Theo
Seeds of Peace Fellow, 2019
IMPACT: POLITICAL
Empowering youth to be voices for more socially just reform of drug policies.
Challenge
The war on drugs directly affects youth, yet their voice is not heard in policy discussions, and the education they receive is limited to the effect on personal levels, rather than societal.
Solution
Create a bilingual curriculum that fosters cross-border dialogue and learning amongst youth and educators from the US and Latin America that explores the systemic effects of drug use and drug policies
Theo was born in Canada but is currently based in Mexico City. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience and Comparative Literature from Columbia University and a master’s degree from Cambridge University in History and Philosophy of Science. At present, he splits his time between writing a novel, making impractical art, and directing Catalyst.
Catalyst brings together students and educators living on the frontlines of the War on Drugs in North, Central, and South America. The program addresses the past, present, and future of drug policy to engage a new generation of young people in transforming the drug-related conflicts that tear apart communities across the Western Hemisphere.
“Living in Mexico at a time of unprecedented bloodshed has made urgent the task of exploring how transnational education can be put into the service of transforming conflict—in this case, the War on Drugs.”