DRF Staff
Diana Samarasan, the Director of the Disability Rights Fund, has over fifteen years of experience in disability, international health and human rights. In her previous position, Diana directed the Mental Disability Advocacy Center in Budapest, Hungary, a legal advocacy organization, which litigates abuses of rights of persons with mental disabilities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Previous to this position, she worked with the American Refugee Committee and Doctors of the World, addressing issues such as access of vulnerable populations to reproductive health services, tuberculosis control, and deinstitutionalization. A graduate of Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Diana has advanced degrees in Public Administration and Psychology. Diana is a Board member of the United States International Council on Disability, on the Steering Committee of New England International Donors and the International Human Rights Funders' Group (IHRFG).
Yumi Sera, Operations Director, has over twenty years of experience focused on enhancing civil society organizations and managing innovative grantmaking and learning programs. She has worked for NGOs, development agencies, and philanthropic organizations, including ten years at the World Bank where she coordinated the Small Grants Program and Grants Facility for Indigenous Peoples. Yumi has written papers on youth development, gender, and grantmaking. She has a Master’s from Yale School of Management and a Bachelor’s in Psychology. She served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal. Active in her community, Yumi volunteers for the World Affairs Council Sacramento and Sacramento affiliate of VSA International Organization on Arts and Disability. She served on the Council on Foundation’s International Program Committee and on the Board of the Women’s Institute for Leadership Development for Human Rights.
Michael Szporluk, Senior Program Officer for the Europe and Africa Regions, has over ten years of experience in strengthening local civil society and promoting the rights of marginalized populations. Before joining the DRF, he worked with Mercy Corps on supporting community mobilization projects, organizational strengthening efforts and local grassroots advocacy campaigns. Part of his work has been on mainstreaming disability and employing a gender lens in project design and implementation. Michael has also worked for the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia and as the Project Manager for the Policy Dialogue Initiative, a project of the European Center for Minority Issues based in the Republic of Macedonia. He has a Master's in Public Policy with a concentration in the non-profit sector from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Paul Deany, Program Officer for the Pacific and Asia Regions, has fifteen years of international development experience focusing on disability, HIV/AIDS, and community development. His work experience includes World Vision, the UN Development Programme, UNAIDS, the Burnet Institute and various community-based organizations. He has worked in Europe, Australia, Africa and extensively throughout Asia, especially India, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, the Philippines, Pakistan and Nepal. For the past five years, he was Advocacy Officer at CBM (Christian Blind Mission) Australia. He is the founding Coordinator of the Australian Disability and Development Consortium, a regional rights-based network focusing attention, expertise and action on disability in developing countries. Qualified with a Bachelor of Social Work and Masters of Primary Health Care, Paul is passionate about social justice, disability and poverty issues.
Catalina Devandas Aguilar, Program Officer for Latin America and the Middle East Regions, has worked on disability, development and human rights since early 2000. She is a Costa Rican lawyer born with spina bifida and has been directly involved as an activist with Disabled Persons' Organizations (DPOs) at national, regional and international levels. She participated in the negotiation process of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Catalina has also worked at the World Bank’s Disability and Inclusive Development team for the Latin American and the Caribbean region and for the Secretariat for the CRPD, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Human Rights in Madrid, Spain. Catalina is a Board Member of the Latin American coalition of DPOs, RIADIS.
Kerry Thompson, Program Associate, brings more than ten years of combined experiences in business, finance, and grants management in both academic and healthcare settings, including working for Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the National Institute of Health. She is an active advocate for the deaf community with an emphasis on making medical care more accessible for the deaf and hard of hearing. She is also co-founder and spokeswoman for Text4Deaf, aiming to bridge the communication gap between the deaf and hearing communities. She holds a Master’s in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education with an academic focus on disability rights in the broader context of international human rights. Her academic experience included human rights courses at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Law School.