Tia Elizabeth Semi

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 “Tia Elizabeth Semi she/her/hers Australia” is to the left of a picture of Tia, which fills the right. Tia is a girl with a denim shirt over a pink and purple jumpsuit with windswept hair smiling. At the bottom, “Diversability, #D30DisList.” fills the left corner.

Tia Elizabeth Semi (She/her/hers)

Disability advocate, CEO, and founder of Funknsoul 97

Australia

Tia Elizabeth Semi’s life as a Deaf Samoan-Australian living with Cerebral Palsy, intellectual disability, and epilepsy who won't accept no for an answer and is determined to show everyone that she can do what they do makes her unique. She is heavily influenced by her Polynesian culture and loves to share this with the world. She is always working to educate the community to see what people with disability can do to break down barriers and inspire people with disability to chase their dreams. Tia does this by sharing her journey running her own fashion design business and being a runway model in Australia and across the world.

This past year, Tia was accepted into New York Fashion Week as part of the Flying Solo show for up and coming designers. The clothing range she designed was walked on a rooftop runway in Soho in front of industry representatives. As a result she was invited to LA Fashion Week, Miami Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week.

We asked if Tia would like to add anything else to her accomplishments and she stated: “Was accepted into New York Fashion Week as part of the Flying Solo show for up and coming designers. The clothing range she designed was walked on a rooftop runway in Soho in front of industry representatives. As a result she was invited to LA Fashion Week, Miami Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week.”