Anna Landre
PhD Student
Anna is a wheelchair-using activist and researcher whose work spans disability studies, humanitarian relief, international development, urban planning, human-computer interaction, and social care policy. Her work often focuses on the disability law "implementation gap", in which progressive legal standards often fail to improve disabled people's lives in practice.
Her PhD at GDI Hub focuses on how Disabled People's Organisations (DPOs/OPDs) network and collaborate across borders, with the aim of creating a global DPO map and knowledge-sharing platform that fits the needs of the disability movement.
Anna also works as the Global Research and Response Lead at The Partnership for Disaster Strategies, a US-based disability-led disaster response organisation. She recently served as their Ukraine Crisis Focal Point, spearheading the creation of an evacuation and humanitarian aid mechanism for disabled Ukrainians left behind in the international response to the war. Previously, Anna worked with The Partnership on disability justice-oriented pandemic relief policies and helped expand the organisation's presence in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Before this, Anna served the Washington, DC government as a twice-elected Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, advocating for disability inclusion in DC's urban planning, social care, and pandemic-relief policies. Her achievements included ending the city's de-prioritisation of disabled people for COVID-19 vaccines and changing the DC Comprehensive Plan to reflect disability rights frameworks.
Anna is also a member of the Governance Board of the UK's National Centre for Accessible Transport (NCAT) and a Trustee for Independent Living Alternatives (ILA) and Camden Disablity Action (CDA). She received her BS in Foreign Service (Regional and Comparative Studies, Disability Studies) from Georgetown University and an MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies from the London School of Economics. She grew up in Howell, NJ, USA and is a Truman and Marshall Scholar. Anna's advocacy has been featured in outlets including The New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, and Vogue.
