Sonya, a student at Harvard, is a semi-finalist for the 2023 Heumann-Armstrong Award.
More about Sonya:
Sonya is a Georgia-based multidisciplinary change maker and thinker. Fortunate to have studied and crafted theater and dance across the United States, her approach to art and activism is informed by the principals of Disability Justice and her lived experience as a queer and Disabled woman. She holds a BA in Arts Management from Purchase College, SUNY, where she was influential in reforming fire evacuation policy for disabled students. She has built trainings on Disability Justice practice for organizations and institutions of higher learning for several years. Notably, she championed the integration of Disability Justice curriculum at COLAGE, the only support network in the US for people with one or more LGBTQIA parent or caregiver, and produced a full length documentary on disability, The Souls of our Feet. She is the former Co-Executive Director of Dance for All Bodies, and served as a Case Manager in Colorado’s first program for people with I/DD experiencing homelessness. Sonya is proud to have supported Stacey Abrams’ 2022 gubernatorial campaign in engaging disabled voters and bolstering campaign accessibility. Currently, she is Project Manager of Operational Accessibility with Hyp-Access and Powerhouse arts, while simultaneously pursuing graduate studies at Harvard Extension School. Happiest when fostering community, Sonya dreams of and strives for a more equitable, accessible, artistically daring world. Find out more about Sonya’s work, and follow her on instagram.