Akhil Paul has been working extensively for the education and rehabilitation of deafblind people, people who have combination of vision as well as hearing difficulties. Armed with an education in social work and a specialization in working with people with multiple sensory impairments, he is the Director, Sense International (India) since 1997. Akhil was instrumental in setting up the organizations operations across India, planning strategy and financial systems, putting together a team, establishing systems of monitoring & evaluation, fundraising and reporting to funders. Akhil has played a pivotal role in making deafblind people (who can neither see, hear or speak) a known entity in the country. He took up the challenge when not even handful of people knew what deafblindness was and nurtured the movement to the extent that services increased from 1 in 1997 to 40 today in 19 states of the country. Today with the partner network, Sense International (India) is transforming lives of more than 37,000 deafblind people and ensuring their rightful inclusion in our society. Under Akhil's able leadership, Sense International (India) has become a synonym for deafblindness and has created networks of teachers; deafblind adults and their families. Akhil has succeeded in creating a dedicated team to ensure that deafblind people are 'seen & heard'. Previously, he was the Senior Projects Coordinator at the National Association for the Blind. He has also received the prestigious HSBC-Indo British Award- 2003 for outstanding services to deaf-blind people. His service to the differently-abled extends to writing for them - Akhil has contributed several chapters to various books and manuals for their education and rehabilitation, presented papers and articles at national and international conferences and co-authored the Manual on Community based Rehabilitation for the Blind People's Association, Ahmedabad.
Syed Sallauddin Pasha is revered as ‘Father of Indian Therapeutic Theatre for persons with disabilities’. He is a trained Bharatanatyam and Kathak Dancer and Choreographer, Theatre Director and Actor. He created Ability Unlimited– India’s first professional traditional dance company to integrate highly skilled dance-theatre with sustainable development. For Guruji Pasha, theatre is the all-encompassing universal vehicle for his creative vision. As a therapist he has successfully conducted thought provoking therapeutic theatre workshops for people with disabilities, special educators, therapists, mental health professionals, universities, special needs institutions in India and Abroad. He was first one to conduct therapeutic workshop for the Tsunami victims (Andaman, Nikobari, Katchal and Ranchi tribes) at Anadman and Nikobar Islands. This project was commissioned by UNESSCO. For the past 25 years, through his innovative methodology, direction and choreography, he has efficiently executed 100 Mega Therapeutic Theatre Productions bringing hope, confidence and zest to the people with disabilities around the world. Guruji Pasha worked as international Scholar at Cornell University, Special pedagogic dance theatre director at many special schools in Finland. He is a recipient of National Award from the President of India for outstanding performance in the field of empowerment of persons with disabilities and world record holder from 'Limca Book of World Records' for creating 100 dance theatre productions and 10,000 performances by persons with disabilities across the globe. His pioneering efforts have won National and International recognition.
Anjlee Agarwal (2009-10)
Anjlee Agarwal, Founder & Executive Director of Samarthyam is involved in disseminating Accessibility Awareness through a novel model which primarily focuses on enabling inclusion of persons with disabilities to access education, tourism, transportation and environment, devoid of any hindrance. Learning from painful struggles and social stigma Anjlee, a disabled Activist and Access Consultant, realized that most of the tourist sites lacks accessibility for disabled and the elderly. She has been catalyst in re-designing the infrastructure set up of Dilli Haat, Delhi Metro Stations, Bus Rapid Transit System, Bus stops and many more public places to make them more users friendly and universally accessible. Furthermore, she is striving hard to get persons with disabilities recognized in the mainstream society by empowering them on disability issues and taking up research projects on Right of Way, Pedestrian infrastructure and Transit systems. As Master Trainer, she continues her work with to sensitize public & stake holders; capacity building of community and bring a wave of celebration in the human race which crosses the boundaries of differences.
Sanjeev Sachdeva (2009-10)
Honorary Founder and Project Director of Samarthyam, Mr, Sanjeev Sachdeva has been working for the disabled with utmost sincerity. He is presently working on various projects to promote barrier free environment for disabled persons. Since 1996, he has successfully organized more than 60 tours for persons with sever disabilities promoting the concept of Barrier-Free Tourism. In Samarthyam, he has been actively involved with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation thereby promoting a user-friendly system for all. He has been responsible for organizing several workshops and conferences and has been successful over time in spreading awareness and gathering much needed attention towards the issue of accessibility.
Divya Arora (2008-09)
As a differently-abled person, Divya Arora had to face struggle and painful blows of society’s social stigma, humiliation and attitude of non-acceptance. With determination to put an end to all this, she chose the entertainment industry as an actress, director and writer, to bring about awareness and create sensitivity for the cause through theatre. Divya Arora has taken on the lead role on a wheelchair with equal zest, only to achieve the described aim - travel with a meaningful production across frontiers and request society to encourage, promote and support the continuity of the same. She is also empanelled with India’s largest cultural organization - the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) as an artist, director and actor representing the country on the global cultural map.
Shanti Raghavan ( 2007-08)
She is the Founder and Managing Trustee of Enable India. Her first encounter with disability was when her brother became visually impaired. After his successful rehabilitation, she established Enable India with her husband to help people with disability live wholesome lives. Since then, she has “enabled” rehabilitation and employment opportunities for numerous people with disabilities, and aims at helping them to create a confident and independent future for themselves.