The Aja Project

Overview The AjA Project is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in San Diego, California, that utilizes photography-based educational programs to transform the lives of displaced youth. Utilizing participatory photography methods and an assets-based model, AjA’s after-school programs encourage youth to reflect upon and think critically about their identities, increase their social capacities and gain leadership skills. Since its founding, AjA has provided long-term, community-based programming for over 1000 displaced youth, and has shared their visual narratives with over 1 million viewers through large-scale public exhibits, including the National Geographic Society’s Explorers Hall (2003), United Nations Headquarter (2004), and the San Diego Museum of Arts (2006). In 2007, AjA was invited to speak at Visible Rights: Photography for and by Youth, a conference hosted by Harvard University. In 2008, AjA received the prestigious Coming Up Taller award for excellence in youth programming, an award presided over by the President of the United States’ Committee for the Arts and Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts and The National Endowment for the Humanities.