iACT
To resource and partner with people affected by war and conflict, to amplify their voices and create opportunities for them to thrive.
In 2013, iACT trained fourteen refugee women in Goz Amer camp in eastern Chad to become preschool teachers. None of them had taught before. They became the first education directors of Little Ripples, a play-based program built around what children who have survived war actually need, which is safety, routine, and the chance to be small and curious again. More than 1,800 children now enroll each year, and refugee women still run it.
Financials
Programs
Little Ripples
Little Ripples is a community-led preschool program for children ages 3 to 5 in refugee and conflict-affected communities. Learning happens in Ponds, small classrooms set up wherever space allows, including homes, shelters, schools, and community centers. Refugee women are trained to become the teachers, with no prior experience required, creating meaningful leadership and livelihood opportunities inside their own communities. The play-based, trauma-informed curriculum builds communication, self-regulation, and problem-solving skills alongside foundational literacy and numeracy, and children receive nutritious meals every day. The model is deliberately low-cost and requires no expensive technology, so it adapts to almost any setting. More than 1,800 children are enrolled each year.
Refugees United Soccer Academy (RUSA)
Refugees United Soccer Academy gives children affected by war and conflict a safe, joyful place to play. Girls and boys ages 6 to 13 take part five days a week in our Kicks & Hope curriculum, which pairs soccer skills with life skills like teamwork, leadership, discipline, and communication. Every academy is led by four coaches from the community itself, two women and two men, trained in trauma-informed, strength-based coaching. Refugee and host-community children play side by side, building friendships across lines that usually divide them. The program focuses on three outcomes: protection and wellbeing, youth development, and peace and social cohesion. More than 5,000 children take part each year.
AMPLIFi
AMPLIFi resources people in conflict-affected communities to tell their own stories. Rather than relying on outside journalists, iACT trains community members as storytellers and equips them with what they need, including phones, tripods, and microphones, along with a curriculum in media production and storytelling. Participants document what matters to them, from recent displacement and life after two decades in a camp, to the push to get more girls playing soccer. The result is firsthand reporting from places the world rarely hears from directly, told by the people living there. AMPLIFi has been supported by the International Documentary Association and Rotary International.
Volunteering + Events
impACT26
Join us Saturday, November 7 for impACT26, iACT's annual fundraising celebration at the Neptunian Woman's Club in Manhattan Beach. Around 200 guests from across the South Bay and LA County will gather for local food, drinks from neighborhood breweries and distilleries, a live auction and raffle, and stories from the refugee-led teams behind our work. Funds raised support Little Ripples preschools and the Refugees United Soccer Academy, which together reach thousands of children affected by war and conflict each year. Doors open at 6:00 PM. Tickets, sponsorship levels, and in-kind donation options are all at the link.
Other Upcoming Events
Once a quarter, iACT hosts a virtual gathering open to anyone who wants to join. Expect guest speakers, panel discussions, updates straight from program staff working abroad, and the latest news from across the organization.