Shortly after graduating from MIUSA’s Women’s Institute on Leadership and Disability (WILD) in 2016, Hellen Beyioku-Alase of Nigeria was responsible for implementing a WILD training of her own for women with disabilities from throughout her country! The focus of the training was on women’s health, wellness, and empowerment, and topics included access to information and services, HIV/AIDS prevention, and prevention of sexual assault and domestic violence.
Since then, Hellen has dedicated her time to improving how the Deaf community – especially Deaf women and girls – participates in the voting process in Nigeria. As a Deaf person and disability rights activist, Hellen knows how crucial this is: “We have over 30 million deaf people and only a few vote,” Hellen said. Recognizing this gap, Hellen decided to organize her own project in 2022, “Promoting the Inclusion of Deaf Girls and Women’s Participation in the Political Process in Nigeria,” to sensitize Deaf people on their right to vote and provide them with the education and tools necessary to have their votes counted.
As executive director of the non-governmental organization Deaf Women Aloud Initiative (DWAI) and the chair of the Deaf Women Association of Nigeria, Abuja Chapter, Hellen was selected to participate in the U.S. Department of State-sponsored Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders program in 2021. This program not only provided opportunities for professional development as a leader, it also made her eligible for the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund, which she received in 2022 to bring her project to fruition.
