Our Mission

Mindbridge is the nation’s leading non-profit using brain and behavioral science to empower human rights defenders.

As a diverse group of activists, scientists, clinicians, storytellers, and humans, we conduct programming, support partnerships, and direct research at the intersection of psychological science and human rights. Through these efforts, Mindbridge is growing a science-driven community that gives human rights defenders access to the hearts and minds of those they serve.

To change hearts and minds, you first must learn to access them, and that’s what we do.

What We Do

  • Research + Evaluation Department

    The Research and Evaluation Department conducts and reviews cutting-edge psychology and neuroscience to address some of the most urgent human rights challenges of our time. From the erosion of democracy and the rise of political extremism, to the lived impact of racial trauma and gendered violence, our work seeks to understand the cognitive, emotional, and motivational forces that shape human behavior — and how they can be harnessed for collective good. For information on our current internal initiative, please visit the Countering Extremism Directive (CED).

  • Mindbridge Institute

    At the Mindbridge Institute, we apply brain and behavioral science to support individuals and institutions working at the intersection of social change, equity, policy, and practice. Throughopen-access courses, tailored partnerships and advisory support, and human-centered workshops, we translate research from psychology and neuroscience into applied learning experiences that build capacity for reflection, collaboration, and systems-level change.

  • Mental Health + Resiliency Department

    The Mental Health and Resiliency Department works to confront one of the most overlooked threats to human rights work: the psychological toll it takes on those who lead it. Drawing on research in trauma, moral injury, and resilience, we develop interventions that support not only the mental health of individual defenders but also the long-term sustainability of their work. Our trauma-informed, evidence-based programming is tailored to the lived realities of frontline advocates. For information on our current internal initiative, please visit our Healing Racial Trauma (HRTI) page.

Why are brain and behavioral science so important to human rights?

Much of human functioning operates beneath conscious awareness. While this includes physiological functions like breathing, it also encompasses mental processes-such as assumptions, emotions, and habits-that shape how we perceive and treat people.

By understanding how the mind works, we can design interventions that interrupt harm, build resilience, and advance justice.

“What human rights work often misses is placing the human at the center of the frame. It is through psychology and neuroscience that we can truly come to understand the extraordinary complexity and honor the dignity of humans we seek to engage.”

— Laura Ligouri, Founder, Mindbridge