To what extent can art provide healing? Today’s guest is nonprofit leader Leva Zand, who has dedicated her career to answering this question. 

Leva has been committed to refugees, human rights,  social justice activism and advocacy. She is the founder and executive director of ARTogether, which provides welcoming, creative spaces and workshops for local refugees and immigrants in the Bay Area. ARTogether recently inaugurated their new space in downtown Oakland.

Leva’s mission is grounded in her own personal experience arriving as a refugee from Iran. She and I sat down to talk about her journey, as well as her reflections on the protests in Iran in the wake of Mahsa Amini’s murder. She even shares some of her favorite poetry with us, so stay tuned for that.

You can learn more about ARTogether at https://www.artogether.org

About Leva Zand
For over 15 years, Leva Zand has dedicated her career to refugees, human rights, the arts, and social justice activism and advocacy. Relocating to the US in 2004 as an Iranian refugee, Leva earned a BA in Sociology from CSU Sacramento and a MA in Feminist and Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara. Since then, Leva has directed a publication for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, led a gender-awareness program for the Eurasia Foundation, wrote and produced the radio podcast “Narratives of Women,” and directed a women empowerment training program for Nonviolence Initiative for Democracy. Leva Zand is the founder and Executive Director of ARTogether, serves on the Board of Oakland Art Murmur, and serves on the steering committees for the East Bay Refugee and Immigrant Forum and the coalition Oakland AAPI Unite.