Our Team

A Diverse Team Manifests Our Dreams.

A group photo of DRF staff members smiling and making peace signs and the power sign at the Boston staff retreat.

The Disability Rights Fund’s organizational structure, which incorporates persons with disabilities in decision-making roles, is informed by our grantmaking philosophy and principles of the CRPD, which recognize participation as an imperative.

Board of Directors

The Disability Rights Fund is governed by a Board of Directors who are experts in disability rights, global civil society, philanthropy, and non-profit governance.

Alberto Vasquez

President of the NGO Society and Disability – SODIS and a member of the Latin American Network of Psychosocial Diversity.

Maria Ní Fhlatharta, Co-Chair

Maria is a researcher at the Centre for Disability Law and Policy, where she works on the Re(al) Productive Justice project, funded by the Wellcome Trust.

Michael Szporluk

Michael has participated in several global evaluations of donors and agencies working on disability-inclusive development and has provided technical support to UN country teams in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific.

Michael Njenga

Regional Mental Health Advisor – Africa for CBM Global. He is also an Executive Council Member of the Commonwealth Disabled People Forum.

Setareki S. Macanawai

CEO for the Pacific Disability Forum (PDF) based in Suva, Fiji. Prior to PDF, he served as the Executive Director of the Fiji National Council for Disabled Persons and Principal of the Fiji School for the Blind.

Sikelelwa Alexandrina Msitshana

CEO of The Deaf Empowerment Firm (DEF), a company she founded to enable economic inclusion of the Deaf community in South Africa.

Staff

The Disability Rights Fund’s committed staff work out of our headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts and around the world, based in or near the countries where we operate. Our work is led by experts in disability rights – people with disabilities themselves – who understand the unique country contexts and global challenges for persons with disabilities.

Aapurv Jain, Associate Director, Bilateral Relations (He/Him)
Antoinette Harris, Director of Grants Management (She/Her)
Buyung Ridwan Tanjung, Program Officer for Indonesia (He/Him)
Chrissy Dumaduma Zimba, Program Officer Malawi (She/Her)
Christina L. Parasyn, Director of Technical Assistance (She/Her)
Cristina Ruggiero, Human Resources Manager (She/Her)
Dominic DeRamo, Development Associate (He/Him)
Dwi Ariyani, Acting Co-Director of Programs (She/Her)
Esohe Evbuomwan, Finance Manager (She/Her)
Faaolo Utumapu-Utailesolo, Program Officer for Pacific Island Countries (She/Her)
Federico Martire, Acting Chief Operating Officer (He/Him)
Inemesit Udo, Senior Information Technology Administrator (He/Him)
Jean Pierre Sibomana, Program Officer, Uganda (He/Him)
Jen Bokoff, Director of Development (She/Her)
Jo-Ann Garnier, Program Officer for Haiti (She/Her)
Jorge Manhique, Senior Program Manager (He/Him)
Katiya Sakala, Acting Co-Director of Programs (She/Her)
Kerry Thompson, Senior Advisor, Inclusion and Accessibility (She/Her)
Krishna Gahatraj, Program Officer, Nepal (He/Him)
Lorraine Wapling, Interim Executive Director (She/Her)
Melanie Harper, Director of Finance (She/Her)
Melanie Kawano-Chiu, Acting Chief of Learning & Growth (She/Her)
Myroslava Tataryn, Chief of Movements Division (She/Her)
Pedro Ponce, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer (He/Him)
Rucha Chitnis, Director of Communications (She/Her)
Theophilus Michael Odaudu, Program Manager, West Africa (He/Him)
Victoria Lee, Rights Advocacy Director (She/Her)

Grantmaking Committee

The DRF and DRAF Grantmaking Committees are Committees of the Boards responsible for contributions to grantmaking strategy and pooled fund grants decisions. The Committees are made up of institutional donors to the Funds and global disability activists. Current activist members are listed below.

Ishumael Zhou

Ishumael Zhou is a visually impaired disability rights advocate. He became blind at the age of seven due to measles. Mr. Ishumael Zhou is currently the President of the African Union of the Blind.

Nandini Ghosh

Nandini Ghosh is an academician-activist working on the intersectional issues of disability and gender. At present she is working as Assistant Professor of Sociology at Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata, India.

Nikki Brown-Booker

As a person with a disability and a biracial woman, Nikki Brown-Booker has devoted her work to advancing rights at the intersection of disability justice and racial justice.

Waqar Puri

Waqar Puri is a Project Manager at STEP, the Special Talent Exchange Programme, based in Pakistan.