An incredible organization run by amazing people doing life-changing work. 

We empower refugees by helping them reclaim access to education, develop modern media skills, and pursue professional employment.

At ReFOCUS Media Labs, our mission is to empower asylum seekers and refugees by equipping them with modern media skills to overcome the challenges they face, such as limited access to education, language barriers, financial constraints, mental health support, skills training and job placement. 

US-BASED DONATIONS ARE 100% TAX DEDUCTIBLE

Through our three Media Labs (Lesvos, Athens, Krakow) workshops and original content productions on location (Amsterdam, Berlin, Athens, Krakow) we provide comprehensive education in photography, filmmaking, audio engineering, and graphic design. Moreover, we actively collaborate with our students in the production of impactful dramatic films and documentaries.

Established in 2017 in Lesvos, Greece as a pilot project when we supported the residents of the infamous Moria refugee camp. in 2019 we officially registered ReFOCUS Media Labs as a foundation in Poland, and started formalizing our work. In 2022 we expanded our efforts by adding new media labs in Athens (GR) and Krakow (PL).  Athens was established to support refugees who struggled to secure access to education and job placement in the Greek system, and Krakow was created to support the massive influx of Ukrainian refugees who fled to Poland after the full-scale Russian invasion. Our work throughout our global network of media creation labs demonstrates our commitment to empowering our community members, and ensuring they have a seat at the table in determining our present and future direction. 

Our mission is to transform lives through education, career training, and psychosocial support, and ultimately sustainable employment. 

In Greece, we primarily work with minors and young adults, who are either stuck in the asylum system or struggling to integrate after receiving minimal asylum protection.  In Poland, our focus groups are women and young adults who fled the war, and now put down roots in Poland.  A key highlight of our training is the creation of professional portfolios, an essential tool that enables our beneficiaries to effectively showcase themselves to potential employers. This part of our program is particularly important as many refugees arriving in Europe have faced educational disparities due to conflict, poverty or discrimination in their home countries. Even those who have a university degree often struggle to be recognized in Europe as education systems in their home countries often fail to meet EU standards. As a result, many higher education graduates are forced to adapt and accept employment well below their skill and education level. In most cases this leads to exploitation on the European labor market.

Our programming aims to break the cycle of disadvantage that refugees and asylum seekers encounter in the labor market. By providing a platform for our students to showcase their original work, share their stories, and employ them as teachers, lab coordinators and co-creators we empower them to become skilled professionals within the global media industry. But our work goes beyond the technical training by providing foundational support and safe spaces for people with refugee backgrounds to be accepted and flourish. Put simply, we treat the whole human being. 

Since our establishment in 2017, we have successfully certified hundreds of media students, produced feature films and music videos; internationally published original photography and graphic design, and collaborated with mainstream media partners on investigative reportage.

We've been featured in National Geographic, collaborated on investigative reports with Forensic Architecture, Human Rights Watch, BBC Newsnight, Aljazeera, the Guardian, and BBC Panorama, and also produce our own original podcast "Fractured", which focuses upon refugee issues and human rights violations in Europe and around the world.

What sets ReFOCUS apart is our dedication to mentoring students beyond the traditional classroom setting. We actively collaborate with our students to create compelling films and documentaries based on their own scripts and concepts. Since 2019 ReFOCUS has produced several films directed, filmed and edited by our students and alumni including  “Even After Death”, “Nothing About Us Without Us”, “Dancing Bells”, “Dead End”, Interview" and "Erantzun", all of which were written and directed by community members. 

“Stitches” - our latest film is currently in post production and will premiere in March 2024 at Movies that Matter Film Festival. Our films and work has been internationally recognised and showcased at prestigious film festivals worldwide, including the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin (DE), Movies that Matter Film Festival (Hague, NL), CPH:DOX (Copenhagen, DK), Melbourne International Film Festival (AU), Rotterdam International Film Festival (NL), IDFA (Amsterdam, NL), New Delhi International Film Festival (India), the World International Film Festival (Amsterdam, NL), and the (in)Justice Film Festival (Chicago, US) and many more. 

In recent years we have expanded to reach larger audiences and provide even more community members with employment and pathways to develop their own careers as freelance media creators. We also take a local approach to ensure the settled communities we work with have foundational support. A great example of this local approach is our Art Under Pressure Arts Festival, which was inaugurated in Athens, Greece (May 2023). The festival provided a platform for artists from Athens, both from within our community and the greater cultural community, to showcase their music, art, performance, design, photography, films and critical reportage on issues the community faces. In 2024 the festival will travel throughout Europe and North America in an effort to activate new local communities of artist who can learn from one another and create together. 

At the heart of our organization is a fundamental belief that individuals can make a difference in the issues they see in the world. Our extensive experience in the field working on the front line of the "refugee crisis" in Europe proves that civil actions can have a massive impact in the lives of people at risk, especially when media and governments claim otherwise. These challenges are not intractable, rather they are opportunities for us to think creatively, and work collectively to ensure we build the societies we know are possible. 

And so we remain committed to helping people with real lives in crisis develop the real skills needed to pursue the real futures they envision. No matter how many times the fast news frames people in need as "takers" and "burdens", we are proving every day that it is possible to cultivate givers who enhance and power our society into the future. 

Fundacja ReFOCUS Media Labs

Join us in supporting nonprofits helping refugees.

Refugees

Discover nonprofits working to provide housing and end homelessness.

Join us in supporting nonprofits working to provide housing and end homelessness.

Housing & Homelessness

Discover nonprofits supporting the people of Afghanistan

Join us in supporting nonprofits working in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Discover nonprofits supporting poverty alleviation.

Join us in supporting nonprofits working to end poverty.

Poverty Alleviation

Justice

Education

Discover nonprofits supporting the people of Ukraine.

Join us in supporting the people of Ukraine.

Ukraine

Discover nonprofits supporting film and television.

Join us in supporting film and television nonprofits.

Film & Television

1048940678

We are a nonprofit, so instead of charging fees we rely on the generosity of donors like you.

Choose a donation for Every.org

1258415673

1435915265

1737023302

2074652487

240751341

2516130445

2547000601

2624895975

2883383521

339774024

3605944885

3755280456

3794356679

3868271524

3884515653

410756082

496574456

579816602

761293274

772217036

2729980760

3440869557

671754822

1014384873

1112422858

153399038

2028390811

220342792

2266630408

2456389719

2519810400

2539558839

2826465835

2843798242

2898624300

2916352438

3259439560

3583328878

3642494300

3902459442

4054861980

4136002033

4177183036

4250940449

585491400

641510716

91682487

At ReFOCUS Media Labs, our mission is to empower asylum seekers and refugees by equipping them with modern media skills to overcome the challenges they face, such as limited access to education, language barriers, financial constraints, mental health support, skills training and job placement.

**US-BASED DONATIONS ARE 100% TAX DEDUCTIBLE**

Through our Media Labs- Lesvos, Athens, Krakow (Berlin coming soon!), workshops and original content productions on location we provide comprehensive education in photography, filmmaking, audio engineering, and graphic design. Moreover, we actively collaborate with our students in the production of impactful dramatic films and critical documentaries.

Every Giving Season we launch a capital campaign to raise enough funds to sustain and expand our programming and network. Donations and pledges of support go directly to employ former students and members of our community as lab coordinators, teaching artists and media creators.  Your support also ensures that our current labs continue to serve as critical hubs for artists and creators with refugee backgrounds to collaborate on original media productions, produce critical advocacy about the challenges they face, and fine-tune their professional skills to seek meaningful employment.

As was the case in 2022 and 2023 when we established new media labs in Athens and Krakow, our focus for 2024 will be to realize our long-standing dream of creating a new lab in Berlin for all our alumni and hundreds of other artists who desperately want to work on new films, music videos, podcasts, commercial media and and personal projects.

Our media labs provide critical support for community members who normally struggle to integrate into their new host countries and find their way into competitive industries. Through working on our own professional media projects including feature films and our original podcast "Fractured", community members gain valuable real-world experience working on collaborative teams, develop their own professional portfolios, and earn living wages to ensure financial security in the process.

As you can imagine, industry-standard media creation tools are not cheap, and neither is maintaining creative spaces or employing our community members as teachers, lab coordinators and co-creators.

100% of all donations go directly to finance these monthly and annual expenses. And donating to our ReFOCUS **Media Labs US Fund in the US is tax-deductible** thanks to our wonderful fiscal partner Myriad USA.

If you're interested in making a donation greater than $1,000 we encourage you to do so in the following ways to ensure your entire donation can go directly to the communities we build and serve without being lost to transaction costs.

TO MAKE A GIFT BY CHECK:  
(Make your check out to:)

Myriad USA
(write REFOCUS MEDIA LABS US FUND in memo)

MAIL YOUR CHECK TO:
Myriad USA
551 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2400
New York, NY 10176

TO MAKE A GIFT BY WIRE TRANSFER: 
(or to contribute with other types of property)

CONTACT Myriad USA (for ReFOCUS Media Labs US Fund)
Brenda Orellana
(212) 713-7660
brenda@myriadusa.org 

.css-9izj2q{display:inline-block;--textSize:1.5rem;--lineHeight:1.7999999999999998rem;line-height:var(--lineHeight);font-size:var(--textSize);width:100%;}Fundacja ReFOCUS Media Labs

Fundacja ReFOCUS Media Labs