Robbie Francis Watene

Dr Robbie Francis Watene is a disabled leader, scholar and advocate from Aotearoa New Zealand. With 36 years lived experience of disability, Robbie has worked in the disability sector for over 15 years as a support worker, humanitarian documentarian, social entrepreneur, researcher, consultant, and advisor. She has experience working with disabled people in France, Bangladesh, India, Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador, and has also spearheaded research on gender, war, peace and disability rights. Robbie is Disabled Research Lead at the Donald Beasley Institute (DBI), where she oversees a team of disabled and disability researchers, as well as a range of human rights research projects. She is also an inaugural Global Heumann Fellow at the World Institute on Disability, and co-founder and director of The Lucy Foundation - an international social enterprise that has developed the world’s first value chain of coffee that is entirely inclusive of disabled people, from farmer to consumer.