About Us
SpeakOut — The Institute for Democratic Education and Culture is a non-profit, mission-driven speakers agency and education institute.
SpeakOut's mission is to encourage critical and imaginative thinking to address the major inequities of our day and transform a fractured world.
Our network of speakers, artists, and strategic partners provide experiential learning opportunities and programming through lectures, workshops, professional development and trainings, film screenings, performances and curriculum development. Since our founding in 1990, we have worked with thousands of colleges, universities, K-12 schools and districts, community organizations, government and private sector providing 15,000 programs which advance the humanities and promote critical analysis, creativity, and innovative strategies for 21st-century problem-solving. We have reached over 3 million people nationwide through our network of 35k contacts.
Our History
SpeakOut (501c3) was founded in 1990 with the goal of showcasing progressive authors and speakers, such as Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Elizabeth Martinez, and Winona LaDuke. Over the years, our roster has grown to include dozens of speakers, scholars, performing and visual artists, exhibits, and films, all working to educate, inspire, and empower young people and others to become actively engaged in society and to work for social justice. Our roster of speakers and artists includes some of the most prominent and influential figures in their fields.
The organization was founded by Jean Caiani, who brought with her experience in organizing speaking tours for former CIA agent and whistleblower Philip Agee, as well as her years of service with the United Farm Workers Union, where she coordinated tours for Cesar Chavez. SpeakOut quickly became a go-to resource for those seeking progressive speakers and artists to engage with on campuses and beyond. In the years since its founding, SpeakOut has grown its roster to include dozens of speakers, scholars, performing and visual artists, exhibits, and films, all dedicated to educating, inspiring, and empowering young people and others to become actively engaged in society and to work towards social justice. Among its speakers and artists are some of the most prominent and influential figures in their fields, ensuring that SpeakOut is always at the forefront of progressive discourse.
In addition to organizing hundreds of lectures and performances each year, SpeakOut has also expanded its programming and impact through the Education Institution, which offers virtual events, e-courses, the annual Summer Institute, films and film programs, and an online store and resources. By leveraging innovative programming and our incredible network, SpeakOut is able to bring its mission of promoting social justice and progressive change to an ever-widening audience.
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Our Fiscally-Sponsored Projects
All My Relations Podcast
All My Relations is a podcast hosted by Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation) and Matika Wilbur (Swinomish and Tulalip) to explore what it means to be a Native person in contemporary America. To be an Indigenous person is to be engaged in relationships — relationships to land and place, to a people, to non-human relatives, and to one another. All My Relations is a place to explore those relationships, and to think through Indigeneity in all its complexities. Each episode invites guests to delve into a different topic facing Native peoples today as we keep it real, play games, laugh a lot, and even cry sometimes.
EID MUBARAK
Eid Mubarak is a short film about a privileged Pakistani little girl who tries to save her beloved pet goat from being sacrificed on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Azha. The film is written and directed by Mahnoor Euceph, a graduate of UCLA Design Media Arts and USC Film & TV Production, and is in consideration for the 95th Academy Awards. It is currently showing in festivals all over the world including SXSW Sydney, Hawaii International Film Festival, Cinekid, Tasveer South Asian Film Festival, The Mosquers, Muslim International Film Festival, Aesthetica, and many more.
Project 562
Created by Matika Wilbur (Swinomish and Tulalip), Project 562 is a multi-year national photography project dedicated to photographing over 562 federally recognized tribes in The United States resulting in an unprecedented repository of imagery and oral histories that accurately portrays contemporary Native Americans. This creative, consciousness-shifting work will be widely distributed through national curricula, artistic publications, exhibitions, online portals, and in the forthcoming book, Project 562: Changing The Way We See Native America.
Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) -- Bay Area Chapter
SURJ is a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial justice. There are over 175 chapters and affiliates nationwide including the Bay Area Chapter. Through community organizing, mobilizing and education, SURJ moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice with passion and accountability. SURJ works to connect people across the country while supporting and collaborating with local and national racial justice organizing efforts. SURJ provides a space to build relationships, skills and political analysis to act for change. SURJ envisions a society where we struggle together with love, for justice, human dignity and a sustainable world. SURJ Bay Area Chapter sponsors workshop and events. You can make a donation and support SURJ's work HERE.
Speak Out with Tim Wise Podcast
Speak Out with Tim Wise is an informative and entertaining podcast aimed at promoting multiracial democracy and justice in dangerous times. The show, which ran 2017-2020, featured the biting, factual, and humorous commentary of its host, Tim Wise, alongside dialogue with some of the nation’s leading scholars, artists and activists, as well as grassroots community leaders whose voices are often ignored in the dominant media. Past episodes are available wherever you get your podcasts. Supporters via Patreon still receive exclusive articles and commentaries by Tim.