Minnie Baragwanath
{{Short description|New Zealand activist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
File:Minnie Baragwanath receives her Blake Leader Award (cropped).jpg
Amanda Jane "Minnie" Baragwanath {{post-nominals|country=NZL|MNZM|size=85%}} is a disability advocate from New Zealand.{{Cite web|title=Amanda Baragwanath MNZM {{!}} The Governor-General of New Zealand|url=https://gg.govt.nz/images/amanda-baragwanath-mnzm|access-date=30 January 2021|website=gg.govt.nz|language=en}} In 2011, she founded Be. Accessible, a social enterprise which aims to make New Zealand accessible and inclusive for all people with disabilities.{{Cite web|date=13 January 2017|title=Disability advocate Minnie Baragwanath: losing my sight at 14 hasn't held me back|url=https://thisnzlife.co.nz/disability-advocate-minnie-baragwanath-losing-sight-14-hasnt-held-back/|access-date=30 January 2021|website=thisNZlife}}{{Cite web|date=6 December 2019|title=Meet Minnie Baragwanath, the woman leading the global accessibility change|url=https://idealog.co.nz/venture/2019/12/meet-minnie-baragwanath-the-woman-leading-the-global-accessibility-change|access-date=30 January 2021|website=Idealog|language=en-NZ}}
Biography
Baragwanath grew up in Palmerston North.{{Cite web|title=Minnie Baragwanath to speak at Manawatū Zonta's Women's Day breakfast|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/manawatu-guardian/news/minnie-baragwanath-to-speak-at-manawatu-zontas-womens-day-breakfast/DCXMNM4ZGNCYO3GK6XGS3V4TOE/|access-date=30 January 2021|website=NZ Herald|language=en-NZ}} When she was 14 years old, she was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, an incurable disease of the eyes which caused her to lose her sight. Baragwanath studied at Massey University and completed a bachelor's degree in English literature, a bachelor of communication studies and a graduate diploma in economic development.
In 2011, Baragwanath founded Be. Accessible, and Be. Leadership as a subproject. Be. Leadership focused on providing leadership development programmes for disabled New Zealanders.{{Cite web|date=February 27, 2012|title=Be. Leadership 2012|url=https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1202/S00899/be-leadership-2012.htm|access-date=30 January 2021|website=www.scoop.co.nz}} In 2019 she renamed the organisation Be. Lab and established the Centre of Possibility at Auckland University of Technology (AUT).{{Cite web|title=Minnie Baragwanath|url=https://www.belab.co.nz/our-people/minnie-baragwanath|access-date=30 January 2021|website=www.belab.co.nz|language=en}} At the Centre of Possibility Baragwanath works with AUT researchers and academics in the field of possibility design and innovation.
= Recognition =
In 2013, Baragwanath received the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award and in 2014 she was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.{{Cite web|title=Blind ambition: Brave Minnie's mighty battle|url=https://www.nowtolove.co.nz/news/real-life/blind-ambition-brave-minnies-mighty-battle-24501|access-date=30 January 2021|website=Now To Love|date=3 February 2017 |language=en}} In 2017 she received the New Zealand Women of Influence Award for Diversity.{{Cite web|title=2017 Winners|url=https://www.womenofinfluence.co.nz/2017-winners|access-date=30 January 2021|website=Women of Influence|language=en-US}} In 2019 she was named by Zonta International as one of 100 Women of Achievement in New Zealand for her leadership and advocacy for social change.
References
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:New Zealand disability rights activists
Category:New Zealand Women of Influence Award recipients
Category:Massey University alumni