Sanja Tarczay
Dr. Sanja Tarczay was born in Zagreb as a deaf child in a deaf family and later became Deafblind. In 1994, she established the Croatian Association of Deafblind Persons “Dodir” where she is acting as president. She is the creator of a Croatian Sign Language course, courses for Service Support Providers (SSPs), courses for Deafblind interpreters, and the founder of the Croatian Sign Language Interpreting Centre.
Akhil Paul
Akhil has played a pivotal role in making deafblind people a known entity in the region. From 1989, Akhil worked with National Association for the Blind (India) for 7 years in reaching out to rural blind through Community Based Rehabilitation. In 1997, he took up the challenge of developing services for deafblind when not even handful of people knew what deafblindness was and nurtured the movement to the extent that today, from one service in 1997 to in more than 60 in 24 states in India as well as in Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia.
Kavita Prasad
Kavita Prasad is the Director of Sense International responsible for its strategic direction and operations globally. Sense International is a UK based international charity that works to support people with deafblindness in eight countries across the world. Previously, Kavita was CEO of DeafKidz International and Sound Seekers, organisations dedicated to supporting deaf children and adults in low and middle income countries in areas of protection, health and education.
Sampada Shevde
Sampada Shevde oversees Perkins India’s programs. A 1999 graduate of Perkins International’s rigorous Educational Leadership Program, Shevde now drives Perkins India’s locally facing operations, working on developing future partnerships and programs to grow impact. She has successfully initiated collaborations with government organizations and routinely delivers trainings and works with teachers and families in the community.
Dr Meredith Prain
Meredith has worked with people with deafblindness of all ages as a speech pathologist, researcher, project manager and advocate since 1995. She has a strong commitment to contributing to the evidence-base of good practice in working with people with deafblindness and sharing information about good practice widely.
Krishnamaya Adhikari
Krishnamaya Adhikari, born in 1983 in Morang, Nepal, lost her hearing at age seven due to typhoid, and later became deafblind. Despite these challenges, she completed higher education without sign language support. Her life changed when she joined the Koshi Association of the Deaf (KoAD) and became a board member and Vice President.