Comic & Disability Experts

Chavia Ali

Chavia Ali lives in Aleppo, Syria, and is Chairwoman of the Cultural Forum for People with Special Needs, Syria's most prominent non-governmental disability advocacy organization. Chavia also serves as the Syrian representative to the Arab Organization of Disabled People (AODP) and as program director for cultural integration with the Syria Trust for Development. She has trained various individuals and associations throughout Syria about the issues, rights, and laws related to disability, and has assisted in a number of media campaigns to raise awareness of the needs and rights of those with disabilities. Chavia often advocates from her personal experience as a life-long wheelchair-user, and is fluent in Arabic, Kurdish and Spanish. 

Sharad Devarajan

Mr. Sharad Devarajan is a media entrepreneur. He was the Co-Founder, CEO & Publisher of Virgin Comics LLC and Virgin Animation Pvt. Ltd, a set of companies he originally founded with Sir Richard Branson, author Deepak Chopra and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. In 2008, Mr. Devarajan led a management buyout of Virgin Comics and renamed the Company, Liquid Comics. Mr. Devarajan oversees all aspects of the Company’s business and worldwide operations. The Company uses the medium of comic book publishing as its development vehicle to incubate intellectual properties for theatrical live-action films, animation, merchandise and gaming.

Valerie Karr

Valerie Karr, Ph.D. is an expert in the field of child education and public awareness strategies and campaigning, with a strong clinical background in special education and a track record of effective advocacy both nationally and internationally in the area of disability rights. Dr. Karr currently works as an Assistant Professor at Adelphi University and serves as the Director for Research Programs for the Victor Pineda Foundation, currently the only youth-focused international disability rights organization.

Victor Pineda

Victor Pineda is a recognized expert on disability policy. He has served on national advisory committees and testified before congress on the conditions of people with disabilities. In 2005, Victor formalized his mission to educate, inspire and inform a global audience on disability issues by incorporating the Victor Pineda Foundation, an educational organization that supports international agencies in developing programs and policies that include people with disabilities as equal stakeholders.