The Alice Academy for Activists

About the inaugural Alice Academy for Activists

In January 2024, we brought together 21 activists from across the island of Ireland, selected through a competitive applications process. Each of the activists were at the early stages of their progressive activism and were working on a range of issues such as domestic violence, racism, climate justice and addiction. You can read all about our first cohort of activists here.

Passionate about achieving positive social change and making Ireland – and the world – a better place, across one weekend, our activists had the opportunity to learn about:

• Campaign polling and research;
• Political engagement;
• Media relations and social media;
• Fundraising; and
• Building coalitions to widen the impact of their work

We had guest inputs from some of Ireland’s best-known activists including Ailbhe Smyth, who led Ireland’s campaign to repeal the Eighth Amendment; human rights lawyer and social justice campaigner Noeline Blackwell; migrant rights activist Teresa Buczkowska; Senator Lynn Ruane, and journalist and Work Correspondent with The Irish Times, Emmet Malone.

Against the backdrop of the negative forces in the world today seeking to sow hate in communities across Ireland and further afield, it’s important that we have a vibrant activist community – and that progressive campaigners have access to the skills and information they need to run effective campaigns – to combat this tide of hate and negativity.

We hope to run again in the future. We’ll share details of the next Alice Academy for Activists in due course so make sure to follow us on socials for updates.