Akii
Ngo
Akii is a community leader and international multi-award-winning disability, gender equity advocate and activist, who is truly passionate about disability rights, intersectionality,inclusion and co-design. They are a proud, young, disabled, trans non-binary and LGBTIQA+/Queer person of colour.
Akii is an experienced consultant, trainer, educator and presenter. Akii is the Accessibility Manager at Sydney WordPride & Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and a Senior Co-design& Engagement Advisor at the National Disability Insurance Agency. Akii is also an elected Councilor on the Victorian Disability Council.
A first-generation Aussie from a refugee background, who lives with multiple complex chronic illnesses and disabilities. An intimate partner (IPV) and family violence (FV) survivor-advocate, who sits on several advisory committees and working groups across Australia within the health, violence-prevention, LGBTIQA+ and human rights sectors. Advising, educating, training and providing genuine, co-designed & lived experience consultations for a diverse range of DEI, disability, accessibility, gender equity, violence prevention and human rights causes.
One of Akii's main motivators for gender equity, equality and diverse leadership and empowerment opportunities is fueled by Akii's lived experience of IPV and FV. Many stories of which Akii has bravely shared publicly in their extensive violence prevention work, as people with disability, particularly girls, women, femme-presenting/identifying and non-binary, are disproportionately impacted by all form's violence (i.e physical, emotional, financial, co-erceive control, sexual and reproductive).
Akii is deeply dedicated to accessibility, universal design, non-tokenistic representation and isa fierce advocate for people with chronic pain, chronic illness, and disabilities (apparent or hidden) due to their own lifetime of lived experiences.
Akii is also an experienced, agency-represented and internationally published model and actor – working to challenge the perception and create a positive change within the media, fashion and beauty industry for appearance diversity (i.e. surgical scars), disabled individuals, young people, mobility aid users, trans, gender-diverse and POC (people of colour)communities.