Lovely
Umayam

Founder, Bombshelltoe, and Program Manager, Stimson Center

Lovely manages the nuclear security portfolio at the Stimson Center, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank based in Washington, DC. At Stimson, Lovely leads projects that bring governments, industry representatives, and civil society together to discuss how to better secure nuclear materials around the world. She also is the founder of Bombshelltoe, a creative hub linking artists, community organizers, and nuclear experts together to present nuclear policy in a compelling and impactful way to the greater public. Bombshelltoe was the first-prize winner of the US Department of State’s Innovation in Arms Control Challenge in 2013. Currently in development at Bombshelltoe is Ways of Knowing, a multimedia project in partnership with Navajo community members that showcases hope and resilience after decades of uranium mining in the US Southwest. Bombshelltoe recently completed the DC installation of The Color Curtain Project, an art book and culinary experience that examines the origins of the Non-Aligned Movement and the interplay between colonialism, racism, and nuclear weapons. Lovely’s policy research and creative work have been featured in Fast Company, SXSW, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, The Atlantic, Vice, PopTech, The New Republic, MoMA PS1, and Newseum, among others.

I am most excited to work on projects that… make people question the dominant narratives around nuclear weapons being unapproachable and unchanging.

I am looking for partners that can help me… achieve the golden mean in communicating nuclear risks: incorporating play and activating curiosity to get people hooked, while delivering hard-hitting information about challenges that exist today.

A moment when I felt most inspired in my work was… when I hear my non-expert collaborators talk about nuclear policy issues on their own terms to their peers. They may not explain it as an expert would, but it is just as passionate, and I daresay more meaningful.

Innovations in my field that I am most excited to work on… will require deep listening among all stakeholders involved. It’s not just about expressing opinions or conveying information, but also hearing from others what is missing, what isn’t working, and being humble enough to take ownership of it.

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