Helena Lourdes Donato-Sapp
A peach gradient background with navy text has “The D-30 Disability Impact List” at the top centered above “2022 Honoree” which is in between two laurels. The words “Helena Lourdes Donato-Sapp she/her/hers United States” is to the left of a picture of Helena, which fills the right. Helena is a 13-year-old Black girl wearing an olive green suit jacket, her right arm folded over her left arm which is flexed. At the bottom, “Diversability, #D30DisList.” fills the left corner.
Helena Lourdes Donato-Sapp (She/her/hers)
Youth Scholar, Youth Activist
United States
Helena is a 12-year-old Black girl scholar and activist. She has multiple learning disabilities and has been put down and bullied at her school because of how she learns and how she is accommodated for her learning. She responds by speaking and writing about anti-bullying and Disability Justice. She has co-authored a scholarly article in a peer-reviewed journal on Disability Justice and has been an invited keynote speaker for an Intersectional Disabilities Studies Speaker Series. Her life is centered on intersectional work. She is a dark-skinned Black girl, adopted, has two queer fathers - one a Filipino immigrant and the other raised in severe poverty in Appalachia, has multiple disabilities, is a scholar and activist, a feminist, and regularly speaks to educators on the topic that "Kids can tackle tough topics." Her anti-bullying stance comes from the harassment she has faced from school classmates regarding these intersectional identities.
Helena presented her chapter in a book titled Strong Black Girls at a prestigious national education conference. Her growing intersectional scholarship and activism in multiple areas - Black girlhood and decolonizing schooling - allowed her to be invited by national scholars she'd worked with to be a child activist/scholar in Disability Justice. She was awarded "16 Under 16 in STEM" - once again demonstrating her claim that "My disabilities are my superpowers!"
We asked Helena if she’d like to add anything else to her accomplishments, she stated: “From the first day I entered a school door I have always been told that I am slow and don't belong. In 3rd-grade, one of my classmates announced to the entire class that I was "the dumbest person in our classroom." Schooling brought the fight for disability justice to my door. I fully - with joy and pride - embrace all of my intersectional identities and my work is about creating conversations for justice inside classrooms, schools, and universities. See more at https://www.helenalourdes.com".