Julianna Gwiszcz
Capacity Building & Engagement Lead / Program Manager | Senior Global Futures / Sustainability Scientist—BRIDGES Sustainability Science Coalition, an UNESCO Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme, and its BRIDGES Global Flagship Hub based at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, Arizona State University
Living in Northeast USA
Julianna is a transdisciplinary, transboundary scholar-practivist, transformations catalyst and global intrapreneur/edupreneur passionate about building transformative capacity for addressing intersecting social and ecological justice and sustainable wellbeing concerns. As a bridge-builder and netweaver, she works at the intersections of academia, international sustainable development, human rights, global health and global environmental change. Her work emphasises the role of transformative experiential learning, leadership and capacity development as mechanisms for facilitating personal/group, organisational/institutional and systems/societal level transformation pathways.
Julianna approaches new partnerships and projects as learning IN action opportunities to catalyse collective transformative capacity for global ecological citizenship, especially prioritizing meaningful engagement of youth and marginalized communities in climate and sustainable development action. She grounds this work in intergenerational mentorship, co-creation, critical eco-justice pedagogy, cross-cultural and transdisciplinary collaboration, and humane and eco-centered design. Julianna is driven by a lifelong commitment to socioecological justice, healing and regeneration for people and planet.
Julianna earned her PhD in Anthropology (Sociocultural) with a focus on international sustainable development and wellbeing at Arizona State University’s (ASU) School of Human Evolution & Social Change. She earned her Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University where she focused on youth development and international social development. Prior to pursuing her PhD, Julianna bridged boundaries between scholarship, practice, and activism in higher education as Founding Director of an inter/transdisciplinary engaged learning program called The Explorer Connection at La Salle University. She carries forward this work in her current appointments evolving the new BRIDGES Coalition Global Flagship Hub, an UNESCO Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme, and ASU’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, both which seek to catalyze transformative sustainability science and action.
An avid photographer, traveler and lifelong learner, Julianna lives for exploring different cultures and environments worldwide, dreaming of becoming a National Geographic Explorer. She believes in the healing power of human-environment relationships and remains dedicated to restoring our interconnected life.
My why: I stand for justice, integrity, authenticity, compassion, healing and regeneration for people and planet.
My how: Through humbling, co-creative global engagement partnerships working on social and ecological justice and sustainable development/wellbeing around the world. To date this has included collaborations in Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Senegal, Guatemala, Brazil, Haiti, the United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, Norway, Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, India, and regions across USA.
Let us work together!
