Abueng was born in Soweto. She’s the only child to her parents. Since she was young she had the love for theatre and drama. 1995 she joined a theatre community group called Thesele Creative Society. 2001 was her first tour to Europe, she traveled with the group for six years doing different street theatre shows in different European countries. The shows were brewed out of music, dance, acting and interacting with the audience. She was a lead in the performances with music. 

Ben is a highly experienced and dynamic creative Teaching Artist with over 25 years’ experience designing and delivering transformative arts-based programs. With a unique blend of musical, theatrical, and visual storytelling skills. Ben specialises in using the arts to foster connection, wellbeing and joy — particularly in healthcare, education, and community settings. Ben holds a Master of Music and a specialisation in Community Arts Engagement from Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Ben is the founder of Creative Arts 4 Good and Recycle Create Play, initiatives that celebrate energising the human spirit, creating bespoke interactive arts experiences for all. 

Bio and photo coming soon!

Erica is the Accessibility Coordinator for a large children’s arts festival and as a theatre artist has worked extensively with community artists living with developmental disabilities.

Gladys is an independent Artist, Award-winning Dance Education practitioner, Dancer and Choreographer, one of her many prominent accolades includes The PRESIDENTIAL NATIONAL AWARD, The ORDER OF IKHAMANGA in SILVER for Arts & Culture in 2012, recipient of the TUNKIE AWARD 2011 annually by the University of Johannesburg Arts and Culture, The NALEDI THEATRE AWARD for INNOVATION IN THEATRE AWARD 2019 and in 2020 GAUTENG ISHASHALASI Theatre Awards, Special Awards. These was awarded for her excellent role achieve in the Art of Dance, the contribution she made, in the fields of arts and theatre work in South Africa, and putting South Africa on the world map in her field. 

Heather is a teaching artist at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, choreographer, and the co-director for Teaching Artists Connect. Bryce has expertise and a passion for in working with people of all ages, including populations often under-represented in the arts such as older adults, people with disabilities, and people living with Parkinson's Disease and Dementia. Bryce has over 20 years of experience as a teaching artist and educator. She holds her M.F.A. in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College. 

Heather Marshall (she/her) is a queer, disabled, multi award-winning, socio-political artist and writer. She often works under the company name Creative Electric where she creates theatre, live art and tape art with and for people that may not traditionally engage in the arts due to social and/or financial barriers. She is an associate artist at the Fruitmarket Gallery where she facilitates projects for young people who identify as autistic, ADHD or are experiencing mental ill health. 

Jackson (he/they) is a fabulously autistic playwright, screenwriter, theatre artist, and filmmaker, based in New York City, who makes work that is weird for weirdness' sake, determinedly anti-conventional, and shamelessly wackadoo.  

As a public speaker, Jackson has given talks on the intersection of theatre and disability at Lincoln Center, Brooklyn College, the City College of New York, the CUNY Neurodiversity Conference, and the 6th International Teaching Artist Conference. Jackson has hosted the 2023 Marvels of Media Awards and was the keynote speaker for Arts for Autism 2023.  

As a teaching artist, Jackson has worked with Roundabout Theatre Company, Lincoln Center, Kaiser's Room, the Actionplay Neurodivergent Playwriting Lab, and the Sarah Lawrence College Theatre Outreach Program. 

Jade (they/them) is a nonbinary neuroqueer person, artist, UX designer and expressive arts therapy practitioner in training, from Bengaluru, India.

When they are not advocating for accessibility or community wellbeing, they are experimenting with art, painting murals, collecting cute stickers or getting lost in a fantasy novel (preferably one with dragons).

With too many hobbies, Jade has a curious mind, playful spirit and a vision for an inclusive future where everyone belongs.

Their motto? Jump in, figure it out and help others along the way

Jean is teaching artist/director for Lincoln Center Education, working extensively with LCE’s Teaching Artist Development Labs and international consultancies. Jean is a recipient of Lincoln Center’s Directors Emeriti Award and represented LCE at the International Teaching Artist Conferences (ITAC) in Oslo, Brisbane, Edinburgh, New York, Seoul, and again in Oslo in 2022. Jean teaches Theatrical Clown and Accepting the Ridiculous for The New School College of Performing Arts. She is a board member for The Maxine Greene Institute for Aesthetic Education and Social Imagination, serves on the Leadership Committee for ITAC, and the National Advisory Committee for the Teaching Artist Guild.  

Jeffrey is a theatre director, drama educator and creative producer. He holds a MA (Drama and Theatre Education) from the University of Warwick (United Kingdom).  Since graduation, Jeffrey ran National Arts Festivals with the National Arts Council and the People’s Association.  In 2016, Jeffrey started Theatre Today, to conceptualize theatre and applied arts workshops, productions and mentorships for children, youths, seniors, and the disabled community. Jeffrey is keen to collaborate with artists or organisations.  

Joke Berton started her career in sales, while she gave all her free time to dancing and theatre make-up. After a few years she made the switch to freelance and later full-time theatre work.

She is a creative generalist who is interested in all art forms: poetry, theatre, dance and painting.

Currently she is coordinating the Louder Together congrestival at OPENDOEK alongside Joke Q and Eline.

Joke Quaghebeur started her professional career in Ypres at the tourism department and switched in 1986 to the newly established Cultural Center in the same city. In 1998, she was seconded to the cultural project Anno ’02 for the Kortrijk-Roeselare-Ypres-Tielt region. As project coordinator, she initiated many new initiatives that continue to be successful to this day. After Anno ’02, she became project coordinator for Bal Moderne, with which she toured both domestically and internationally and she established the successful Dancing Kids program.

Her experience at the dance house she founded in Ypres, ‘dansstudjoke’ (1986), where she still teaches, proved very valuable for this work. She also worked as general manager at Ensemble Leporello and Cie De Koe (now De Hoe). In 2016, OPENDOEK invited her to take on the role of director. She transitioned from professional theatre to amateur theatre because of its societal impact and audience policy.

She transformed OPENDOEK from a volunteer-based organization into a professional one with its own location in the city of Antwerp where she is now pursuing an international path, championing independence, solidarity, accessibility, and diversity.

An agent of change, JT sees his role as Kaiwhakahaere Matua (Executive Director) of Touch Compass as a kind of 'chief artist support', the 'engine room' for Aotearoa’s extraordinary disabled artists and creatives - empowering and enabling the making of professional high quality work that resets the bar for disability-led arts. 

JT is a bicultural Māori arts loving, whānau-oriented husband; and father of two boys. With lived experience of navigating life as AuDHD. Possessed of a creative heart and hyperfocused mind. Kaupapa-driven, culturally-aware with a deep sense of social justice, 

He seeks to ignite power; incite change; and impact access for the current and next generation of creatives with lived experience of disability, their allies and communities of people and practice. 

A former actor, singer, director and dancer himself he understands the art of being an artist. An extensive career as brand and marketing manager, operations leader and major events specialist he brings a leadership, operations and management background in corporate and commercial, tertiary, not-for-profit, NGO and community business to the table. For JT, access is a right, not an invitation. 

Lee Lee worked at Dialogue in the Dark (DID) as a facilitator for 7 years (2009 to 2016). Since 2017, Lee Lee became a trainer for schools and corporates in Team Building and Goal Setting. In February 2021, Lee Lee became the first blind Advance Certificate in Learning and Performance (ACLP) trainer / facilitator under the Workforce Service Quality (WSQ) framework. Lee Lee is a multi-talented lady who has caught many by surprise. Her contribution of song lyrics were released in two albums for the Wataboshi Music Movement in 1999 & 2001. Lee Lee lost her eyesight when she was still an infant. Her lack of sight did not deter her from challenging her own limits. From 2005 to 2007, she wrote articles, media release, covered events and managed press relations for the Town Council. 

Yonglun is an artist, arts administrator and educator. As an arts administrator, he has been involved in several projects to bring the arts into schools and more recently, was part of the team that developed the inaugural Visual Arts (VA) Learning Standards for Singapore Special Education Schools - a framework to guide schools in customizing their own VA curriculum. He also helped to produce sensory-friendly/relaxed performances for individuals on the autism spectrum. 

Luminara’s art practice examines ideas around Inclusion, Access and Rest to challenge and disrupt the capitalist constructs of Grind Culture through creating acts of gentle protest and playfulness. In 2021, she received the A-N Artist Bursary to develop a ‘Contract of Self Care’ to support disabled artists with a social practice in avoiding burnout. Luminara is currently developing her ‘Rest As Protest project with funding from an Arts Council England DYCP grant. 

Kia ora koutou! I have the honor of supporting arts orgs and artists across our beautiful whenua to engage and unskill people in the care of Ara Poutama/Dept of Corrections. In my spare time I hang with the whanau or stalk the manu through the ngahere with my old camera. Feel free to have a gander: @neilwallacecreative on the Insta. Kia kaha!

Paul is currently the Access Project Manager at the Royal Opera House (UK). He has a Diploma in Musical Theatre and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Performance from the University of Huddersfield.  Paul has worked for many UK Theatre companies facilitating, producing, and managing Arts Education and Access programmes. Between 2017 – 2023, Paul was based in Singapore, where, with dedicated peers, he developed the Inclusive Young Company, a training programme for Deaf and Disabled performers.  With a team of Access advocates, he established and chaired the Access Arts Hub consortium and managed sector leading Access and Inclusion training. At the Royal Opera House, he is leading a project to improve and enhance Accessibility across the organisation. Paul describes himself as an ally to the Deaf and Disabled communities and is dedicated to serving a vision to create a more equitable global arts sector, providing access to arts experiences for all. 

Peter Atsu is an interdisciplinary teaching artist based in Ghana. He is a Catalyst of the International Teaching Artist Collaborative (ITAC). He has been committed to advocating for arts integration in Ghana and also devoted to making accessibility in the arts possible for persons with disability. 

https://atsuadaletey.medium.com/atsu-adaletey-ghanas-versatile-artiste-646650309619 

Rachel’s artistic practice focuses on community engaged theatre and sensory immersive theatre for Disabled children and seniors in care. In 2018 Rachel was one of 18 artists worldwide invited to participate in the Big Umbrella festival and has trained under Oily Cart Theatre (London, UK). She is Relaxed Performance & Accessibility Consultant working with many of Toronto’s largest performance organizations and venues. 

Stephanie is an abstract artist, poet and advocate who speaks out for the disabled community in Singapore. In 2018, she ventured into theatre-making and performed a self-written monologue ‘MUM’ at Centre 42 as part of Project Tandem’s ‘Making a Stand’,and was cast in ‘And Suddenly I Disappear: The Singapore ‘d’ Monologues’, the first disability-led theatre collaboration between Singapore and UK.  Most recently, she was a writer-performer for ‘What If’ as part of the M1 Peer Pleasure Youth Theatre Festival 2020 presented online.  Her collection of 51 poems ‘Shades’ was published in 2021. 

Steven is an Autistic / neurodivergent social worker, spoken word poet, actor, science fiction writer, and performance activist working at the intersections of art and social policy. He travels internationally using the power of performance to create empathic dialogue around, to confront the realities of, and to assist communities in dismantling historic narratives around mental health and madness. His work can be found at thesvenbo.com/books and thesvenbo.substack.com