Speaker

Gold Chakra and Karmaveer Puraskaar for Social Change and Justice, amongst other awards, Smita Bharti is a Rotary Global Peace Fellow

Through her work Smita suggests alternate solutions of restorative and transformative justice for the practice of everyday equality She seeks to discover ways to express the effects of structural violence on ordinary citizens, explore ways to go beyond the experience of oppression and become spect-actors Through corporate theatre she escalates common experiences into opportunities for building of emotional competencies. This aspect of her work creates immersive experiences for understanding and practicing of diversity, inclusion and equality

SmitaBharti is the Executive D irector/President of Sakshi, a rights-based N GO and the Programme D irector of The Rakshin Project by Sakshi, a Youth-led movement across 40 ,0 0 0 Colleges Pan-India to prevent, prohibit and resolve Child Sexual A buse She is a recognized trainer for Prevention of W orkplace Sexual H arassment, and Judicial Education for Gender Equality within the Region. She has substantial experience as a senior facilitator for capacity building workshops with adults, adolescents, and children, with groups across social strata ranging from the judiciary to under trials, corporate to grass-root communities. She has been published both as a poet and playwright and as a research fellow of W ISCO M and K.K. Birla Foundation. A n award-winning playwright, creative director, theatre and multi-media practitioner, Smita has acted in, directed, written, and translated more than thirty plays and books. A recipient of the Karmaveer

She has worked extensively in prisons with under trials and convicts O utside the prisons, her workshop participants include opinion and policy makers, as well as survivors of domestic violence and child sexual abuse. She uses storytelling and theatre as the medium of intervention She translates her extensive experience as a social activist into performance art through theatre, multimedia productions and films. She engages people in the art of storytelling and role playing that enable re-scripting of personal narratives to arrive at decisions that lead to responsible actions for building an accountable self. She indicates ways in which theatre can be a critical tool for guiding people towards such a point This has implications for critical pedagogy, and transformative learning, as her work with schools, colleges, judiciary and corporates has amply demonstrated