Our Focus
Where testimony meets accountability
The Institute for Civil Memory operates across multiple domains where testimony, accountability, and systemic reform intersect. Our work is organized around key areas where institutional harm has been most pervasive and where civil memory can serve as a catalyst for change.
Core Focus Areas
Civil Memory Initiative
Our flagship program centers on documenting testimony and protecting rights through advocacy, archives, and accountability mechanisms. The Civil Memory Initiative provides:
Documentation Frameworks
Ethical protocols for preserving lived testimony in ways that honor survivors’ agency and dignity
Advocacy Tools
Resources for individuals and communities seeking to challenge institutional harm
Accountability Systems
Transparent processes that connect documented testimony to concrete reform efforts
Archive Development
Secure, accessible repositories for testimony that prevent erasure and support long-term advocacy
This initiative serves as the foundation for all ICM work, establishing the infrastructure necessary to transform personal narrative into systemic accountability.
Disability Rights & Educational Justice
ICM emerged from lived experience with educational neglect and disability rights violations. This remains a central focus of our work, addressing:
- Educational rights violations and systemic neglect in K-12 and higher education settings
- Disability discrimination in academic, professional, and institutional contexts
- The intersection of disability, trauma, and institutional harm
- Advocacy for students and families navigating special education systems
- Documentation of educational harm for accountability purposes
We recognize that educational institutions often fail their most vulnerable students, and that disability is frequently used to dismiss, rather than support, those who need accommodation.
Institutional Accountability
ICM develops frameworks and tools for holding institutions accountable when they cause harm. This includes:
- Creating transparent, trauma-informed accountability processes
- Building documentation systems that preserve evidence of institutional failures
- Developing metrics and standards for evaluating reform efforts
- Training advocates, researchers, and reformers in ethical documentation practices
- Connecting individual testimony to broader patterns of systemic harm
Trauma-Informed Research & Practice
All ICM work is grounded in trauma-informed principles that center survivor agency, safety, and dignity. We provide:
- Training and certification programs for advocates and researchers (coming soon)
- Ethical guidelines for working with testimony and vulnerable populations
- Resources for understanding the intersection of trauma, memory, and justice
- Frameworks for conducting research that honors lived experience
Cross-Cutting Themes
Memory as Evidence
We challenge the false dichotomy between “objective” documentation and personal testimony. Lived experience is evidence. Memory, when preserved ethically and contextualized appropriately, provides crucial information about systemic patterns that institutional records often obscure or omit.
Agency & Dignity
Survivors and those who have experienced institutional harm must have control over their own narratives. ICM’s tools and frameworks prioritize informed consent, safety, and the right to determine how one’s story is told and used.
Transparency & Reform
Accountability without transparency is performative. ICM works to build systems where testimony leads to measurable, documented change—and where institutions cannot hide behind vague promises of “doing better.”
Intersectionality
We recognize that harm occurs at the intersection of multiple identities and systems. Our work addresses how disability, class, race, gender, and other factors compound vulnerability to institutional harm and create barriers to accountability.
Why These Focus Areas Matter
The spaces where ICM works are united by a common reality: when institutions fail, those who are harmed are often blamed, dismissed, or erased. Records disappear. Testimony is questioned. Accountability is endlessly deferred.
Our focus areas represent domains where this pattern is most entrenched—and where civil memory can make the greatest difference. By documenting what happened, protecting those who come forward, and demanding transparent reform, we create pathways from harm to accountability.
Expanding Our Reach
While ICM’s work began in educational justice and disability rights, our frameworks and tools are applicable across any domain where institutional harm occurs and accountability is needed. We are committed to expanding our focus as communities identify where civil memory can serve their advocacy efforts.
If your area of concern is not explicitly listed here but aligns with our mission of preserving testimony, protecting rights, and advancing accountability, we encourage you to reach out.
Get Involved
Whether you are documenting your own experience, supporting others in their advocacy, or working for systemic reform, ICM offers resources and community to support your work.
Civil memory is not passive. It is a deliberate act of resistance against erasure.
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