Agness Chindimba has 15 years of experience working with deaf children and young women with disabilities, She is actively involved in advocating for equitable rights, access, and opportunities for women and girls with disabilities. Among her many achievements, Agness was the coordinating team that translated the national constitution into Sign Language in 2018. Agness is a Mandela Washington Fellow (2016), Agness has attended coursework in human rights, leadership, and feminism, and continuing research interests include inclusive education, Feminism and disability, sexual reproductive health and rights, and access to information. She is an alumni of CREA-Disability, Sexuality Rights Online Institution (2020)

Website: http://www.deafwomenincluded.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deafwomenincluded

Catalina Devandas Aguilar of Costa Rica is a lawyer by training and a human rights advocate. She was appointed as the first United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of persons with disabilities in 2014, and served until August 2020.

Ms. Devandas Aguilar has worked extensively on disability rights and inclusive development for the past 20 years, including with the World Bank, the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, and international donor organizations that supported the work of organizations of persons with disabilities to promote the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. She was previously part of the disability rights movement at national, regional and international level and continues to work closely with organizations of persons with disabilities.

Geetanjali Misra is the Co-Founder and Executive Director – Global of CREA and has closely worked at the activist, grant-making, and policy levels on issues of sexuality, reproductive health, gender, human rights, and violence against women. She holds Master’s degrees in International Affairs from Columbia University, US, and in Economics from Syracuse University, US.

Previously, she has worked as a Program Officer at Ford Foundation, taught as an adjunct professor on the intersection of LGBT issues, sexual rights and public health at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and supported non-governmental organizations in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka working on sexual and reproductive health and rights. She is also a co-founder SAKHI for South Asian Women in 1989, a non-profit organization in New York, committed to ending violence against women of South Asian origin. Formerly, she has been Chair of the Boards of Reproductive Health Matters (UK), a global peer reviewed journal on sexual and reproductive health and rights and Mama Cash (the Netherlands).

She was a Board Member of FHI 360 (USA) and also served as President of the Board of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) where she led a strategic planning and organizational development process leading to changes in leadership roles and structure. In the past, she held several key advisory roles such as being a Member of Cordaid’s Expert Advisory Group (the Netherlands), served as a core member of the Action Plus Coalition for Rights, Education and Care in HIV/AIDS (India), was regional and Global Advisor for Global Fund for Women (USA) among others.

She writes on issues of sexuality, gender, and rights, and has co-edited ‘Sexuality, Gender, and Rights: Exploring Theory and Practice in South and Southeast Asia’ from SAGE. She is also author of ‘The Power of Movements’ published by AWID.

Janet Price is a disabled feminist active in queercrip politics, and is based in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with links to Taranaki, New Zealand. In Liverpool, she is on the board of DaDaFest, a disability and deaf arts organisation with a growing global reach. She has also made long-term academic contributions to the gender groups at Liverpool University and at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

Through friendships, Janet has a connection of over 30 years with social justice activism in India. In particular, she has been involved with CREA, a Delhi-based feminist, human and sexuality rights organisation. Over several years, she has helped enhance CREA’s involvement with disability issues, increase the presence of disabled people in their staff and training and ensure inclusion of disability as an aspect of intersectional understanding. In addition, Janet is a partner in the creation of a coalition of groups working in disability, sexuality and justice across Africa.

Janet hopes that the expansion of disability art will enhance all people’s understanding of the prejudice disabled people face, the battles they must fight daily and the skills, talent and insight they bring to ways of living life fully and with pleasure. Janet writes intermittently, contributing through blogs, discussion papers and occasional journal and book articles, commonly jointly authored.

Source: Rising Flame

Jeeja Ghosh is a disability rights activist from India. She holds a master degree in Social work and Disability Studies. She is presently working in EnAble India in Bangalore as a manager

LinkedIn Link: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/
Organization Link: enableindia.org
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/jeeja.ghosh/

Niluka Gunawardena is an educator, researcher and disability rights activist based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. She is a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Kelaniya and an independent consultant for several international organizations. She is a faculty member of CREA’s Disability, Sexuality and Rights Online Institute (DSROI) and she serves on the Board of Women Enabled International.

Niluka earned a Master of Arts degree in Disability and Gender (with Distinction) from the University of Leeds, UK. She is a Visiting Lecturer in Disability Studies at the University of Kelaniya and the University of Colombo. She is a consultant to the AHEAD project conducted by the Centre for Disability Education, Research, and Practice to create an accessible and inclusive learning environment for all students at the University of Colombo. She is on the teaching team of CREA’s Disability Sexuality and Rights Online Institute and SGRI. She has taught Geography and Earth Science to secondary school students for several years and is currently working on introducing Mindfulness to schools in association with Mindful Educators.

Niluka regularly conducts community and corporate training workshops on disability awareness and rights. She is a researcher who has worked on evidence-based policy for organizations like the Human Environment Research Observatory, Equal Ground, and BBC. She serves on the Advisory committees of Arrow, HYPE Sri Lanka and LIRNEasia among others.

Link: https://womenenabled.org/

Having grown up in their mother’s independent bookstore, Nu (They/He) is a trans-disabled non-binary person who founded UN-recognized Revival Disability India – Magazine and Community. They’ve won the Laadli Award (2022) for their writing on disability based queer violence. They are a published author with Penguin Random House and are currently working on their solo book. They have been featured on publications such as Elle Magazine (2023) and UN Women Asia and the Pacific (2023). Their work involves working with technology and creating safer digital spaces for queer and disabled folks online. They believe in creating communities of care and collective joy. They are a part of the LBQ cohort by Outright International, and have spoken at various national and international conferences such as Women Deliver. In 2023, they are a part of a QUEERTWENTY list by Egomonk which celebrates expertise within the LGBTQIA+ community. A disability justice author and curator, they collaborated on several spaces that have reclaimed disabled joy, rage, rest and movement. A CREA fellow ’22, and a TISS master’s graduate in gender studies, they work on campaigns surrounding disability based violence and SRHR.

Bidhata KC is a Nepali visual artist. Through installations, paintings and prints, she primarily investigates the issues of identity, material culture, and the relations between the old and the new in our daily lives. Her works are inspired by the centuries-old artistic traditions of her native country to create striking images of contemporary narratives.

In 2011, her painting ’Marginalized identity’ was recognised with the ‘Special Mention Award’ in the National Fine Art Exhibition in Nepal. She was represented by the Nepal Art Council in the India Art Fair 2016, and she was one of the 15 commissioned artists for the 2017 Kathmandu Triennale. She was also honoured as the ‘Artist of the Year, 100 Most Influential Women of Nepal’ and the ‘Australian Himalayan Foundation Art Award’ in 2018. Recently, she was selected by the US State Government to attend the program ‘Social Change Through Art under the International Visitor Leadership Program in 2022.

Website: https://bidhatakc.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bidhatakc/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bidhata.kc
Twitter: @bidhata_kc
Linked: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bidhata-kc-1710b478

Kim Kaul is a painter and a poet who lives and works in Mumbai. Her work plays with the idea of self: how, in this vast landscape of our emotion, can we understand why we feel the things we do, and how they manifest into our behaviour? As someone who has experienced mental illness, she has spent a vast majority of her time being intimately aware of her emotional responses. Through her work, she aims to dissect the emotions we encounter through our environments and experiences and make sense of them from an intimate, personal perspective.

Manasi, a postgraduate of Fine Arts with hearing impairment, channels her profound connection to nature onto canvas. Her artistic journey began at a tender age of three, revealing an innate talent. With remarkable speed, she mastered painting techniques, excelling in various media like acrylic, watercolors, pen, charcoal, and mixed media. In her abstract art, she eloquently communicates thoughts unspoken, demonstrating her artistic prowess. Her “Signs in Life Series” showcases the simplicity of sign language, connecting it to nature and everyday life. Manasi’s vibrant art reflects Indias diverse beauty, inspired by her extensive travels across the nation. She is also a skilled photographer.

Her career has flourished, winning prizes in numerous competitions and exhibiting in prestigious art shows nationwide. Manasis passion extends beyond her art; she imparts her knowledge as an arts and crafts teacher at Clarke School for the Deaf and Mentally Retarded in Chennai, enriching young minds and nurturing their creativity. She now teaches drawing online, further expanding her impact.

Her impressive list of group shows attests to her talent and dedication, making her a celebrated figure in the art world.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/manasibhallamudi?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
Instagram: https://instagram.com/manas.i91?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==

Nancy Willis is a London-based artist who has been exhibiting since the early 1980’s. She works with a range of media from painting and printmaking to sculpture and moving image. Drawing on her experience of life as a disabled woman, she explores themes of love, loss, resistance, and vulnerability.

Throughout her career, Nancy has combined her art with a deep engagement in issues of equality and inclusion. She curated some of the first exhibitions that helped establish the Disability Arts Movement in the UK.

Four of Nancy’s artworks have been selected for the upcoming exhibition Women in Revolt! At Tate Britain.

Website: https://www.nancywillis.co.uk/

Pavan  is a graduate from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Over the last 17 years, Pavan has worked as a Consulting Creative Designer and Supervisor on a wide range of projects which include, Animation Feature, Television Commercials and Design.

His key achievements include; National Award Winning Animated Short Film “Ae Bhai Jara Dekh ke Chalo” and CG Animated Feature “Arjun” as its Creative Director.

Priyanka Singh Maharjan is a Kathmandu-based visual artist and an art educator. She completed her Bachelor in Fine Arts degree from Kathmandu University, Centre for Art and Design in 2018. Her art practices are mostly focused on her past and re-interpretation of memories through diverse mediums. She is currently exploring giving visual structures to intangible but real elements of her past/memories through photographs, embroidery and pen works.

She had her first solo exhibition ‘The realm of recollections’ in 2021 and has participated in many group exhibitions including National exhibitions. She has also showcased her artworks in international exhibitions like Kochi Student Biennale 2018-2019, Kerala, Angkor PhotoFestival, Cambodia 2020, Sovereign Asian Art Prize Finalist exhibition 2023 in Hong Kong and Zurich International Festival 2023 in Switzerland. Besides working as an artist, she has been involved as an art educator in Srijanalaya, a non-profit organisation dedicated to alternative forms of art education in Nepal.

Instagram: pre_yanka
Website: https://preyanka.wordpress.com/