporters of social justice and democracy-building movements, organizations, and initiatives.
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Associate Director, Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy, University of Illinois-Chicago
The institute supports engaged research that aims to increase society’s understanding of the root causes of racial and ethnic inequality and create research-based policy solutions and collective action. Trained as an anthropologist and architect, Iván’s research focuses on how social movements use creative art practices to establish solidarities beyond the state. Dr. Arenas is a practicing artist and has curated three yearlong exhibits at UIC that have mobilized and extended his research on the intersection between protest practices, social transformation, and aesthetics. Beyond the University, he is active as a member of Chicago Torture Justice Memorials, Chicago United for Equity, the Pilsen Housing Cooperative, and the Chicago ACT Collective. Dr. Arenas has an undergraduate degree from Columbia College of Columbia University and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.
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Associate Professor, African American Studies and History; Director, Center for African American History, Northwestern University
Dr. Bryant teaches courses on the histories of colonial Latin America, the Early Modern African Diaspora, comparative slavery, and the politics of Afro-Latin America since 1800. As an historian of colonial Afro-Latin America and the Atlantic/Pacific Worlds, Bryant works at the intersections of cultural, legal, social history and political economy, with an emphasis upon Black life in the Kingdoms of New Granada and Quito (what is now modern Colombia and Ecuador). Dr. Bryant’s book, Rivers of Gold, Lives of Bondage: Governing through Slavery in Colonial Quito offers the first serious treatment in English of slavery and slave life in colonial Quito and challenges the narrower conceptualization of slavery as primarily an economic demand. Bryant holds an undergraduate degree from North Carolina Central University and a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University.
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Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Manager, Chicago Public Media/WBEZ; Co-Founder/CEO, Worldview Solutions Inc.
A media leader, cultural strategist, and global thinker, Steve roots his work in storytelling that expands human possibility and reshapes how communities see themselves and one another—from producing award-winning journalism to leading diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts in media. Through his work on WBEZ’s “Worldview with Jerome McDonnell” and as co-founder of Worldview Solutions, Steve has championed solutions-oriented storytelling that highlights resilience, dignity, and progress across the Global South and within local communities, building bridges between Chicago and the world. His ethos is grounded in the conviction that exposure—to people, places, and perspectives beyond one’s immediate environment—is a catalyst for personal liberation and collective transformation. This belief informs his commitment to creating platforms, partnerships, and cultural experiences that invite audiences to see themselves as part of a global majority, capable of shaping more just and expansive futures. As a board leader and advisor across arts, human rights, and cultural institutions, Steve fosters spaces where creativity, equity, and dialogue intersect, always with the aim of nurturing a more connected, empathetic, and empowered society.
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Peace Programs Manager, Rotary International
One of Fergal’s key responsibilities is to oversee the creation and continued implementation of an overarching strategic plan for the many peacebuilding programs and activities that Rotary offers. Prior to his role at Rotary, Fergal worked at the Rand Corporation in California, the Irish Prime Minister’s Office in Dublin, Ireland as well as the Irish Foreign Ministry. He also has a background in media, having produced a number of radio documentaries focusing on peacebuilding and development projects in Brazil, Malawi, South Sudan, India, Pakistan, and Northern Ireland. He holds a BA in World Religions & Theology and an MPhil in International Peace Studies from Trinity College Dublin, an MA in Comparative Ethnic Conflict Studies from Queens University Belfast, and an MSt in International Relations from the University of Cambridge.
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Fellow, People Matter, a South Side grassroots organization working to improve race relations among Asian, Black and Latinx communities through political empowerment.
Wendy is also a writer and production coordinator passionate about elevating the voices of those most impacted by crisis to tell their own stories. A native of Chicago, she writes about international migration, diaspora politics and US foreign policy. Wendy has a political science background in the social integration and political participation of migrants. She has applied experience in managing humanitarian evaluation projects that serve refugee populations in North and Sub-Saharan Africa, and designing digital training programs for displaced artists in the Middle East to expand their network beyond the borders that restrict them.
Strategic Advisory Committee
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Sonya is Executive Vice President of United Way Worldwide’s International Network, overseeing the growth and sustainability of United Way’s strategy to strengthen its global reach and impact.
Previously, she was founder and president of Embark Strategies, a consulting firm that provides thought partnership and technical support to social innovation investors and the philanthropic sector to improve education quality, health equity, and community development. Sonya has led in the nonprofit sector for more than two decades, working to advance education, employment, and life opportunities for youth in the United States and around the world.
Her past leadership experience includes serving as the inaugural Executive Director for Together Rising, President of Thrive-Chicago, and Education Program Director for the Oprah Winfrey Foundation.Sonya holds an undergraduate degree in economics and political science from Yale University, a master’s degree in international affairs from the University of Ghana, and a doctorate in education policy and planning from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
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Brandee M. Butler, a lawyer, strategist, and philanthropic leader, has more than two decades of experience in philanthropy, human rights, and organizational leadership. She has helped donors, civil society organisations, businesses, and governments navigate complexity, steward change, and build more equitable, resilient, and inclusive systems.
Brandee previously served as CEO of the Institute for Human Rights and Business, as Deputy and Interim CEO at the Fund for Global Human Rights, and as Director of the Civil Liberties Division at the Open Society Initiative for Europe. She has also held leadership and grantmaking roles at the C&A (now Laudes) Foundation, the Levi Strauss Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Brandee also serves on several international boards and advisory bodies, including the Advisory Council of Global Witness, the Steering Committee of Turning Tides Facility, and as a Senior Advisor to Ariadne, a European network of human rights and social justice funders.
She holds a JD from Yale Law School and a BA with honors from Harvard University and is based in Barcelona.
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Dana Rice is a purpose-driven leader, attorney, corporate board member, and strategic advisor who served as Vice President, Philanthropy at Lever for Change, a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation from 2018 through 2024, when she retired.
Dana’s deep experience as a corporate and nonprofit leader and board member, and her legal background helped Lever for Change create and implement its strategy, successfully exit its pilot period, navigate Covid as a start-up, grow its staff from 5 to 25 and facilitate over $2.5B in donor grants between 2019 and 2024.
Before joining Lever for Change, Dana was Managing Director for Opportunity International, where she defined strategy and led development and communications teams at the global nonprofit providing $1B a year in microfinance and training to women living in poverty in 15 developing countries.
With a background in both business and law, Dana has long had a global focus. She has worked in 28 countries on 5 continents, in public companies, start-ups, and nonprofits. She spent 20 years practicing law, leading mergers and acquisitions for the global telecommunications company Pacific Telesis Group (PacTel). Skilled in strategic problem solving, creating vision, clarifying and communicating complex issues, and orchestrating relationships to achieve uncommon results, Dana is valued for her conceptual and analytical thinking, business acumen, global fluency, and keen ability to connect people and create partnerships, value and a competitive advantage.
She served on the board of software company Ministry Brands and has had leadership roles on many large, nonprofit boards including The Joffrey Ballet, The Art Institute of Chicago, Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago and Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Dana was also a founding member of Human Rights Watch’s Chicago Committee. Currently, she sits on the Advisory Council of World Food Program USA and Climate Resilience for All, and is a special advisor to Reverence Capital Partners.Dana earned her JD from Harvard Law School and BA in sociology from Wellesley College. She grew up on St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands and now lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Programming Committee
Iván Arenas
Sherwin Bryan
Gabrielle Collins
Fergal McCarthy
Sherizaan Minwalla
Lida Noory
Jennifer Olmsted
Amanda Rivkin
Wendy Wei
Christopher Wurst
our artists
Art Works Projects has collaborated with hundreds of artists to advance social justice through visual storytelling, grassroots activism, and advocacy.
our partners
Art Works Projects has collaborated with scores of generous partners around the globe:
we are proud members of:
