My Projects

As an NGFP Fellow, Alija facilitates interactive immersive storytelling and speculative design with frontline communities to reimagine systems for regenerative futures.

Practical Utopias led by Margaret Atwood explored the design of a climate resilient community from the year 2035.

A participatory planning toolkit using scenario building to explore how climate migration will shape the futures of civic engagement and belonging in the United States, supported by the NRDC and E2.

An action research project conducted in partnership with the Global Education Futures, School of International Futures, VZOR Lab, and Next Generation Foresight Practitioners to explore the futures of peace-based communities in the next 50 years.

Participatory research centering local residents that uplifted national best practices in resident-led community and economic development that the Charlottesville City Council adopted in 2016 through the Public Housing Association of Residents' proposed Vision for Redevelopment of the largest public housing neighborhood in the city.

Policy brief presented to the U.S. Department of Agriculture uplifting best practices for leaders at the local and state levels to follow the examples of successful community initiatives to improve the U.S. food system.

Policy proposal to the United States Department of Energy to advance the protection of critical infrastructure for environmental justice communities.

A participatory planning toolkit using scenario building to explore how climate migration will shape the futures of civic engagement and belonging in the United States, supported by the NRDC and E2.

An impact report conducting a gap analysis to identify opportunities and unmet needs across alumnae and scholars who are beneficiaries of an annual scholarship to support housing expenses of low-income women scholars pursuing higher education.

Advancing Students' Digital Rights is a multimedia policy toolkit fostering inclusive data sovereignty across school communities, edtech developers, and education departments.

Enchantedland is an augmented reality game that teaches students how to use foresight strategies to stay safe online and combat misinformation through data protection and self-sovereign identity frameworks.

Build Early Ed is an award-winning mobile application that connects New Mexicans to opportunities in early childhood education through Head Start enrollment, workforce development, and wrap-around family support services.

Algorithms of Late Capitalism is a zine co-created with the Internet Teapot and Mozilla Festival in March 2021 to explore possible futures of artificial intelligence.

Valve Index was used to sculpt a virtual reality environment that engages with themes of youth data justice and the impact of surveillance capitalism on children's development.

The Carnegie Hall Afrofuturism Festival celebrated artists across mediums rooted in the cultural histories of the African diaspora—where music, visual arts, science fiction, and technology intersect to imagine alternate realities and a liberated future viewed through the lens of Black cultures. Alija was one of the artists featured during this two-month celebration.

Astralnauts is a flash speculative fiction piece imagining a global paradigm shift towards healing justice infrastructure in 2075. Alija was commissioned as a foresight practitioner to bring their expertise in the peacebuilding ecosystem to illustrate pathways to peaceful futures by the School of International Futures, Global Education Futures, and VZOR Lab.

Speculative design workshop at the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics Summit exploring possible future applications of artificial intelligence.

For the SAAM Arcade 2022, Alija developed the Catastrophic Dream game to create an interactive experience for players, relying on color, line, and form to tell complex narratives and engage broad audiences.

In celebration of Día de los Muertos, the ofrenda exhibit examining Species in Peril along the Rio Grande was installed by the National Hispanic Cultural Center in partnership with 516 ARTS.