Hi, I am Ann Cassano. I am a Belgian-Italian cultural anthropologist, which means I can both psychoanalyze your dinner party and cook pasta —at the same time. I am also the co-founder and director of the World Makers Foundation in Amsterdam, where creativity meets community, and no one ever says "Let’s keep things the way they’ve always been."

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Since 2008, I have been deeply involved refugee support—from battling EU policy dragons to hosting art projects that make bureaucracy look like finger painting. In 2017, I teamed up with a fashion designer for a project involving migrant artisans. Because refugees aren’t just “people in need”—they are artists, tailors, visionaries. (Mic drop.)

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That moment led to The World Makers, a foundation that believes integration should be more like a creative jam session than a checklist. Think: Afghani designers collaborating with local ones, or seamstresses from Morocco embroidering haute couture. It’s bold, it’s inclusive, and it’s never boring.

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I also facilitated creative teams such as the Story Jam by Storytellers United, and collaborate with others to bring in creative methods I don't know (yet), such as Theatre of the Oppressed.

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Having an abundance of different viewpoints in a group is very exciting but can also be difficult to navigate. To do just that, I studied Processwork and Lewis-Deep Democracy, methodologies to support groups in conflict-literacy. Going through that as a group is like skiing the Black Diamond Run: scary, exhilarating, and you come out pretty chuffed with yourself.

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My secret sauce is deep democracy, humor, compassion, and the belief that no voice should be left behind—especially the quiet, weird, brilliant ones. I bring together unexpected people to do unexpected things… like building a new kind of future over (social) fabric, dialogue, and a little bit of chaos (the good kind).

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Also: I might be the only person alive who uses “conflict phases methodology” and “let’s make this fun” in the same sentence, and mean it.