We are the bridge builders. We are Mindbridge.

Our team brings together experienced educators, researchers, and facilitators with a shared commitment to hope, equity, social justice, and human rights. Grounded in applied psychology and neurobiology, we work to understand the values, beliefs, and behaviors that shape how people think, connect, and act. Together, we conduct research, design original interventions, and facilitate educational programming that helps bridge the divides that separate us.

Leadership

  • Laura Ligouri, PhD (she/her/ella)

    FOUNDER + CHIEF EXTERNAL STRATEGY OFFICER

    Laura Ligouri is a psychologist, researcher, and founder working to establish the emerging field of Human Rights Psychology - the application of psychological science to understanding and advancing human dignity, democratic resilience, and social change. Her work examines how trauma, identity, belonging, power, and collective behavior shape societies, and how evidence from psychology and neuroscience can help design more effective responses to today's most pressing human rights challenges.

    As Founder and Chief External Strategy Officer of Mindbridge, Laura partners with governments, nonprofits, researchers, and advocacy organizations to translate psychological science into practical strategies for preventing extremism, strengthening democratic participation, supporting trauma recovery, and building resilient communities. Her work bridges research and practice, helping leaders understand not only what people believe, but why they believe it - and how meaningful change becomes possible.

    Her current scholarship focuses on democratic resilience, authoritarianism, political polarization, belonging, racial trauma, moral injury, and the psychology of collective action. Through research, writing, teaching, and public engagement, she is working to define Human Rights Psychology as a field that places the science of human behavior at the center of efforts to advance justice, strengthen democratic institutions, and expand human flourishing.

    "Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing”
    - Arundhati Roy

  • Asia Eaton, PhD (she/her)

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

    Dr. Asia Eaton is a feminist social psychologist and Executive Director of Mindbridge. Her research explores how gender intersects with identities such as race, sexual orientation, and class to affect individuals’ access to and experience with power. For example, she has published work on intersectional discrimination in academia and the workplace, as well as power dynamics in diverse intimate relationships. Recognized as a Fellow within the American Psychological Association (Divisions 1, 9, and 35), her contributions have earned her several national honors. These recently include the Georgia Babladelis Best PWQ Paper Award (2026), APA Div. 1’s Citizen Psychologist Award (2025), and an International Visiting Fellowship at the Centre for Protecting Women Online (2025). Dr. Eaton's scholarship has garnered support from the National Science Foundation, Meta, and the Australian Research Council and earned features in venues such as the New York Times, Forbes, and BBC News.

    “A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty”
    - Albert Einstein

  • Tyler McGinley (she/her)

    DIRECTOR OF INTERNAL STRATEGY + PROGRAMS

    Tyler McGinley is a creative strategist, facilitator, and civic organizer with academic roots in communications and women's studies. Her professional life has spanned creative entrepreneurship, nonprofit leadership, and civic and systems change, but the through-line has always been connection: designing experiential gatherings that help teams reconnect through creativity, creating space for deep listening in communities navigating crisis, guiding civic committees through equity-focused policy work, building community through art and place, and helping nonprofits grow their programs and impact.

    Her strength is pulling the separate threads between people, institutions, and ways of knowing, and weaving them into something stronger than any one alone. By recognizing what each person or organization uniquely brings, she creates the conditions for those strengths to compound and relationships to thrive.

    At Mindbridge, that experience comes together around a shared commitment to helping the helpers, supporting human rights defenders at a human level, and deepening our understanding of how trust is built, belonging is felt, and communities move toward collective action. Tyler brings curiosity, creativity, and a deep belief that shared humanity is not just an outcome of this work, but one of the ways we get there.

    A Mainer at heart, she finds medicine in the Atlantic whenever possible.

    “This is a time to stay with the trouble of knowing that there is no becoming that is not a becoming-together”
    - Bayo Akomolafe

Staff

  • Victoria, Ph.D

    Research Scientist

    Victoria is a personality and social psychologist and works as a Research Scientist at Mindbridge. Her research background draws on theories from personality psychology, interpersonal relationship science, and human intelligence to understand how people reason about others and use this understanding to facilitate smoother interpersonal relationship dynamics. Victoria is excited to utilize her psychology background to address social justice issues – that is, to understand the “human” in human rights issues and how this knowledge can help address critical problems faced by those from marginalized communities. In her free time, Victoria enjoys cooking, gardening, and, depending on the season, hiking or skiing.   

    ”Our behavior is purposeful; we live in a psychological reality or living space that includes not only those parts of our physical and social environment that are important to us but also imagined states that do not currently exist”
    - Kurt Lewin

  • Emily W.

    Communications Manager

    Emily (she/her) grew up in New England, where an early curiosity about human behavior turned into a love of psychology, storytelling, and understanding the dynamics that shape interpersonal relationships. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of New England and recently earned a Master’s degree from George Mason University’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution in 2026. Formerly part of Mindbridge’s research team, Emily’s research interests center on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). At the heart of her current role, Emily is driven by meaningful connection and the power of hope-based messaging to create a more just and compassionate world. When she’s not working, Emily is an avid traveler who enjoys photography, painting, and reading.

    “Activism is a form of dreaming; we are on the frontlines fighting for a world that does not exist yet” 
    - Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)

  • Christina D.

    Program Assistant, Healing Racial Trauma Initiative 

    Christina is a current MBS student at the University of New England and an aspiring health professional.  Her family is originally from South Sudan, but immigrated here when she was younger. Grounded in her work with community engagement and youth advocacy since high school, her roots in Portland drive her to provide relief and remedies toward healing generations of trauma that have affected her community. She is passionate about community, healing, and serving as a bridge for connecting BIPOC communities with resources and information toward emotional healing. 

    “Beloved community is not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation, by each of us claiming the identities and cultural legacies that shape who we are and how we live in the world”
    - Bell Hooks

  • Briana, Ph.D

    Research Scientist

    Briana is a human rights activist and neuroscientist. Her academic training has focused on understanding the influence of environment, age, and substance misuse on the brain and behavior. Her experiences have also been in communicating data and understanding the ways in science can better serve the public. Outside of her career, Briana remains committed to active volunteering and social justice efforts. She is a steadfast believer in championing equality in and outside of the U.S., and can usually be found in her reading nook or curled up with a good video game.

     "... [No] one is too small to make a difference"

  • Kali C.

    Administrative Specialist 

    Kali is the Administrative Specialist for Mindbridge, where she supports human rights advocates with a passion for language, culture, and storytelling. A former language educator of 15+ years, she earned an M.A. in French from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Kali is grateful to bring her skills to a team dedicated to advancing human rights.

    “To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work”
    - Mary Oliver

  • Lalee A.

    Circle Facilitator, Healing Racial Trauma Initiative 

    Abdi "Lalee" Awad is an advocate and facilitator working at the intersections of restorative justice, education, and mindfulness. He has supported culturally responsive restorative practices, healing discussions, and policy development. He is currently a PhD student in Leadership at the University of Southern Maine, where he is also a co-facilitator and mentor for the dee Clarke Justice Fellowship program (dCJF) as part of the placematters team housed under the Catherine Cutler Institute. Drawing on his lived experience as an immigrant from Somalia and someone directly impacted by the legal system, Lalee centers intersectionality, healing, and systems change in his work.

    Lalee, who is currently incarcerated, uses his experiences as an immigrant from Somalia to drive change and empower marginalized communities. He is a Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Volunteer and has completed a 500-hour yoga teacher training program. Passionate about mentoring youth through restorative practices, he enjoys reading, writing poetry, and watching documentaries, always seeking to learn and connect with the world.

    "I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers”
    -Khalil Gibran

  • Andrea M.

    Manager of Programs + Development

    Andrea believes that justice and humanity belong to every living being, and she is passionate about building systems that support both the environment and the people in it. At Mindbridge, Andrea works in a variety of roles, each focused on translating complex ideas into accessible, engaging experiences. Her background in secondary science education and restorative justice grounds her work in curiosity, care, and a commitment to inclusive learning. Outside of work, Andrea can be found playing in the mountains, swimming in a lake near her home in western Maine, or baking endless batches of muffins.

    “When you take a stand, you find your place in the universe, and you have the capacity to move the world”
    - Lynne Twist

  • Christine, Ph.D

    Research Scientist + Grants Specialist

    Christine is a social and community psychologist and a Research Scientist + Grants Specialist with Mindbridge. Her research focuses on how identity, systems, and social context shape human behavior, with a particular focus on drivers of radicalization to violent extremism. She is passionate about applied research, mixed-methods, bringing critical epistemology to quantitative methods, and community partnership for creating enduring social change. Outside of work, Christine is an avid runner and traveler. She is a proud volunteer advocate for youth in foster care.