The Resilience Program

About

Protecting the people who protect freedom.

Authoritarian regimes deliberately use fear, trauma, and exhaustion to silence dissent. Yet there has been little systematic effort to understand, let alone counter, the psychological toll of authoritarian repression. The Resilience Program, an initiative of the Human Rights Foundation, exists to change that.

The Resilience Program seeks to protect and strengthen the mental health, leadership capacity, and long-term effectiveness of frontline democracy defenders operating under authoritarian regimes. By bringing together science, practice, and community, we help those carrying the weight of the struggle for freedom to keep going, and to lead well.

Why It Matters

There is no published body of research focused exclusively on the mental health of human rights defenders working under authoritarian regimes. Existing studies look at human rights professionals more broadly, without distinguishing those who face systematic repression. The Resilience Program is building the first evidence base on the mental health of democracy defenders in these contexts and translating it into practical tools for nonviolent movements.

Why It Matters

Our Approach

The program combines three core elements:

Clinical research partnerships

that generate the first systematic data on the mental health of democracy defenders in authoritarian contexts

Applied training and retreats

that turn scientific insight into practical tools for activists under pressure

Peer networks and ongoing support

that treat resilience as a shared, collective practice

Program Components

The Resilience Retreat

Our flagship retreat takes place at Blue Spirit in Costa Rica, bringing frontline activists together for a week of trauma-informed rest, reflection, and peer connection. Programming draws on applied neuroscience, somatic practices, trauma recovery, and strategic resilience, guided by leading practitioners including Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman. What began as a pilot retreat in 2025 has grown into the foundation of a full program, with regional retreats planned as it expands.

We are proud to partner with Blue Spirit — a holistic retreat center in Costa Rica dedicated to personal transformation and wellness — to launch this program. With an emphasis on sustainability and community, Blue Spirit generously provides a serene setting for activists to rejuvenate, heal, and strategize during retreats, as well as its network of mentors.

Research with UCSF

In partnership with Dr. Elissa Epel of the University of California, San Francisco, the Resilience Program includes a research component that tracks baseline levels of trauma and burnout among activists in authoritarian regimes and the retreat’s impact on participants over time. Findings will inform the program’s evolution and contribute to a broader understanding of stress, trauma, and resilience among defenders of democracy.

Program Faculty

The Resilience Program has a world-class pro-bono faculty who advise and direct the program’s evolution, including the following mental health professionals:

Jack Kornfield is a clinical psychologist and one of the foremost Buddhist teachers in the West, a co-founder of Spirit Rock Meditation Center who has taught mindfulness and compassion practice for more than five decades.
Trudy Goodman is the founding teacher of InsightLA and a renowned meditation teacher known for bringing warmth and compassion-focused practice to contemporary mindfulness training.
Dr. Vanina Waizmann is a psychologist and educator with more than 20 years of clinical and research experience in trauma-informed therapies, meditation, breathwork, and EMDR, specializing in the mental health of nonviolent activists.
Gayle Karen Young is a leadership and culture consultant to mission-driven organizations worldwide, formerly chief learning and talent officer at the Wikimedia Foundation, and a leadership mentor in HRF’s Freedom Fellowship.
Annette Knopp is a meditation teacher, somatic educator, and co-founder of the Blue Spirit Retreat Center who has mentored activists and practitioners in resilience and trauma resolution for over two decades.
Dr. Elissa Epel is a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, a leading researcher on stress and resilience, and co-author of “The Telomere Effect.”

The Resilience Network

Resilience doesn’t end when the retreat does. The Resilience Network offers monthly peer-to-peer support sessions online — a secure and anonymous space where activists and alumni can connect, share, and support one another.

Microgrants for Mental Health Support

The program provides microgrants that expand access to therapy and mental health services for activists working in high-risk environments, where this kind of support is often out of reach.

How We Measure Impact

We use a mixed methods approach that pairs quantitative clinical measures with qualitative evidence. This includes validated psychological scales assessing burnout, stress, and trauma before and after participation, adoption of resilience practices, participant testimonies and case studies, and research outputs such as articles and practitioner guides.

Voices from the Retreat

This experience was exceptional. I thought it would be a motivating and restful experience but my expectations were surpassed. It made me recognize that tranquility, peace, and calm could not be found outside of me. It’s in me. But for that, I have to focus, I have to think, and give space to my emotions. And for that, I have to breathe, I have to be calm, I have to be tranquil, and I recognize my surroundings. It was also an experience because I reconnected with my country.

Edipcia Dubon

Nicaraguan pro-democracy activist and Freedom Fellow

The human being in the authoritarian regime is just a part of the huge machine. There is no humanity, no dignity of persons, and that is what they do in the prisons, they destroy the dignity of humans from the very beginning, it’s the main idea of theirs. And now I just want to spread this information to the whole nation just like, please, be focused on yourself, just like be centered, know that you are already that straight line, you have it in you, you have this source in you.

Volya Vysotskaia

Belarusian pro-democracy activist and Freedom Fellow

What we learned at the retreat was that understanding or acknowledging your vulnerabilities doesn’t weaken you. In fact, if it’s done from a position of determination, from a sense of purpose, it can actually grow your power and your leadership, and the power of your community.

Jamila Raqib

Executive Director of the Albert Einstein Institution

Blue Spirit was fantastic because as an activist, usually we don’t have so much time to think about our bodies. Usually we don’t have the ability to connect directly with our bodies and especially our bodies as a tool to communicate, to involve others, to motivate others in activism, and of course to fight for freedom against our opponent.

Yunier Suarez

Cuban pro-democracy activist and Freedom Fellow

The one thing I learned in this retreat is that I must take care of myself more, I must learn that I must keep myself healthy, that many times I must stop and center myself so I can better think things through and come out with more energy to the battle for freedom.

Jesus Aleman

Former political prisoner and Venezuelan pro-democracy activist

This retreat really helped me to reconnect with myself, my body, my soul, my spirituality, and also recognizing that we don’t always have to be in fight mode, so it was really helpful to gain perspective.

Zumretay Arkin

Uyghur human rights activist and Director of Global Advocacy at the World Uyghur Congress

Join Us

The Resilience Program is building lasting infrastructure for the well-being of democracy movements. If you’re an activist, practitioner, researcher, or partner interested in this work, we’d love to hear from you.