Courtney June O'Connell

I’m from Mineola, New York, where I studied studio art and learned to be funny.

In 2009, I moved to Berlin. After teaching English and doing German-English translation work for several years, I got involved in welcome initiatives for refugees, including Schön, dass Ihr da seid! e.V, a volunteer organization I co-founded. While working as a counselor for children and teens in a refugee shelter, I got my MA in Children’s Rights and Childhood studies. During that time I created Contact Theory, a live radio show and podcast about young Berliners who aren’t from Berlin. When the shelter I worked in closed, I led civic participation projects in Reinickendorf and Neukölln for an urban development agency. In 2023, I started working as the coordinator of youth engagement in Lichtenberg for kein Abseits! e.V. In the same year, I founded “Respekt und Jugendrecht,” the name under which I offer workshops, consulting, and project management to schools and other institutions surrounding the rights and participation of young people.

Since 2017, I’ve been doing stand-up comedy and hosting a monthly show at Rotbart in Neukölln called Laugh Riot!, every second Tuesday of the month.