Adele Vrana and Anasuya Sengupta, Co-Directors and Co-Founders of Whose Knowledge?

Adele Vrana has led business development and partnerships initiatives to help build a more plural and diverse communities in her native country of Brazil and globally. She is the former Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Wikimedia Foundation and a 2015 Erasmus Prize laureate on behalf of her work to expand access to Wikipedia in the Global South. Adele holds a B.A. in International Relations and a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Sao Paulo. When not re-imagining what the internet of the future would look like and advocating for that online, Adele spends most of her time raising two feminist boys, reading black feminists from the Global South, and spending time with her friends from close and afar.

Anasuya Sengupta has led initiatives in India and the USA, across the global South, and internationally for more than 20 years, to amplify marginalized voices in virtual and physical worlds. Anasuya is the former Chief Grant-making Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation, former Regional Program Director at the Global Fund for Women, and a 2017 Shuttleworth Foundation Fellow. Anasuya received a 2018 Internet and Society award from the Oxford Internet Institute, and is on the Scholars’ Council for UCLA’s Center for Critical Internet Inquiry. Anasuya holds a Masters of Philosophy in Development Studies from the University of Oxford, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar. She also has a B.A. in Economics (Honors) from Delhi University. When not rabble-rousing online, Anasuya makes and breaks pots and poems, takes long walks by the water and in the forest, and contorts herself into yoga poses.

 

Tash Terry of IndigenousWays and Indigie Femme. The birth of IndigenousWays came in 2007. Co-founders, Tash Terry, Diné (Navajo) Nation and Elena Higgins, Maori/Samoan, began performing that year as Indigie Femme, an Indigenous woman empowered musical duo. They began combining and collaborating to further their life-long mission-driven singer songwriter talents to bring music for healing, positive change and to raise consciousness about Indigenous Wisdom and the Survival Imperative of Indigenous communities locally and worldwide. Based on the overwhelming feedback they received from their performances and workshops at national and international venues, they were inspired to start Indigenous Ways. Through travels they discovered that globally, Indigenous communities identified a need for survival through deeper integration of their culture, their spirituality and their community. They determined that opening pathways through music, story-telling and the arts provided opportunities to raise awareness and global support for Indigenous communities. IndigenousWays is an Indigenous women-led nonprofit based in Northern New Mexico. Native Americans represent 10.6 percent of the New Mexico population. For the past 14 years, the organization has been providing all-inclusive Indigenous educational programs that encompass artistic and musical performances, along with programs developed to acknowledge cultural awareness, values and practices. More at https://www.indigenousways.org/. IndigenousWays is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Soundcloud.

Indigie Femme has circled the globe, stirring audiences and gathering fans for more than a decade. Along the way they’ve been 2017 Indigenous Music Award nominees; 2016, 2014 and 2012 New Mexico Music Award winners; 2013 Aboriginal Peoples Choice as Best International Duo; 2011 Native American Music Award winners and Sacramento Women of Color & Diversity Honorees; and 2010 Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards. They are especially well known in the two-spirit world of Indigiqueer performance. Indigie Femme’s music can be sampled, and they can be reached, through a variety of platforms including: ReverbNation, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, MySpace and Instagram. More at https://www.indigiefemme.com/

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