Kovid was raised in Houston and comes from an immigrant family. As a person of queer identity, he grew up loving Bollywood musical films. He earned a BBA, BS and BA from the University of Texas at Austin, followed by an MBA from Cornell University. Kovid began his career by screenwriting mainstream Hindi television soap operas. He went on to work for Ekta Kapoor, where he authored Kingdom of The Soap Queen: The Story of Balaji Telefilms. Additionally, he published another book in 2014, Redrawing India: The Teach for India Story. He later joined Rajshri Productions to assist Sooraj Barjatya on on the hit film Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. He then worked as head of business development at Vinod Chopra Films and Film Companion.

Donald Lee’s naive expression and experimental practice center on his evolving body, narrative, and belonging. His methodology transforms the aesthetic of damage into a system of repair. Donald is a member of Heidi Latsky Dance and Tap: On Tap. He has been profiled by PBS and New York Times. He presented at the 2023 HASTAC conference at Pratt Institute. Donald is also a contributing artist in Miranda July’s latest work in her upcoming solo exhibition at Fondazione Prada. He is a recipient of the 2024 WADE Pride Residency.

Alexander Yellen is an experienced director, having been a regular on the Syfy Channel episodic zombie series Z Nation and having also directed 3 feature films, most recently the groundbreaking indie road-trip dramedy Daruma from Oscar-winning executive producer Peter Farrelly that will screen at the upcoming Slamdance Film Festival. He has won awards for his work on Z Nation as well as for his short film Dead End Drive and is a member of the DGA. Alexander came to directing by way of cinematography, where his talent as a visual storyteller, strong team management skills, and ability to work well with actors first created opportunities to direct second unit on a number of features in the sci-fi, thriller, and disaster genres. His reputation for delivering high quality work on tight timelines led to his first feature, the SyFy Original action film Battledogs, followed by another SyFy Original, Finders Keepers, and then on to his role with Z Nation, capped by directing the series finale. While he has worked in many genres, he maintains a penchant for dramatic and elevated genre projects and is equally strong directing features and episodic series. Traveling extensively with his scientist parents, Alexander was exposed from an early age to a wide-range of people and environments. He developed a passion for visual storytelling and has always sought to make those stories accessible through meaningful and unique perspectives. Alexander was born in Washington DC, earned a degree in film studies from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and lives in Los Angeles with his wife, writer-producer Kelli McNeil-Yellen.

Leslie Freeman Taub (she/her) is a proudly Disabled movement artist, and a work of art in perpetual progress. In October 2023, she was featured in AND YET…, a showcase of new work by disabled choreographers curated by Heidi Latsky for Arts On Site, in which Leslie performed her solo David’s Lotus Sutra and debuted “Mourning, Broken” with collaborators Tobaron Waxman and Luznérida Rosado. “Mourning, Broken” is one of an evolving series of movement explorations from perspectives of cognitive impairment, fiscally sponsored (under the title Explorations of Memory) by Fractured Atlas. In addition to her own projects, Leslie has performed with Alison Cook Beatty Dance, Buglisi Dance Theater, Infinity Dance Theater, and, for several seasons, Abilities Dance Boston. She was also a member of the core company of Heidi Latsky Dance from 2015-2020, and reunited with HLD to restage Latsky’s D.I.S.P.L.A.Y.E.D. at Yale University in June 2023. A current Dance/NYC Disability Dance Artistry and Social Justice fellow, Leslie lives in Washington Heights with her partner, daughter, grandchildren, dog, and two recently rescued guinea pigs.

Marilu Marshall, Senior Vice President, Executive Management and Global Chief Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Officer for The Estee Lauder Companies, leads the Company’s enterprise-wide Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (ID&E) program and works closely with Executive Management on a variety of business matters. She is deeply passionate about ID&E as a first generation American, born into a Cuban family, and is responsible for driving the Company’s longstanding ID&E values across the organization, its culture, and its business.

Marilu joined the Company in 1998 as VP of Human Resources for North America, a position she held until her promotion to SVP, Global Human Resources in 2006, assuming her current role in 2017.

Marilu possesses a sophisticated understanding of the merits of diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences, as the provenance of her career is itself highly diverse. Marilu began her career as a trial attorney with the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the United States Department of Justice and continued her government service as Deputy Director of the Commission on the Review of the National Policy Toward Gambling, a joint Congressional and Presidential Commission. Thereafter she worked in the private sector, as Vice President of Special Projects at Playboy Enterprises and as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the luxury shipping company Cunard Line, Ltd.

Marilu graduated from the University of Miami, receiving her BBA and JD degrees, the first woman in her family to attend college. She formerly served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami and is currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Miami Alumni Association and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at the University of Miami Law School.

Zazel-Chavah O’Garra is a brain tumor survivor, disability advocate, social worker, dancer, actress, model, and founder and the visionary founder and Artistic Director of ZCO/DANCEPROJECT. Ms. O’Garra holds a Master’s degree in social work from Fordham University, and currently works with the Brain Injury Association of New York State and YAI/National Institute for people with disabilities where she serves as an adaptive dance instructor. Before founding the ZCO/DANCEPROJECT, Ms. O’Garra established a thriving career in the performing arts. Her body of work include performances on the concert stage, Broadway, Off-Broadway, European Tours, national commercials and magazine publications. including the covers of Essence Magazine. As a disabled artist her list of accomplishments include appearances on Dr. Oz, VSA-John F. Kennedy National Teaching Artist Fellowship, inaugural member of The White House Disability Liaison, and NYC Fashion Week. Her productions include in Inside/out voices of the disability community-Kennedy Center, This/Ability at Samuel Becket Theatre, Theatre Breaking Through Barriers-ART/NY, Secret Histories- NY, NJ public schools and Lincoln Center, Bodystorming Access at the Guggenheim Museum and Arts4All Florida. Additionally, she was a part of several performances, including livestreaming events with RESPECTABILITY, Disability Unite Festival, and Dance New Jersey. Awards include the Cityarts grant, NYSCA/NYFA Artists with Disabilities Grant, Dance Advancement Fund Flushing Town Hall Queens Community Grant, Caribbean Impact Award and the Disability, Dance and Social Justice Fellowship. Ms. O’Garra is a member of SAG-AFTRA, Equity, Dance/NYC Disability Dance Force and is represented by Gamut talent management.

Jason DaSilva Film Director, Producer, Writer President and Founder, AXS Lab Jason DaSilva is a director, producer, writer and disability rights activist best known for the Emmy Award winning documentary, When I Walk, the first film in a documentary trilogy. The documentary follows his diagnosis of primary progressive multiple sclerosis for seven years as he advances from cane to walker to wheelchair. Following the success of When I Walk, Jason released the second film in the trilogy, When We Walk. When We Walk follows his life as he deals with his MS and fights to stay close with his son. The film is based on his New York Times Op-Ed article, Mapping the Disability Trap. In 2019, the film premiered at the Hot Docs Film Festival, won best documentary at the Center for Asian American Media’s CAAMFest, and had its New York debut at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. The final film, When They Walk, is currently in production. Jason DaSilva is also the President and Founder of AXS Lab, a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving a voice to people with disabilities through film, media and technology. As the President of AXS Lab, Jason is the key creative and strategic voice of the organization, providing insight to necessities in disability activism and facilitating AXS Lab’s work with the United Nations and partner organizations around the world. AXS Map, a crowd sourced Google map based platform which rates the accessibility of businesses, is the primary technology branch of AXS Lab, the largest online database in North America for accessibility. In 2015, Jason had the opportunity to share his AXS Map on a disability panel at the White House. AXS Map serves as an active tool for change alongside his films. AXS Lab contributed to the United Nation’s Flagship Report on Disability and Development which was published in 2018. In 2014, Jason won three awards: the American Association of Persons with Disabilities (AAPD) Paul G. Hearn Leadership Award, the New Mobility Magazine: Person of the Year Award, and the Christopher Award for Excellence in Film. In 2019 he was awarded the Top 40 Trailblazers Award from the Community Resource Exchange, an award for leaders who are driving meaningful change in their communities and the larger world, and the Made in New York recognition at the Gotham Awards.