2022 Heumann-Armstrong Semi-finalists

In addition to our six winners, we would like to highlight ten semi-finalists for their outstanding work for disabled students in education. Our ten semi-finalists will each receive a $100 gift card.

Bianca Aguilar, Soka University of America

Bianca, a disabled Mexicanx and Central American person, with mountains in the background.

More about Bianca:

Bianca, they/them/ze, Disabled Mexicanx and Central American recent college graduate. From the Inland Empire, where I’ve been able to organize in mutual aid and disability justice projects since the pandemic hit.

Tiffany-Ashton Gatsby, University of Washington

Tiffany-Ashton at the University of Washington commencement.

More about Tiffany-Ashton:

Tiffany-Ashton Gatsby (they/she) is a queer-disabled, genderfluid artist, activist, and anthropologist (in training!) living with Multiple Sclerosis. They received their Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington in Medical Anthropology and Global Health, Interdisciplinary Visual Arts, and Diversity, graduating summa cum laude and received the 2022 President’s Medal for the most distinguished academic record in their graduating class. They are now beginning a doctoral program in Medical Anthropology at the UW researching how socially engaged art has the power to provide strong community-level healing among queer-disabled individuals, combating marginalization, trauma, and unintentional harm experienced when interacting within systems of care, focusing on biomedicine and the healthcare system.

Kaitlin Anzalone, SUNY Geneseo

Kaitlin Anzalone, a white woman with blonde hair and glasses, wearing a blue patterned sweater, is smiling at the camera.

More about Kaitlin:

Kaitlin Anzalone is a third-year undergraduate student at SUNY Geneseo. She is a Sociomedical Sciences and Communications double major with a minor in Human Development. Kaitlin is an Access Advocate through the Office of Accessibility on her campus and enjoys creating an accessible and welcoming campus for all students. Kaitlin also does freelance advocation work even presenting at the SUNY Geneseo Diversity Summit in 2022. She is also the Opinion Editor for her campus newspaper The Lamron and uses her platform to spread her ideas and advocation in hopes of deepening the understanding of the concept of disability. Kaitlin was inspired to pursue disability advocation through her experience as a person who developed a physical disability and saw how inaccessible the world has become. Kaitlin wants to continue her advocation work in hopes of making society more inclusive and accessible for all.

Sarika Chawla, Harvard University

Sarika, an Indian woman with light brown skin, dark brown eyes, and short, curly, black hair, is looking at the camera and smiling. She is wearing a black blouse, gold hoop earrings, a gold angel wing necklace, and eye makeup. She is sitting in a manual wheelchair and in the background is a tree trunk.

More about Sarika:

Sarika Chawla is a senior at Harvard University studying computer science. She is a queer disability advocate who is passionate about disability justice and intersectional activism. On campus, she is a co-founder and co-president of the Harvard Undergraduate Disability Justice Club, which works to advocate for accessibility and fight ableism at Harvard. In her free time, she loves to sing with her a cappella group and her choir, write poetry, improve her language skills, and work on reducing the pile of unread books on her desk.

Leah Reinardy, Hope College

Leah Reinardy, a non-binary white student with golden hair past their shoulders. They are wearing a blue and green plaid flannel shirt over a blue t-shirt and are standing in front of a red brick wall.

More About Leah:

Leah Reinardy is a Disabled student and fifth-year senior at Hope College studying Music and Business. Their lived experience with chronic illness, neurodivergence, and mental health conditions shape their work as a leader, educator, and consultant. Leah is one of the founding members and current President of Hope Advocates for Invisible Conditions, Hope College’s student organization for disabled students. As an Autistic educator, they guest lecture for higher education courses, are a contributor to the My Dearest Friend Project, and are a TEDx speaker. Leah is passionate about addressing disparities in disability employment and researches how managers and teams can collaborate in more accessible and inclusive ways. Additionally, Leah is an avid percussionist and jazz pianist and performs around the West Michigan area. They spend any additional free time reading, going for long hikes, listening to Bill Evans albums, and worrying about things they can’t control. You can connect with Leah on LinkedIn or on Instagram @lreinardy.

Caitlin Cafiero, Syracuse University

A selfie of Caitlin, a white genderqueer person with dark-framed glasses and short dark hair. They are wearing a blue floral shirt and a purple tie that matches the purple quiff in their hair. Caitlin is smiling broadly.

More about Caitlin:

Caitlin (she/they) is a disabled graduate student in the Cultural Foundations of Education program at Syracuse University. Academically, Caitlin’s focus is on applying a critical disability studies lens to educational research, including analyzing how special education professionals are trained. Outside of classes, she works as a TA for an inclusive preschool program and freelances as a sound designer and accessibility consultant for theater. As a disabled theater artist, they are particularly interested in creating accessible opportunities for other disabled artists and in educating existing theater companies in accessibility, inclusion, and disability justice. Caitlin loves hollering about disability history: this past July, she ran an Instagram that showcased a microbiography of one disabled figure every day @daily_disabled_figure.

Deanna Parvin Yadollahi, City University of New York

A photograph of a young adult named Deanna Yadollahi. Deanna is outdoors in front of a trees, plants, an Orange flower, and blue sky, and is smiling. Deanna has light brown skin and short, partially shaved, curly hair with side bangs. Deanna is wearing a light pink tie dye top and a colorful floral kimono.

More about Deanna:

Deanna Parvin Yadollahi (they/them) is a fat, disabled, neurodivergent, mad, non-binary, diasporic mixed-race Iranian and Indigenous Toltec-Mexican community activist, friend, and dog parent. Deanna’s scholar-art-activism is informed by their lived experience and both with and for their communities. Deanna is passionate about collaboratively undoing ableism and intersecting oppressions, especially as it relates to collective accessibility. They hope to enact institutional change and radical reimagination that will lead to more supportive and just realities. Deanna enjoys making connections with people and journeying with others to find creative ways to navigate a world that wasn’t made for all of us. Deanna’s work includes community-building, resource-creating, presenting, writing, being an access doula, and Deanna’s Creative Access Consulting practice. Their work is based in deep appreciation for disability justice, which is intersectional and calls for cross-movement solidarity as well as community-advocated accessibility practices. Deanna studied Disability Studies at the graduate level, and most highly values knowledge that is co-created within their communities. Deanna acknowledges, with respect, that they are a settler on the lands of the Kizh Nation. They support the LandBack movement, Climate Justice, acknowledging historic and intergenerational oppression, and dismantling its continuations today. At this time, you can visit Deanna Parvin Yadollahi’s working draft website (bit.ly/D-Y-Scholarship)!

Moira Armstrong, Kent State University

A photo of Moira Armstrong in a grey sweater in front of a bookshelf.

More about Moira:

Moira Armstrong (they/them) is a graduate student at Birkbeck, University of London in the Gender, Sexuality, and Culture program. They are a graduate of Kent State University, where they earned a bachelor’s degree in English and history and co-founded the Kent State COVID Safety Coalition, which advocates for improved COVID safety measures on Kent’s campus.

Athena Swiader, University of Pittsburgh

Athena Swiader smiling while standing in front of a white background. Athena is white, has long brown hair, and is wearing a black blazer with a white top underneath.

More about Athena:

Athena Swiader is currently a senior at the University of Pittsburgh, studying for a dual major in Developmental Psychology and Gender & Sexuality. At Pitt, she spends her time in her research lab and in her club Disabled in Higher Education which aims to create a space for college students with any type of disability on campus. Going forward she plans to focus her studies in testing and assessment for individuals with learning and developmental disabilities.

Keira Thompson

A teenage girl with brown, shoulder-length hair smiles at the camera. She wears a multi-colored pastel, tie-dye sweatshirt and is against a dark teal background.

More about Keira:

Keira Thompson is a high school sophomore with autism. She is the author of a children’s book, Mila and the Too Hard Hoop, and has been featured in print, online and TV stories locally and nationwide, including prior to a Milwaukee Bucks basketball game. She presented scholarship awards at the STEaM Summit for Girls in partnership with the Milwaukee Business Journal. In addition, she served as both an event ambassador and 50th anniversary celebration speaker for Special Olympics. She had the tremendous honor of meeting Judy Heumann and making a guest appearance on her podcast, The Heumann Perspective. Keira loves math, reading, painting, playing basketball, swimming, collecting seashells and celebrating holidays. She embodies the theme of her book by encouraging people to never give up, even if things are hard.

Leslie A. Zukor, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

Leslie A. Zukor is a light-skinned person with hazel eyes, black shoulder-length hair, and glasses, who is smiling in the picture. She is wearing a maroon beret with white and black portions at the top and a maroon-colored shirt with a gold necklace and a silver chain.

More about Leslie:

Leslie A. Zukor is an autistic disability rights activist who is a Master of Science candidate at Columbia Journalism School. To fight ableism in education, she co-founded the Columbia Student Disability Network, a campus-wide activist group for which she currently serves as President. She also is the founder and President of the Columbia Journalism School Alliance of Journalists with Disabilities, the first affinity group for people with disabilities at a journalism school in the country. As career goals, she hopes to do research at a disability advocacy organization, write historical narratives about the neurodiversity movement, or pen opinion pieces advancing disability rights.