”Experts by Experience” - insights into a Social Cooperative | 014

Why the Human Rights sector needs to rethink itself from the Ground up

In this Episode, Rebecka Ambjörnsson - @karuna.family - , Managing Director of the social cooperative Karuna in Berlin, gives us insights into why traditional human rights organisations often reproduce the very inequalities they aim to fix.

Drawing from her own disillusionment with top-down aid structures, Rebecka shared how Karuna flips the script by working directly with people who have lived experience of marginalisation.

We talked about how social innovation can flourish when you put a local politician, a street-experienced teen, and an academic in the same room. We also touched on tokenism, the problem of unpaid activism, and how Karuna experiments with formats to make participation possible for those struggling just to get by.

💡 HIGHLIGHTS of this Episode
✨ The origin story of Karuna as a cooperative founded by formerly marginalised youth
✨ How Karuna acts as a living lab for bottom-up social innovation
✨ Examples of cross-stakeholder projects that unite academics, entrepreneurs, and youth with street experience
✨ The ethics and practicalities of paying marginalised experts fairly for their contributions
✨ Why classic human rights models often perpetuate colonial power dynamics

👋 ABOUT Rebecka (she/her)
Rebecka holds a Master’s degree in Human Rights and Democratisation and has worked across multiple continents with a range of human rights organisations and projects. Her focus lies in youth and civil society inclusion, with a passion for communication, participation, and meaningful exchange that challenges boundaries.
Rebecka specialises in human rights, with a particular emphasis on inclusive participation, youth engagement, and strengthening civil society. She brings a hands-on perspective to her work, combining strategic communication with deep commitment to democratic values and social justice.

🔗 CONNECT & follow Rebecka's work
👉 Karuna Family
👉 LinkedIn
👉 Instagram

📚 RESOURCES to dive deeper
➡ UN Regeneration Collective


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P.S. You can also watch this Episode on our YouTube Channel to see our faces 👋☺

#socialjustice #humanrights #humandignity #inclusion #civilsociety #grassroots #socialinnovation #socialentrepreneurship #socialenterprise #decoloniseaid #youthvoice #cooperativepower #equityinpractice #activism