TCI Board 2024-2026
Robinah Nakanwagi Alambuya
President
Robinah Nakanwagi Alambuya
President
A Ugandan woman, mother holding BS, PGD in Education, a postgraduate certificate in Mental Disability Law in Practice, co-facilitator-Bridge CRPD-SDGs Training Initiative. She is the initiator, vision bearer, and Executive Director at Triumph Uganda Mental Health Support and Recovery Program. Robinah is a disability expert and inclusive mentor advocating for community mental health services, inclusive Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and justice for inherent dignity. She has been recognized with a WHO Swiss Award 2013 and 2019 as one of the Ugandan SHEROES for making meaningful contributions in the community. Robinah is an inspirational speaker at World Health Organization, United Nations, Commission on the Status of Women plus other forums, having a proven track record of Feminist Transformational leadership from the grassroots to the global level serving on different Board of Directors in the psychosocial disability movement. Presently, she is the Vice-Chair of the Africa Disability Forum (ADF and a member of the Nairobi Principles/CREA working group for sexual health rights and reproductive justice. Robinah’s passion for mentoring girls has been growing due to her own experiences as a girl that opened her eyes to the many untold stories of many girls due to the lack of a safe place and liberty to have girls' voices respected.
Yeni Rosa Damayanti
Vice President
Yeni Rosa Damayanti
Vice President
Yeni Rosa Damayanti is the chair of the Indonesian Mental Health Association (IMHA). Yeni introduced the issue of psychosocial disability into the human rights, women and disability movement in Indonesia when the issue was still very much unknown and in pushing the issue into the center. She has brought a strong human rights and women's perspective into the discourse of mental health. She advocates for inclusion in society, the right to live independently, the right to work, the issue of legal capacity, and political participation. One of her main focuses is on the devastating condition of thousands of women with psychosocial disability, who are locked up, forgotten, and abused, in social care institutions in Indonesia as well as in many places in Asia.
Matrika Prasad Devkota
Vice President
Matrika Prasad Devkota
Vice President
Matrika Devkota is a person with psychosocial disability, the first person in Nepal to come out and raise the voice of persons with mental health conditions and psychosocial disability. Matrika started an organization for persons with disability (OPD), KOSHISH (which means “making an effort”, in English) in the year 2008 and he is entirely working on destigmatization and advocating against legal, attitudinal, and social barriers for persons with psychosocial disability in Nepal. He believes that the implementation of UNCRPD (United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) can make the rights real in the field of disability, including psychosocial disability. Matrika was selected for the Ashoka Fellowship in 2017 and was awarded the Dr. Guislain “Breaking the Chains of Stigma” Award, related to mental health issues in 2013. Matrika has also been awarded nationally with the Human Rights award by the National Human Rights Commission in December 2015 and the Social Service award in 2015.
Chintha Janaki Munasinghe
Treasurer
Chintha Janaki Munasinghe
Treasurer
Chintha Janaki Munasinghe is the Founder of Nidahas Chinthana Sansadaya, the first Consumer Action Forum in Sri Lanka. Known as a Silent Diplomat, Chintha identifies herself as a development professional with psychosocial disability. She was the first Sri Lankan professional who shared her life story in public, as the first Country Programme Manager of BasicNeeds in Sri Lanka (2002-2006), after being challenged by mental health professionals about her initiative: Consultative/participatory approach to Community Mental Health and Development. Chintha is a B.Sc. Degree holder with more than 30 years of experience in project designing, participatory research, organizational management, and evaluations. Her expertise includes small enterprise development, journalism, videography and alternative communications, gender mainstreaming and disability inclusion. Chintha is a visiting lecturer at the University of Kelaniya under the Disability Studies Department and a member of several expert committees in Sri Lanka.
Samuel Njoroge Macharia
Secretary
Samuel Njoroge Macharia
Secretary
Samuel is the founding director of Championing for Community Inclusion in Kenya (CIC-K), a national NGO, an organization advocating for the inclusion of persons with psychosocial disability in community services and opportunities on an equal basis with others as stipulated in article 19 of the CRPD, Agenda 2030, and the Sustainable Development Goals. CIC-K is affiliated with Transforming Communities for Inclusion (TCI Global). Having a lived experience with a psychosocial disability has shaped Samuel’s passion as a disability rights advocate. His recovery path has also opened many doors including training on disability rights locally, regionally, and internationally. It is for this reason that he is dedicated to supporting other persons with psychosocial disability in amplifying their voices in community inclusion platforms. He joined the movement of persons with psychosocial disabilities in 2012 at Users and Survivors of Psychiatry in Kenya as a volunteer in conducting peer support education with the grassroots organizations then got promoted to the position of a Programs officer until 2020 when he became a Technical Fellow with the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry and then became a TCI Fellow in 2021 under which CIC-K was formed. He has a degree in Psychology.
María Eugenia Gil Díaz
Board Member
María Eugenia Gil Díaz
Board Member
Maria Eugenia is an accomplished international professional with a career spanning Colombia, Spain, and Switzerland. With over 20 years of experience in administration and finance, she combines deep expertise in organizational strategy, quality systems, and process optimization. Holding Master’s degrees in Engineering and Project Management, Maria brings a multifaceted skill set to every project she undertakes. Beyond her professional accomplishments, Maria is an avid traveler and cultural explorer who thrives on engaging with diverse communities. Maria’s hobbies, centered on exploring both people and nature, reflect her commitment to equity and her belief in the transformative power of collaboration to drive meaningful change.
Robinah Nakanwagi
President
Robinah Nakanwagi
President
A Ugandan woman, mother holding BS, PGD in Education, a post graduate certificate in Mental Disability Law in Practice, Co- facilitator - Bridge CRPD-SDGs Training Initiative. She is the Initiator, vision bearer and ED at Triumph Uganda Mental Health Support and Recovery Program. Robinah is a Disability Expert, Inclusive Mentor advocating for community mental health services, Inclusive SRHRs and justice for inherent Dignity. Recognized with a WHO Swiss Award 2013 and 2019 as one of the Ugandan SHEROES for making meaningful contributions in the community.
Robinah is an inspirational speaker at WHO, UN, UNCSW plus other forums, having a proven track record of Feminist Transformational leadership from grassroots to global level ;serving on different BOD in the Psychosocial disability movement. Presently is the Vice chair of the Africa Disability Forum(ADF), Member of the Nairobi Principles/CREA working group for Sexual heath rights and Reproductive Justice. Robinah’s passion to mentor girls has been growing due to her experiences as a girl that opened her eyes to the many untold stories of many girls due to lack of a safe place and liberty to have girls voices respected. As a change agent at the community it is highly need to stand as a pillar during this time of shaking (COVID 19) supporting the girls to stay focused , safe and live with dignity . And advocating for Inclusion of the marginalized groups of persons with disabilities at all levels of society to live no one behind.
Yeni Rosa Damayanti
Vice President
Yeni Rosa Damayanti
Vice President
Yeni Rosa Damayanti is founder and chair of Indonesian Mental Health Association, the first organization of people with psychosocial disabilities in Indonesia. Yeni has managed to push the issue of psychosocial disabilities into the central agenda of the cross disability movement in Indonesia and introduce this issue to women and the human rights movement as well. For the last 5 years, Yeni has been working to advocate for the issue of institutionalizations of PWPD to the government, human rights defender community, disability movement and general public.
Matrika Devkota
Treasurer
Matrika Devkota
Treasurer
Matrika Devkota is a person with psychosocial disability, the first person in Nepal coming out and raising the voice of persons with mental health condition and psychosocial disability. Matrika started an organization of the persons with disability (OPD), KOSHISH( which means “making an effort”, in English) in the year 2008 and he is entirely working in destigmatization and advocating against the legal, attitudinal, and social barriers for the persons with the mental health conditions and psychosocial disability in Nepal. He believes that the implementation of UN CRPD can make the rights real in the field of disability, including the psychosocial disability. Matrika has been selected for the Ashoka Fellowship in 2017 and has been awarded the Dr. Guislain “Breaking the Chains of Stigma” Award, related to the mental health issues in 2013. Matrika has also been awarded nationally with the Human Rights award by the National Human Rights Commission in December 2015 and the Social service award in 2015.
Kruawon Tiengtom
Secretary
Kruawon Tiengtom
Secretary
Miss Kruawon Tiengtom (Kim) is a Thai citizen who lives in Nonthaburi, Thailand. She has pursued Master of Arts (Literature) and is currently the Chairperson of Living Association. She is also a member of the Subcommittee on the Disabled Affairs, under The Committee on Social Development and Children, Youth, Women, the Elderly, the Disabled and the Underprivileged Affairs, The Senate, Thailand. Additionally, she operates Recovery College. She is also a trainer of basic peer support, human right and citizenship, illness management and recovery. Kim oversees disability service centre for persons with psychosocial disability.
Ammihud Joseph
Board Member
Ammihud Joseph
Board Member
Ammihud Joseph is a 27-year-old Research and Teaching Assistant, and a PhD candidate at the University of Geneva, where he also obtained a bachelor’s degree in 2019 and a master’s degree in in Economic Law. He was born and raised in Geneva, in an international environment. He has a particular interest in issues regarding Internet Governance, Privacy in the cyberspace, and the interaction between Law and Technology overall. He plans to become a lawyer and study the legal framework surrounding these areas of the law. During his studies, he was a volunteer as a jurist within the “Permanence Juridique des Etudiants” (a legal clinic) and helped to organize both editions of the “TEDxUniGeneva”. He also worked with IDA on the draft of Articles of Association for TCI and helped set a framework to comply IDA’s online activities with privacy law regulations. Music is his passion, and he spends quite some time either listening to music from all around the world, playing a few instruments, or sharing the experience of a live concert with great friends. He is also a big football fan and enjoys traveling the world.
TCI Founding Director
Dr Bhargavi V (Late)
Founding Director
Dr Bhargavi V (Late)
Founding Director
Bhargavi Davar is a childhood survivor of psychiatric institutions in India. She identifies as a person with a psychosocial disability having endured long-term trauma from those experiences. She completed her PhD the Indian Institute of Technology, in Mumbai. Rejecting the medical model in ‘mental health’ and naming that system as ‘violent’, she published the first anti psychiatry book in India(Psychoanalysis as a Human Science: Beyond Foundationalism, 1995), along with several other titles and papers critiquing psychiatry and its practices. She started the first OPD of persons with psychosocial disabilities in India in 1999, named the ‘Bapu Trust’. She created a community of practice, Seher, which is the largest population-based peer support program for the global south, covering a population of 1 mn. people, from low income communities. The program practices ‘zero coercion’ and adopts a variety of support actions to build support systems for persons with disabilities and to prevent institutionalization. She started ‘TCI’ (‘Transforming Communities for Inclusion’) in 2012, by travelling and sharing the vision of inclusion with other countries in Asia, Pacific. She was also a board member of World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (WNUSP) and was actively involved in the years of advocacy in the making of the convention.
- Email:bvdavar@tci-global.org
TCI Secretariat
Waqar Shahid Puri
Director of Operations and Programs
Waqar Shahid Puri
Director of Operations and Programs
Waqar identifies as a person with a psychosocial disability and has been actively working in the field of disability-inclusive development for over a decade. Since 2014, Waqar has dedicated his career to promoting the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) on a global scale. He currently serves as the Director of Operations and Programs at the Secretariat of Transforming Communities for Inclusion (TCI).
At TCI, Waqar works to redefine the narrative around psychosocial disabilities by addressing social injustices and systemic barriers, moving beyond illness-centered frameworks. He is a staunch advocate for the human rights model of disability, emphasizing the recognition of persons with psychosocial disabilities as rights holders. Waqar collaborates with grassroots organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) and other stakeholders to champion advocacy on identity, elimination of discriminatory legal frameworks, and shift the discourse from mental health to human rights.
Waqar's expertise spans grants and program management, facilitating UNCRPD training's, policy advocacy, partnership development, and organizing global conferences and thematic webinars. He has also contributed to policy platforms, consultations, and global think tanks on issues such as community inclusion, deinstitutionalization, inclusive education, accessible design, assistive technologies, and gender-inclusive development.
- Email:w.puri@tci-global.org
Richa Sharma-Dhamorikar
Director of Advocacy & Research
Richa Sharma-Dhamorikar
Director of Advocacy & Research
Richa Sharma-Dhamorikar is a dentist, a public health researcher and an advocate with over 10 years of experience, in India and global spaces. She identifies as a person with psychosocial disability and is currently serving as the Director of Advocacy and Research with TCI Global. She has worked extensively and deeply with grassroot organizations in Asia, Pacific, Africa and Europe. Her expertise lies in designing and conducting qualitative research, documentation, developing advocacy resources, engaging with UN Human Rights mechanisms and conducting and contributing to global advocacy campaigns and forums. Richa is passionate about disability rights, gender, community inclusion, deinstitutionalization, disability inclusive development, cultural ways of well-being and healing, and legal frameworks and advocacy. She brings a deep commitment to understanding and advocating for the identity of psychosocial disability beyond the illness frameworks, focusing on acknowledging and addressing social injustices and systemic barriers. Her work combines a strong grounding in qualitative research with a firm belief in the power of words and language to advance human rights, foster inclusion and drive meaningful change. She is from India and is currently based in England, UK.
- Email:rsharma@tci-global.org
Bhagyashri Kulkarni
Finance and Admin Officer
Bhagyashri Kulkarni
Finance and Admin Officer
Bhagyashri Kulkarni is a post graduate in Commerce, associated with Transforming Communities for Inclusion (TCI) for the last 6 years. She has work experience of more than 15 years in finance management and administration in the corporate and social sector. She handles project utilization, projection, creating project budgets, presentation of budgets to TCI members, finance related mentoring of partners, DPO's, managing events logistics, support for legal documentation etc.
- Email:bhagya.kulk@tci-ap.org
Fizza Mustafa
Programs Coordinator