Our Team
Meet the Experts Behind Our Mission
Meet the people who make it all happen. We see big potential in every moment, and care deeply about what we do every day. Our unique development ensures that we have the very best staff all over the world, and at every level of operation. Our leadership team reflects a group of diverse individuals with breadth and depth of experience across the company.
Inclusive Development Partners Staff & Core Consultants
Dr. Valerie Karr
Founding Partner & President
With technical expertise in inclusive education and development, human rights, youth and disability, and a track record of effective rights-based advocacy internationally, Dr. Karr’s research and advocacy focuses on ensuring the inclusion of marginalized populations in the development agenda. Framed by the “No One Left Behind” movement incorporated into the Sustainable Development Goals, her research focus is on the inclusion of vulnerable groups, particularly children and adults with disabilities, have access to human rights and fundamental freedoms. Transdisciplinary in nature; Dr. Karr’s work spans diverse fields such as inclusive education, human rights, international development, and public policy. Through the use of her applied research skills in both quantitative and qualitative methods she engages directly on development initiatives at many levels such as governments, ministries, schools, and civil society organizations, the United Nations, the World Bank, USAID, the National Council on Disability, and has engaged in country-level work in Cambodia, Nepal, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Qatar, Bangladesh, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Lebanon, and Syria. She most recently served as Principal Investigator for the Tanzanian study on out of school children in both Mainland and Zanzibar and the formative evaluation of inclusive education radio programming in Tanzania.
Anne Hayes
Founding Partner & Executive Director
Anne Hayes has more than 25 years of technical expertise focusing on disability-inclusive development and inclusive education, working in more than 35 countries worldwide. Previously, she worked as several NGOs, bilateral and multilateral organizations including serving as the Director of Collaborative Initiatives at the World Bank’s Global Partnership on Disability and Development (GPDD), and as a Disability and Gender Specialist at USAID. Ms. Hayes also participated extensively in NGO efforts related to the drafting of United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as a Steering Committee Member of the International Disability Caucus (IDC). She has published several books, documents, and articles related to disability inclusive development and inclusive pedagogy including numerous research publications on donor-funded initiatives for inclusion including serving as the lead author of USAID’s toolkit on Universal Design for Learning to Help All Children Read: Promoting Literacy for Learners with Disabilities. Anne holds a master’s degree in International Education with an emphasis in comparative inclusive education policies from the George Washington University and is the proud mother of two children, one of which has a disability.
Hayley Niad
Program Director and Senior Technical Advisor
Hayley Niad has been a Researcher and Program Manager for IDP since 2019. Her technical expertise relates to inclusive pedagogies for struggling learners and students with disabilities, including Universal Design for Learning (UDL), in school settings with few material resources. Her current work also addresses teacher training for inclusive education, curriculum and materials development, and research and evaluation of inclusive education programming globally. Ms. Niad also has technical experience in mother-tongue based multilingual education for early grade reading in Mozambique, including production of student textbooks, teachers’ guides, school-based coaching, trainings and workshops, and monitoring and evaluation including EGRA design. This work has earned her a 30 Under 30 Award from the International Literacy Association. Hayley also worked as the Day Programs Manager for a disability service in Australia, managing the programming for adults with significant support needs. She holds a Master's Degree in Special Education and is currently undertaking doctoral studies in Comparative and International Development Education, with a focus on teacher decision-making related to inclusive pedagogical approaches in Ghana.
Seema Acharya
Technical Consultant
Ms. Seema Acharya has over 20 years of experience in the education sector in Nepal with extensive expertise in inclusive education, diversity management, disability inclusion, and gender. She has developed teacher training packages focused on basic braille, Nepali sign language, and inclusive pedagogy, including Universal Design for Learning (UDL). She has led the development and implementation of a standard format for the Individualized Education Plan and the adaptation of the reading assessment tool for children with disabilities in Nepal. She has provided technical input to the Government of Nepal (GON) regarding the inclusive education approach and has been actively involved in policy-making decisions.
She has held positions as an inclusive education leader and technical advisor at World Education, Inc. They have provided technical direction for several projects focused on quality education, particularly early-grade reading and learning. She has also led the technical and capacity development aspects of USAID's Reading for All Project in Nepal, advising the Government on embedding technical support and leading technical implementation. She has implemented programs to improve learning outcomes in 27 of the lowest-performing schools in Nepal, partnering with NGOs and government actors to ensure high-quality outcomes.
She has a background as a thematic coordinator at the Naya Bato Naya Paila Project, program officer at World Education, and freelance consultant at UNICEF, RRN, and the Social Work Training Institute. She has also worked as a program officer at the Women's Rehabilitation Center (WOREC) in Nepal, where they coordinated with the Alliance against Trafficking Women and Children in Nepal (AATWIN) and organized anti-trafficking campaigns. She is passionate about advocating for marginalized people's rights, and she has dedicated her career to empowering marginalized women and children in Nepal.
Reem Ahmed
Operations and Human Resource Advisor
Reem Ahmed is a dedicated and dynamic Human Resources professional with over four years of international experience. She excels in optimizing HR operations, driving strategic recruitment initiatives, and implementing effective performance management systems within diverse, multinational environments. Her expertise encompasses talent acquisition, employee performance management, process improvement, and proficient use of HRIS.
Throughout her career, Reem has effectively supported various HR initiatives. She has contributed to streamlined operations and enhanced employee satisfaction within international organizations. She improved performance management and employee engagement strategies in diverse settings. Additionally, she led DEI-focused recruitment initiatives that foster inclusive workplaces.
Fluent in both Arabic and English, she brings a passion for fostering a positive work environment and advancing organizational development.
Reem holds a Master’s degree in International Human Resource Management from the University of Reading’s Henley Business School and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Garden City. A Certified Professional from the Society for Human Resource Management and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Reem is committed to creating supportive environments where employees thrive and continuously seeks opportunities to drive positive change within organizations.
Abby Anaya Bedell
Technical Consultant
Abby Anaya has been a Program Coordinator for IDP since 2023. Before joining the inclusive development field, Abby worked as an Early Childhood Special Education Diagnostician and Bilingual Education teacher. After teaching, she began at the Center for Education at USAID before becoming a team member of IDP. Her technical expertise has been built with a deep appreciation and understanding of inclusive pedagogies from both a teacher's perspective and within government policies. Throughout her professional career, Abby has worked to support marginalized communities, by building knowledge surrounding Universal Design for Learning (UDL), supporting screening services for children, and providing training to support inclusive education. She has experience with designing education activities that support technical policies, delivering inclusive education professional development, and disseminating international inclusive education policy. In addition to her work in inclusive education, Abby also served as knowledge manager for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility for USAID’s Center for Education. Abby received her M.A. from George Washington University with a concentration in International Development, where her studies emphasized inclusive education. She also holds four teaching licenses and a B.S. in Education from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in Early Childhood Special Education and Elementary- Middle School Education with minors in English as a Second Language and Bilingual Education.
Dana Del Vecchio
Technical Consultant
Dana Del Vecchio has 8 years of experience in education international development and has been working in project management for the past 5 years. Her Bachelors in Middle Eastern Studies from University of Michigan initiated her love for the context and history of the Middle East and led her to live in Jordan between 2014-2017 to work with refugee communities in Amman and practice Arabic. Dana also has a Masters in International Education Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Prior to joining Inclusive Development Partners, she worked at World Education headquartered in Boston, and supported finance, operations and coordination of a USAID project in Egypt, education research studies funded by private foundations in Jordan and Ethiopia, and an 11 million dollar project funded by the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in Ghana on girls education. While at World Education, she gave technical assistance for the United States Agency for International Development/Egypt project on academic English teacher professional development courses including the use of Universal Design for Learning and co-led a monitoring and evaluation workshop for Egyptian university Quality Assurance Units. She also coordinated an early childhood research study for Queen Rania Foundation from the design phase to the report writing phase and analyzed data on barriers and drivers for parental practices (reading, counting, playing and singing) with children ages 0-5. Her professional interests include social emotional learning, trauma and the impacts of climate change on girls, children with disabilities and other vulnerable communities.
Jacole Douglas
Technical Consultant
Jacole Douglas joined IDP in 2023 and is also a PhD candidate in International Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research interests include professional development and support for teachers and coaches, literacy, early grade learning (EGL), and rural education, with a focus on improving learning opportunities and outcomes for struggling learners. She utilizes social network analysis, qualitative, and survey research methods in her research. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, Jacole was based in Cambodia as a Basic Education Technical Advisor with World Education, Inc., where she advised basic education, EGL, and EdTech projects. She began her career as a high school teacher in the US and Nepal, and she has been engaged in education programs and research in Nepal for over 15 years. Some of her other professional experiences include consulting on projects supporting communications and knowledge management for USAID’s Center for Education; designing surveys on national youth and adult literacy policies and programs administered in over two dozen countries; and developing and coordinating a statewide rural telemental health program that provides trauma-informed therapy to child survivors of abuse and neglect in rural areas of Montana. Jacole holds an Ed.M. in International Education Policy from Harvard Graduate School of Education, a B.A. in English Teaching from The University of Montana, a graduate certificate in Early Grade Reading in Developing Countries from UMass Amherst, and teaching licenses (Montana & Minnesota) in Grades 5-12 Communication Arts/Literature and K-12 Reading.
Nicholas Hoekstra
Senior Technical Consultant
Nicholas Hoekstra is a Ph.D. candidate in Special Education at the University of Kansas. His research focuses on the implementation of inclusive education in low-income and low-resource contexts, especially through the use of strategies such as Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Nicholas holds a master’s degree in International Education Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and an instructor’s certificate in Judo from the International Budo University in Katsuura, Japan. From 2015-16, Nick served as an adviser on inclusive education at the Coordinating Ministry for Knowledge and Human Talent of Ecuador, where he worked on the ratification and implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled (The Marrakesh VIP Treaty). During this period, he conducted UDL seminars for over 25 universities from throughout Ecuador, helped establish a national network for students with disabilities, and organized international conferences on bilingual and inclusive education. From 2016-19, Nick worked as the Capacity Building Lead for the Accessible Books Consortium (ABC), a initiative of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for the implementation of the Marrakesh VIP Treaty. In this position, Nick collaborated with organizations representing persons with disabilities, Ministries of Education, and Intellectual Property/Copyright Offices to establish over 20 capacity building projects in 13 developing and least-developed countries in Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia.
Cat Jones
Technical Consultant
Cat Jones has extensive experience in the international education field, with a focus on social- emotional learning (SEL). Her perspective is informed by years of experience teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in Laos, Spain, and South Africa, as well as working for various non-profits geared towards education and gender equity. Cat holds a master’s degree in International Peace Studies from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland where she wrote her dissertation on the importance of culturally responsive SEL programs for children who’ve experienced trauma due to forced displacement. She holds a B.S. in Sociology from Saint Joseph’s University and was awarded SJU’s Alpha Sigma Nu Magis Medal. Cat is passionate about supporting sustainable and inclusive education programs that improve the well-being of vulnerable populations and collectively develop greater emotional intelligence.
Augustine Kanyendula
Technical Consultant
Augustine Kanyendula is the Senior All Children Learning Specialist for USAID Malawi’s Next Generation Early Grade Reading Activity (NextGen) which is part of Malawi’s National Reading Program (NRP). Working on behalf of IDP, Augustine’s role within NextGen is to provide technical assistance to NextGen’s activities to improve learning outcomes for Standard 1 and 2 learners with disabilities in Malawi. Augustine has close to 15 years of experience providing technical support to programming focused on expanding educational opportunities for children with disabilities, almost ten years of which was focused on supporting Malawi’s National Reading Program. From 2019-2021, Augustine worked for Juarez & Associates as the Inclusive Education Specialist for the USAID-funded Reading for All Malawi (REFAM) project, followed by a year serving as the project’s Chief of Party. As part of Malawi’s National Reading Program (NRP), REFAM’s goal was to develop a scalable intervention that allows for the screening, identification, placement, instruction, and testing of learners with disabilities to teach them to read. Previously, Augustine Kanyendula worked for Perkins International as a Disability Inclusion Specialist under two successive USAID-funded activities: the Early Grade Reading Activity (EGRA; 2013-2016) and the Malawi Early Grade Improvement Activity (MERIT: 2016-2019). Under these roles, Augustine provided technical leadership and management oversight of all field activities to improve educational opportunities, uptake, and retention of children with disabilities and other vulnerable populations for the EGRA and MERIT.
Emily Kochetkova
Senior Technical Consultant
Emily Kochetkova has 12 years of experience in education research and implementation across several low- and middle-income country contexts. Her work has included providing technical management and consulting for both large- and small-scale program evaluations, research studies, and implementation projects; developing and testing assessment instruments for students in the early grades, including numerous EGRA, EGMA, and school management studies; leading cross-cultural training to researchers and data collection teams; managing complex field research; interpreting quantitative and qualitative data and reporting research findings; and authoring various technical guides and toolkits. Ms. Kochetkova is passionate about understanding the factors that underlie development program successes and challenges, in order to support better inclusion, equity, and educational outcomes for all children, particularly those within marginalized groups. Her recent work with IDP includes evaluating programs funded by Open Society Foundations, UNICEF, and USAID, and contributing to ongoing discussions and testing related to Universal Design for Assessment (UDA).
Anna Martin
Technical Consultant
Anna Martin has 14 years of experience in international development and inclusive education. She obtained her Bachelors degree in International Studies with a focus on Africa from North Carolina State University. Upon graduation she joined the Peace Corps where she served in Kenya as a Deaf Education Volunteer, learning Kenyan Sign Language and teaching in a rural school in Western Kenya for 2 years. Following her Peace Corps service she moved to Nairobi, Kenya where she worked with a Deaf-led organization to start a children's outreach program, bringing adult deaf mentors to deaf students across the country. After 5 years in Kenya, she pursued her Masters in Public Policy at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy. Prior to joining Inclusive Development Partners, Anna worked with the Global Campaign for Education-US, Light for the World, the World Bank's Disability Inclusive Development team, and eKitabu, bringing her passion for disability inclusion and her expertise in Deaf Education to all of her projects.
Memory Orode
Technical Consultant
With over a decade of experience in the non-governmental organization (NGO) sector, Memory has dedicated her career to advancing HIV/AIDS awareness, gender equity, youth life skills, women's and community economic empowerment, and disability inclusion. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing and Management and has expertise in ensuring grant compliance with donor rules and regulations, regional administrative and financial oversight, survey design, and conducting baseline and end-of-project evaluation. She also supports auditing process and financial reporting and excels in story gathering and storytelling. Memory has worked with donors such as the U.S. Agency on International Development (USAID) for support programs for AIDS orphans, Rotary International for grassroots and community economic empowerment programs, DIGNI-NORAD for HIV Awareness and youth life skills, and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland (MFA) for disability inclusion, contributing to national, regional, and international projects. Memory has focus in the field of disability inclusion, communications, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and grant management, and has operated across 15 Sub-Saharan countries. Her proficiency in project management includes collaborating with regional finance and program managers, managing regional and country budgets, and coordinating operational requirements. She is passionate about giving back to the community, particularly working with vulnerable youth and women groups from informal settlements in Mathare Valley, Kenya's second largest and oldest slum.
Dr. Niraj Poudyal
Senior Technical Advisor
Dr. Niraj Poudyal
Senior Technical Advisor
Dr. Poudyal is a skilled and passionate advocate for equity and inclusion in Nepal, and is a skilled trainer, writer, and presenter with a keen ability to present complex topics in simple terms that are accessible to a broad audience. Dr. Poudyal is DEIA Advisor for USAID Equity and Inclusion in Education in Nepal supporting the Plan Nepal office. He is also supporting the EMIS for USAID funded Education Sector Strengthening Activity (ESSA) in Liberia. He has years of experience in research design and sampling for surveys in countries in Asia and Africa. Before joining IDP as a Senior Technical Advisor, Dr. Poudyal worked as an associate professor and lead researcher at the Disability Research Center at Kathmandu University, he has conducted several research projects related to disability issues and inclusive education in Nepal and the region, with the goal of increasing the evidence base for inclusion among donors, government, and implementers. This work includes direct support to USAID’s Multi-Country Study of Inclusive Education (MCSIE), led by Inclusive Development Partners (IDP). He has also completed multiple consultancies with UNICEF Nepal since 2015, as the Equity Index technical expert in developing a fully functional Equity Index (EI), which helps to capture the disparities in educational outcomes in Nepal across drivers such as gender, location and ethnicity, and is used by the government of Nepal to allocate resources to regions having lower educational outcomes and higher disparities. He has also developed the Resource index and resource allocation formula for local governments, conducted assessments of EMIS data to improve its accuracy, and evaluated implementation of the EI using both EMIS and census data. He has contributed to the inclusive education section of the education sector analysis (ESA) as a leading author. He has supervised doctoral students to design interventions designed to reduce the number of out of school children and dropouts and measure the impact using clustered randomized trials in Nepal. He obtained his PhD degree from the department of economics at Virginia Tech University, USA in 2012. Through years of practice, he has developed sound quantitative and qualitative research skills and made a number of paper and report publications for journals and institutions. Dr. Poudyal has working experience with institutions such as UNICEF, UNDP, Plan International, USAID, York University, UCLA, Perdue University, World Education and Humanity and Inclusion (HI).
Andrea Shettle
Technical Consultant
Andrea Shettle joined the Inclusive Development Partners staff in 2022 as Project Coordinator. In the past she has been Content Manager for Mill Neck International, Program Manager for the U.S. International Council on Disabilities, and a junior speech writer for the World Bank president. Throughout her career, she has written extensively on topics related to disability inclusion, international development, and international human rights. Her written works include white papers, grant proposals and grant reports, literature reviews, technical content on disability inclusion, content for websites and social media platforms, newsletter and magazine feature articles, and more. She also has provided training on disability inclusion in the full international development project cycle, disability inclusion in the workplace, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Andrea is passionate about disability human rights, the role of international development in addressing issues of inequity and inclusion, and the importance of access to knowledge in low-resource environments. Her education history includes a bachelor’s degree in honors English and two master’s degrees: first in Social Work then the second in International Development.
Ashley Stone
Technical Consultant
Ashley Stone joined IDP as a Program Coordinator in 2022 and was promoted to Program Manager in 2023. Prior to joining IDP's staff team, she was an IDP graduate research assistant through the University of Massachusetts Boston and as a Policy and Program Coordinator at Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission. She has over a decade of experience working with persons with disabilities and marginalized communities in the non-profit sector and state government, where she has worked to support community integration and school-to-work transition services for persons with disabilities, and employment supports for marginalized communities. Throughout her professional career, Ashley has supported grant writing, program design and implementation, workforce and transition curriculum development, project management, and direct work with program beneficiaries. Additionally, Ashley is currently a PhD candidate in the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development (SGISD) at UMASS Boston. Her area of research is on systems change and beneficiary involvement within development programming for persons with disabilities. Ashley also received her M.A. from SGISD with a concentration in human rights, where her studies emphasized disability rights, and has a B.S. from Central Michigan University in therapeutic recreation and psychology.
Samir Sodari
Technical Consultant
Samir Sodari
Technical Consultant
With five years of research and development experience in the area of inclusive education, Samir has gained significant quantitative and qualitative research skills. Samir worked as a junior researcher in the four-year Multi-Country Study on Inclusive Education (MCSIE), led by the collaboration of Inclusive Development Partners and Disability Research Center at the Kathmandu University School of Arts. The study included extensive field visits, teachers’ interviews, and classroom observations. He was responsible for the organization and logistics of field visits of the entire team and the consolidation of data collected into a central system. Additionally, he has showcased his sharp analytical skills through his involvement in the design phase to the report writing phase of the mid-day meal study program conducted by the ESP program of the Kathmandu University School of Arts. The study included quasi-randomized control trials to understand the linkages between the provision of mid-day meals and educational outcomes. He has a Master’s degree in Development Studies from Kathmandu University and a bachelor’s degree in social work (BSW). He has made dozens of field visits to Kailali, Dadeldhura, Darchula, Parsa, Surkhet, Banke, Bardiya, Dang, Kaski, Rasuwa, Dhankuta, Bhaktapur, and Lalitpur districts and all provinces of Nepal. The curriculum involved a significant amount of field visits and interaction with local stakeholders. In his master’s research, he did quantitative survey research to understand the impact of remittances on household expenses on health and education. His professional interest includes advocacy for equity and inclusion in education.
Hidemi Ueno
Technical Consultant
Hidemi UENO has been a Program Coordinator for IDP since October 2024. She brings extensive experience in project management within the international development field, having worked in the U.S., Senegal, Switzerland, Cambodia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Japan.
Prior to joining IDP, she served as a Development Partnership Officer at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), where she developed and executed partnership and program development plans in collaboration with various bilateral, multilateral, and international organizations, and financial institutions. She also worked on activities related to triangular cooperation, fostering cross-functional communications between departments and country offices to ensure alignment on key operational issues.
Hidemi previously worked as a Consultant, managing grant assistance for grassroots human security projects in Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Before that, she served as a Project Officer at the Global Health Centre, a Swiss think tank at the Graduate Institute Geneva, where she managed capacity building and event organization.
Hidemi is passionate about programs that support the human rights of marginalized populations, especially persons with disabilities and refugees. She holds an M.A. in Development Studies from the Geneva Graduate Institute and a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Soka University of America.
Additional Technical Experts
Angela Affran
Technical Expert
Angela Affran
Technical Expert
Angela Affran serves as a consultant for Perkins International in the African Region, coordinating and managing projects, training teachers to serve learners with multiple disabilities and sensory loss, advocating for the rights of children with visual impairment and additional disabilities, and supporting parents to advocate for their children. Angela was previously the coordinator for Braille Literacy, Math and Science at the Special Education Division of the Ghana Education Service. She has a Master’s Degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Education, Ghana and a Diploma in Statistics from the University of Ghana. Angela has been a recipient of the Ford Foundation Scholarship, Wolfensohn Family Foundation Scholarship and was adjourned the best teacher in Math and Science category at the Akuapem North District in 2005. Angela also works with various countries to develop policies and programs to support children and young adults with inclusive education. Angela has successfully implemented projects with USAID, UNICEF, RTI, and SIB in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Lesotho, South Africa and Nigeria. Ms. Affran serves as a consultant for IDP’s work with UNICEF in Ghana, conducting formative research and providing technical guidance on identification and support to children with disabilities in the early grades.
Dr. Heather Aldersey
Technical Expert
Dr. Heather Aldersey
Technical Expert
Heather Aldersey, MS (Special Education), Ph.D. (Education), is a Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Therapy and a Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Disability-Inclusive Development at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She is also the Scientific Director of the International Centre for the Advancement of Community Based Rehabilitation (ICACBR). She adopts participatory approaches to identify priorities of people with disabilities and their families and develop and evaluate supports to address those priorities, with a focus on populations in low- and middle- income countries. The ultimate goal of Heather’s research is to draw upon local strengths and capabilities to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities and their families globally. At the ICACBR, she currently directs projects with colleagues in Bangladesh, Canada, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Mozambique, the UK, and the USA. She has also previously worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and South Africa.
Julie de Barbeyrac
Technical Expert
Julie de Barbeyrac
Technical Expert
Julie de Barbeyrac, originally from Quebec, Canada, is presently a consultant with IDP on inclusive education and Social Emotional Learning (SEL). She is also the Program Manager of the Accessible Digital Textbooks for the Programme Group- Education at UNICEF Headquarters. She has previously worked with the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) section and the Disability section at UNICEF NYHQ where she has led the innovative “Accessible Digital Textbooks for All” initiative and the MHPSS Acceleration project, and build expertise in disability inclusion, inclusive education, mental health, and technology. Prior to this role, Julie worked as the international relations coordinator and Early Child Development (ECD) expert at the Instituto Alana, a nonprofit civil society organization working on children’s rights in São Paulo, Brazil. Julie was also a MHPSS, disability and care practices program manager at Action Against Hunger (ACF) in Haiti and Myanmar.
Prior to her career in international development, she practiced as a certified occupational therapist (O.T) in various public hospitals and clinics in Canada, working with children with disabilities and their families. She holds a Master’s in Public Health (MPH), a degree in Occupational Therapy and a minor in Psychology from the University of Montreal, Canada. She speaks four languages: French, English, Spanish and Portuguese, and is the proud mother of three children.
Nazifa Tabassum Bonna
Technical Expert
Nazifa Tabassum Bonna
Technical Expert
Nazifa Tabassum Bonna, a passionate advocate for inclusive education, hails from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Currently serving as a consultant with IDP, Nazifa specializes in inclusive education. She brings her expertise to the forefront of creating accessible and equitable learning environments. She earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in Special and Inclusive Education from the Institute of Education and Research at the University of Dhaka. Nazifa's journey in inclusive education extends beyond academia, as she has actively engaged in teaching children with disabilities in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her commitment extends to her work with the Shuchona Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing social inclusion, where she played a crucial role in their SEND framework. Nazifa also served as a consultant with RTI International on USAID's Shobai Miley Shikhi Activity, demonstrating her passion for making education accessible for all. Nazifa is dedicated to breaking down barriers in education and her journey reflects a deep commitment to creating inclusive learning environments.
Dr. Alisha Braun
Technical Expert
Dr. Alisha Braun
Technical Expert
Dr. Alisha Braun is a researcher, teacher, and consultant with over 13 years of international research experience examining inclusive education and access to quality education for marginalized populations. She is the author of 30 research articles and book chapters on diversity and inclusion, educational policy, comparative and international education, and qualitative research methods. Dr. Braun has worked on research and development projects in 12 countries, with a regional focus in sub-Saharan Africa. She has collaborated with numerous international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as UNESCO, USAID, and Light for the World. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology, master's degree in school psychology, and doctorate in educational policy. Dr. Braun has served as an educational consultant, researcher, professor, writing coach, student mentor, instructional designer, and community-based rehabilitation specialist over the course of her career.
Leanne Ketterlin Geller
Technical Expert
Leanne R. Ketterlin-Geller, Ph.D., is a professor in the department of Education Policy and Leadership, and holds the Texas Instruments Endowed Chair in Education at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas. In addition to Dr. Ketterlin-Geller’s faculty appointment, she serves as the director of the Research in Mathematics Education unit at SMU. Her research focuses on the development and validation of formative assessment systems in mathematics that provide instructionally relevant information to support students with diverse needs. She works nationally and internationally to support achievement and engagement in mathematics and other STEM disciplines for students in Kindergarten through Grade 8. Her research has been funded by international, national, state, and local funding agencies who are equally committed to supporting positive outcomes for all students. She has published numerous articles and book chapters, and presented original research findings at local, national, and international conferences. She works closely with teachers and administrators to understand the application of measurement and assessment principles for making decisions in school settings. Dr. Ketterlin-Geller was a high school science teacher and trained as a K-12 administrator.
Dr. Millicent Musyoka
Technical Expert
Dr. Millicent Musyoka
Technical Expert
Dr. Millicent Musyoka, an associate professor at the Department of Deaf Studies & Deaf Education at Lamar University, is deeply committed to the issues of language and literacy development of Deaf children. She holds a Master's and Ph.D. in Deaf Education from Gallaudet University and has been a critical figure in deaf education in Kenya. Her leadership roles include serving as the lead curriculum specialist in Deaf education at the former Kenya Institute of Education, Curriculum and Research Center, now KICD. Before her tenure at KICD, she taught Deaf students in the school system in Kenya. Currently, she is training Deaf educators in the master's and doctoral programs in Deaf education at Lamar University. Her research interests include the early language and literacy development of Deaf children, bi/multilingualism in education, and Deaf with multiple disabilities. Dr. Musyoka has authored numerous journal articles, books, and book chapters in Deaf/special education. Her recent journal publications include "Writing Skills of Deaf Learners in K-6th Grade" and "Translanguaging Pedagogy in Deaf Teacher Education." She has also released three edited books: "Deaf Education and Challenges for Bilingual/Multilingual Students (2022)," "Meaningful and Active Family Engagement: IEP, Transition and Technology Integration in Special Education (2023)," and "Advocating and Empowering Diverse Families of Students with Disabilities Through Meaningful Engagement (2023)." Recently, Dr. Musyoka served as a technical expert in the Receptive and Expressive Language module (RELM-2024) and the Kenya Primary Literacy Program (KPLP-2024) projects. Currently, she is working on a book featuring ethnographic case studies focusing on teaching multilingual/immigrant deaf learners in the K-12 school system.
Gorretti Byomire
Technical Expert
Gorretti Byomire
Technical Expert
Gorretti Byomire is a dedicated disability inclusion and rights advocate, with a profound commitment to Early Childhood Development (ECD) contributing significantly to the field. Her extensive experience includes pivotal roles as an early childhood expert and disability inclusion expert, where she has been instrumental in shaping policies and practices in these domains. Gorretti holds the position of Lecturer and serves as the Director of the Disability Resource and Learning Centre at Makerere University Business School (MUBS). She conducts research and consultancies in Disability and Gender, leveraging her expertise to lead various projects. Her contributions include work on the TESTS project in Liberia, the African Leadership Academy in South Africa, and a World Bank study on the employment of mothers with children with disabilities, among others. In addition to her roles, Gorretti plays a pivotal role as a disability inclusion expert with Inclusive Development Partners and serves as a valuable member of the Disability-Inclusive Education Advisory Group. She further contributes her expertise to Tropical Health, acting as a disability inclusion expert in the evaluation of the Sightsavers inclusive eye health program in Uganda and Malawi. Beyond her professional roles, Gorretti is the CEO and founder of Byomire Inclusive Development Foundation (BIDF). BIDF envisions creating an empowered, resilient, and inclusive society, with a particular focus on key populations, including women and girls, youth, Persons with Disabilities, the elderly, refugees, and single fathers. Gorretti is the President of Lion's Club, Kampala New Century, where she is actively engaged in serving underserved communities. Committed to her own educational journey, she is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Information Systems with the University of South Africa. Her Ph.D. study focuses on the information needs, sources, and seeking behavior of persons with visual impairments, hearing impairments, intellectual, and developmental disabilities during disasters and emergencies.
Dr. How Kee Ling
Technical Expert
Dr. How Kee Ling
Technical Expert
Dr How Kee Ling is a social worker, educator, researcher and consultant with nearly 4 decades of experience in child protection work, women’s empowerment, disability rights and older persons rights in Malaysia. She has extensive practice as well as education and research experiences serving as a senior social worker in the Social Welfare Department in Sarawak, Malaysia from 1982 to 1994, and as an academic at a national university Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) since 1994. She was well recognized nationally and internationally as the founding director of the Centre for Disability Studies in UNIMAS. Upon her (compulsory) retirement as Associate Professor in Social Work in 2017, She was engaged as a Consultant for Programme and Partnership Development Sarawak by UNICEF (Malaysia) from July 2017 to June 2018. Dr Ling specializes in qualitative research and has collaborated with international universities and organizations such as UNICEF, SHAPE-SEA (Strengthening Human Rights and Peace Research and Education in ASEAN), ISEAS (Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) and Asian Development Bank. She is the author of 30 research articles and book chapters on inclusive research, cultural diversity and social work practice, disability, health rights of older persons, poverty and development. She is also the author of the book Indigenising Social Work: Research and practice in Sarawak and lead editor of Cross-cultural social work: Global and Local. Dr Ling holds a Ph.D in Social Work and Social Policy from The University of Queensland, Australia.
Ana Mickovska Raleva
Researcher
Ana Mickovska Raleva
Researcher
Ana Mickovska Raleva is a researcher and policy analyst with over 15 years of research experience in education, labor, social policy, human rights, and nondiscrimination. She has worked with numerous international organizations (The World Bank, UNDP, UN Women, UNICEF, SDC, EC, OECD, USAID, etc.) in implementing and evaluating projects in the abovementioned fields, including in topics related to education, gender, youth activism and interethnic integration in Macedonia. This has provided Ms. Mickovska-Raleva with an in-depth understanding of the Macedonian political and economic system and the different aspects in which it can be assessed, along with well-developed networks and relationships with relevant stakeholders. Her research experience includes developing research methodology and instruments, conducting qualitative and quantitative research, data processing and analysis, and writing technical and analytical reports. She holds a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Cambridge and is fluent in the Macedonian language.
Dr. Brent Elder
Technical Expert
Dr. Brent Elder
Technical Expert
Dr. Elder’s research focuses on the development of sustainable, inclusive education practices in under-resourced schools and low- and middle-income countries around the world. Specifically, his work utilizes a critical disability studies lens to examine the intersections of disability, poverty, and education. During the 2015-16 academic year, he conducted his doctoral research in Kenya as a Fulbright scholar. Aside from his extensive public school and higher education teaching experiences in the United States, Dr. Elder has collaborated with the US Embassy in Manama, Bahrain, the Ministry of Education in Kenya as an inclusive education consultant, and with the UK government, the Deaf community and stakeholders in the justice system in Northern Ireland. His international work has centered on developing sustainable inclusive practices that are in alignment with Articles 13 and 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). Most recently, he collaborated with USAID, UNICEF, and the World Bank on disability inclusive education development in sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Elder has published in the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, Disability & Society, International Journal of Whole Schooling, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, School-University Partnerships, International Journal of Inclusive Education, Disability and the Global South, Disability Studies Quarterly, Societies without Borders, and the Journal of International Special Needs Education.
Zarina Kurbanbekova
Technical Expert
Zarina Kurbonbekova is from Tajikistan and works as an ECD Senior Program Officer for the Aga Khan Foundation. She received her Master degree in ECD Education & Leadership from ECDE of Moscow School of Economic and Social Sciences and Manchester University in the United Kingdom. Zarina is a mother of three beautiful daughters, and her youngest daughter, Samira, has Down Syndrome. Since 2012, Zarina is a founder of the parents organization of children with Down Syndrome “SiDa”, and since 2018 she has been a founder and Chair of the Board of parents organization of children with disabilities “Open Hearts”. She has over 10 years of experience in primary school teaching and more than 17 years of experience of working for the international agencies. She is an active member of National Working Group at Ministry of Health and Social Protection on Early Detection & Early Intervention system development and a senior trainer of ECD, Early Childhood Intervention and Inclusive Education program.
Shahrzad Sajadi
Research Assistant
Shahrzad Sajadi
Research Assistant
Shahrzad Sajadi is a PhD candidate and graduate assistant at the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She received her BA in Law from Allameh Tabatabai University in Tehran, Iran and her MA in Journalism from Emerson College in Boston. In 2017, she investigated the state of mental health services and suicide rates at county jails across Massachusetts. In 2019, she completed a study funded by the US Social Security Administration on the access of jail inmates to federal benefits. She has experience working on evaluation reports assessing the disability inclusivity of several international development projects and an innovative program for transition-aged youth in Massachusetts. She is now working on a customer satisfaction survey for local Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies in New England. She recently completed a Herstory Writers Workshop/Coalition for Community Writing fellowship. This Participatory Action Research Method has allowed her to work more intimately with marginalised Syrian youth in Lebanon and amplify the voices of those whose stories often go unheard. She is currently working on a memoir-writing project with young Syrian refugee women who were married before the age of 18. Her research involves studying systems of exclusion in Massachusetts jails and informal settlements in Lebanon. In both of these case studies, special attention will be paid to the stories of women, because of the unique challenges of incarnated women with mental health disabilities and women in informal settlements. Inspired by her namesake Scheherazade the storyteller, she often uses storytelling and narrative methods in her research.
Dr. Shaun Grech
Technical Expert
Dr. Shaun Grech
Technical Expert
Dr. Shaun Grech is founder and director of The Critical Institute, Malta, Honorary Associate Professor with the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Cape Town, and Affiliate Associate Professor with the Department of International Relations at the University of Malta. Shaun is also editor-in-chief of the international journal, Disability and the Global South (DGS) and co-editor of the book series, Palgrave Studies in Disability and International Development.
His critical and interdisciplinary research covers a range of areas including disability and international development, inclusive social protection and climate adaptation, disability inclusive disaster risk reduction and humanitarian action, forced migration and intersectionality. Shaun has over two decades of field level action research experience with disability practice projects in contexts of extreme rural poverty and has worked in multiple regions in the global South. Shaun is a leading international academic and has published extensively in journals, is author of the book Disability and Poverty in the Global South: Renegotiating Development in Guatemala (Palgrave Macmillan), and co-editor of a number of books including Inclusive Communities: A Critical Reader (Sense Publishers) and Disability in the Global South: The Critical Handbook (Springer). He serves on the board of a number of international journals including Social Inclusion and Annual Review of Critical Psychology.
As a consultant, he has worked with and advised governments, NGOs and INGOs providing extensive research, evaluation and strategic expertise focused on disability in impoverished and volatile settings, while facilitating a comprehensive evidence-based approach to policy and programming grounded in actual needs of disadvantaged families and communities and aligned with international rights frameworks.
Dr. Hasheem Mannan
Technical Expert
Dr. Hasheem Mannan
Technical Expert
Dr. Hasheem Mannan is presently an Associate Professor in Health Systems at University College Dublin and formerly a Marie Curie Fellow (2007-09), British Chevening Scholar (1996-97), and United States J1 Research Scholar at the University of Kansas (2000-2005). While at the University of Kansas, he was awarded the Grace M. Phinney Scholarship, the Phi Beta Delta International Student Award for Excellence in International Education, the David M. Dahlke Memorial Scholarship, the School of Education, and the International Student Scholarship. He has furthered his academic work in addressing equity and inclusion in access to healthcare by leading the development of EquiFrame and Every Policy is Connected (EPIC) frameworks. EquiFrame allows for benchmarking of health and social care policies to ascertain the extent to which they incorporate core concepts of human rights that enable equitable access to public goods and services. This framework has been used to benchmark a range of health and social care policies and has guided the development/analysis of policies in a range of low- and middle-income countries through a range of partnership projects with governments and a range of United Nations Agencies. EPIC reviews policy documents with respect to their coherence with a set of agreed principles and intended beneficiaries or target groups. EPIC produces a diverse set of outputs, including indicators needed for the current policies, data gaps for monitoring agreed policies, new agreements on policy priorities, and inputs to future work to fill the current policy void. This framework has been adopted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission of the Asia and Pacific. It is used to support the work on Sustainable Development Goals that focus on equity and diversity. The focus of his research and teaching has always been on equitable access to public goods and services pertinent to specific population groups: early intervention for children with disabilities (USA), intellectual disability services (Ireland), care of the frail and elderly (Ireland), access to maternal and child health (global), disability and rehabilitation (global), and access to assistive technology and devices (global). I have carried out a range of commissioned research, including knowledge management projects focusing on equity and human rights for various United Nations agencies, including the World Health Organization, United Nations, United Nations Development Program, UNICEF, UNESCO, and UNESCAP.
Latifa Sebti
Technical Expert
Latifa Sebti
Technical Expert
Latifa Sebti is a predoctoral fellow in special education at William Paterson University. She is a licensed early childhood teacher with a master’s degree in education from Bridgewater State University. She has teaching experience in both higher education and elementary and secondary schools in the US and in Morocco. Her research interest is focused on investigating ideological and instructional practices in inclusive education including Universal Design for Learning. She is fluent in English, French, and Arabic languages.
Dr. Ghada Swadek
Technical Expert
Ghada Swadek, PhD, is an inclusive education consultant supporting schools, NGOs, and international project teams to develop, implement, and improve programs for diverse learners. Her work also includes direct support to families of children with disabilities. Ghada is an experienced educator with expertise working with students with disabilities and struggling learners from diverse backgrounds and contexts. She is skilled in the implementation of multi-tiered systems of support to enhance learners’ academic and social-emotional development. Ghada’s engagement with education goes beyond the traditional classroom. She has worked, coordinated, and volunteered in formal and informal education contexts in the United States and North Africa such as religious and weekend education programs, post-secondary disability support services, inclusive community-based education and sports programs, and homeschool programs. Ghada’s research and publishing has focused on inclusive education policy development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), understandings of disability and inclusion in the MENA, SDG 4 implications for inclusive education, literacy development and reading disabilities in Arabic language contexts, and assessment as related to students with disabilities.
Dagnachew Wakene
Technical Expert
Dagnachew Wakene
Technical Expert
Dagnachew Wakene has been working for over sixteen years as a Disability Justice and Human Rights lawyer, consultant, educator, and researcher. He holds an LLB degree from the Faculty of Law, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and a Master of Philosophy (MPhil), majoring in Disability and Rehabilitation Studies, from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Dagnachew served as Regional Director for the Africa Disability Alliance (ADA) where he had direct contributions in, among other duties, the validation, adoption, promotion, and ratification of the new Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, also known as the Africa Disability Protocol (ADP). Prior to joining ADA, he was Regional Coordinator for Africa – based in Addis Ababa – at the Disability Rights Promotion International (DRPI), a multi-year global project led by the Critical Disability Studies Department of York University in Toronto, Canada, which subsequently developed comprehensive, participatory monitoring tools and indicators unpacking disability-based rights violations on the basis of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). DRPI’s major outcomes whereby Dagnachew had a notable role in co-producing includes the Evidence-Based Indicators’ Report “Measuring Progressive Realization of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”. In 2015, Dagnachew was a recipient of the prestigious Mandela Washington Fellowship award - a flagship initiative of former U.S. President Barack H. Obama to empower emerging leaders in Africa. During this Fellowship Program, Dagnachew was enrolled for an in-person Civic Leadership Training at the University of Virginia (UVA), followed by a six-week Professional Development Experience (PDE) exchange at the World Institute on Disability (WID) in Berkeley, California. A polio-survivor himself, with lifelong experience and commitment to the cause of Disability Inclusion, Dagnachew has also been serving on a volunteer basis as a board member and co-founder of several non-profit organizations. He is currently a doctoral researcher with a research topic “The State’s Duty to Respect and Protect: Violence against Persons with Disabilities in Africa – A Case Study of Ethiopia”.
Dr. Jörg Weber
Technical Expert
Dr. Jörg Weber
Technical Expert
Dr. Jörg Weber is Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Cape Town. With a background that spans more than 20 years, Jörg specializes in advising a range of stakeholders on inclusive community development, including United Nations (UN) bodies and government agencies. He has extensive experience in the field, having worked for over a decade as a field worker and coordinator in rural development programs in Jamaica, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and El Salvador. Jörg has conducted program evaluations in more than 40 countries, is the executive editor for the World Health Organization (WHO) "INCLUDE" training, and oversees the audio-visual section of the international journal Disability and the Global South.
In addition to his editorial work, Jörg has advised both the WHO and the UN Patnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and held research fellow positions at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich, Germany. His current research interests focus on Community Support and Care, and the critical intersections with climate change adaptation, aging, and digitalization.
Kidus Yosef
Technical Expert
Kidus Yosef
Technical Expert
Kidus Yosef is a PhD candidate in Population Studies at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. He holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Applied Statistics from Addis Ababa University, providing a strong foundation in data analysis and statistical methods.
With five years of research experience at the Africa Leadership Excellence Academy, Kidus has conducted studies in socioeconomic, political, and leadership-related areas. This has honed his analytical skills and ability to synthesize complex information effectively.
Prior to his time at the Academy, Kidus served as a Lecturer and Researcher at Wolkite University and Debre Markos University, Ethiopia for over six years. His research focused on public health issues in Ethiopia. Notably, he led a survey on cervical cancer screening barriers among women, providing valuable insights. He also supervised a baseline study on HIV awareness among people with disabilities, contributing to improved understanding and support for this marginalized group.
Kidus has a comprehensive understanding of the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities in Ethiopia and a passion for improving health outcomes. His expertise in quantitative analysis, coupled with his dedication to healthcare research, positions him to make a meaningful impact on the project by driving positive change and enhancing healthcare practices.
Advisory Board
Dr. Jennae Bulat
Advisory Board Member and Technical Expert
Dr. Jennae Bulat
Advisory Board Member and Technical Expert
Jennae Bulat has a PhD in Human Development and Education focused specifically on atypical reading development and the use of assistive and enabling technologies to help children with learning differences learn to read. Throughout her career, she has used this grounding to support the learning of vulnerable and historically marginalized children both in the United States and internationally, including children diagnosed with disabilities or otherwise struggling to master the official curriculum, from early childhood through secondary school. This work has taken various forms: including designing and implementing technology-based programs for struggling readers, overseeing a global portfolio of disabilities inclusive education programming, and directing the technical strategy for and implementation of international education programming in resource-limited contexts from early childhood through higher education. She has led or supported education projects in over 20 countries, co-led country-wide evaluations of education for students with disabilities, supported the design and implementation of national-scale evaluations of student capacity in braille and sign language, and enabled the international collaboration and scaling of disabilities programming. Jennae also published a series of working papers on disabilities inclusive education in low- and middle-income countries, wrote USAID’s 2015 Guide for Strengthening Gender Equity and Inclusiveness in Teaching and Learning Materials, and authored multiple articles and book chapters on topics such as universal design for learning and effective teaching practices.
Chris Constantian
Advisory Board Member
Chris Constantian
Advisory Board Member
Chris Constantian helps international development organizations grow, especially in the USAID space. Chris began his international development career in Chemonics’ Europe & Eurasia Division before working in senior new business roles at Management Sciences for Health, Perkins School for the Blind, and Tetra Tech. Chris then returned to Chemonics to act in multiple senior positions, including as Managing Director of its Global Health Division, overseeing all business development and technical thought leadership efforts. He later helped to establish Chemonics’ UK Division and supported its expansion into the FCDO market. Chris next became Chief Growth Officer of IntraHealth International. In that role, he drove the organization’s strategy and led all resource development, communications, and knowledge management efforts and oversaw its SwitchPoint conference. In January 2022, after almost 20 years in senior business development roles, Chris started Constantian Strategies to help international development organizations set their long-term growth strategies; refine their BD systems, processes, and tools; and win high leverage efforts.
In previous lives, Chris worked as an English and music teacher, musician, and university lecturer in Japan, England, and Scotland, and he volunteered in rural Ecuador. He has a BA in History and Government with a music concentration from Skidmore College, an MA in Politics from England’s Durham University, and an MPhil in International Relations from Scotland’s St. Andrews University.
Dr. Christopher Johnstone
Advisory Board Member and Technical Expert
Dr. Christopher Johnstone
Advisory Board Member and Technical Expert
Christopher Johnstone, PhD is an Associate Professor of comparative education with a focus on inclusive education. He has published 55 books, articles, and book chapters on topics such as inclusive education policy, universal design for learning/assessment, and inclusive teacher development. Johnstone has worked on education projects in 26 countries, primarily in Europe (Central and Eastern), sub-Saharan Africa (Eastern, Western, Southern), Asia (Southern and Eastern), and the Caribbean. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in special education and has served as a teacher, lecturer, community-based rehabilitation volunteer, researcher, higher education administrator, and consultant over the course of his career. His current projects include a global evaluation of UNICEF's impact on inclusive education (funded by UNICEF evaluation unit), a three-year study on disability-inclusive employment in Bhutan (funded by Economic and Science Research Council UK), and a disability-focused situation analysis in Lesotho (funded by United Nations Population Fund).
Judy Heumann
In Memoriam/Past Advisory Board Member
IDP was honored to have Judy Heumann serve as a technical expert and board member from 2018 until she passed away in early 2023. May her memory be a blessing.
Judith (Judy) Heumann was a lifelong advocate for the rights of disabled people. She contracted polio in 1949 in Brooklyn, NY and began to experience discrimination at 5 years old when she was denied the right to attend school because she was a "fire hazard." Her parents played a strong role in fighting for her rights as a child. Judy determined that she, working in collaboration with other disabled people, had to play an increasing advocacy role as she and others experienced continuous discrimination because of their disabilities.
She was an internationally recognized leader in the disability rights community and a lifelong civil rights advocate. President Obama appointed Judy as the first Special Advisor for International Disability Rights at the U.S. Department of State, where she served from 2010-2017. Mayor Fenty, District of Columbia, appointed her as the first Director for the Department on Disability Services, where she was responsible for the Developmental Disability Administration and the Rehabilitation Services Administration. From June 2002- 2006, Judy served as the World Bank's first Adviser on Disability and Development. In this position, she led the World Bank's disability work to expand the Bank’s knowledge and capability to work with governments and civil society on including disability in the global conversation. From 1993 to 2001, Judy served in the Clinton Administration as the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Department of Education.
She was also responsible for the implementation of legislation at the national level for programs in special education, disability research, vocational rehabilitation and independent living, serving more than 8 million youth and adults with disabilities. From 1982-1993, she cofounded and coordinated the World Institute on Disability with Ed Roberts and Joan Leon. WID was the think tank run by disabled people focused on research to advance the Independent Living Movement. 1973-1993 Served as a founding member of the Berkeley Center for Independent Living and then on it’s Board of Directors. CIL Berkeley was the first Center in the United States and helped to launch the Independent Living Movement in the US and around the World.
Over the course of her life, Judy has been involved on the national and international front working with disabled people’s organizations and governments in the US and around the world to advance the human rights of disabled people. She has traveled using her motorized wheelchair to countries on every continent, in urban and rural communities. She has played a role in the development and implementation of major legislation including the IDEA, Section 504, the Americans with Disability Act and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.