Roya Ramezani
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{COI|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Roya Ramezani
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date|27|2017|11|1}}
| birth_place = Iran
| nationality = Iranian
| other_names =
| occupation = Product Designer and Technologist
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| website = {{officialwebsite|http://www.royaramezani.com/}}
}}
Roya Ramezani ({{langx|fa|رؤیا رمضانی}}) is an Iranian designer and women's rights campaigner. She was selected for the BBC's 100 Women programme in 2017.
Career
Roya Ramezani was born in Northern Iran and was raised in Tehran, but moved to Toronto, Canada, at the age of to be with her extended family and study. She studied at three different universities, including York University and the School of Visual Arts in New York City.{{cite web |date=26 September 2017 |title=The Millennial Planning the Banking institutions of the Long run |url=http://www.huawei.global/blog/2017/09/26/the-millennial-planning-the-banking-institutions-of-the-long-run-growing-stars/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115014712/http://www.huawei.global/blog/2017/09/26/the-millennial-planning-the-banking-institutions-of-the-long-run-growing-stars/ |archive-date=15 November 2017 |accessdate=14 November 2017 |website=Huawei Global services |publisher=}}{{cite web|title=EXPONENT: Amplifying the Female Voices in Tech Discourse|url=https://productsofdesign.sva.edu/blog/thesis-exponent|publisher=School of Visual Arts|accessdate=November 14, 2017|date=August 31, 2016}} She began to work in a diverse team in Silicon Valley as an intern at Google, but realised that the women in the team were not interacting in meetings to the same degree as their male counterparts. This led to her thesis at SVA entitled "Exponent: Amplifying the Female Voices in Tech Discourse".{{cite news|last1=Peters|first1=Adele|title=Never Be "Sorry" Again, With A Keyboard That Helps Women Use More Assertive Language|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3064816/never-be-sorry-again-with-a-keyboard-that-helps-women-use-more-assertive-language|accessdate=November 14, 2017|work=Fast Company|date=October 21, 2016}} Inspired by the Hansen Writing Ball, she developed a new keyboard to empower women to use more strong language by reducing the size of the keys and adding full-word shortcuts such as "claim", "disagree" and "insist". She moved to San Francisco, California, where she started working for JPMorgan in their branch innovation team.
She was named to the BBC's 100 Women programme in 2017.{{cite news|title=BBC 100 Women 2017: Who is on the list?|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-41380265|accessdate=November 14, 2017|work=BBC News|date=October 20, 2017}} As part of this, she spoke at an event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, about the issues faced by women in the field of technology development. This included developments in wearable technology and augmented reality. Ramezani's work in this area has been praised by her bosses at JPMorgan.{{cite news|last1=Butterly|first1=Amelia|last2=Ponniah|first2=Kevin|title=Live Reporting|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-41476954|accessdate=November 14, 2017|work=BBC News|date=October 6, 2017}}
Ramezani also created an art installation in Palo Alto, California, which was unveiled on October 5, 2017, the same day as the initial news story on the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct allegations. The artwork, built on an a-frame, featured the hashtag "#Me Too".{{cite news|title=100 Women: Why I chose #MeToo for my sexism experiment|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-41654925|accessdate=November 14, 2017|work=BBC News|date=October 20, 2017}} This hashtag had originally been coined in 2006 by Tarana Burke,{{cite news|last1=Ohlheiser|first1=Abby|title=The woman behind 'Me Too' knew the power of the phrase when she created it – 10 years ago|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/10/19/the-woman-behind-me-too-knew-the-power-of-the-phrase-when-she-created-it-10-years-ago/|accessdate=November 14, 2017|work=The Washington Post|date=October 19, 2017}} although Ramezani said the inspiration for her work had come from a sexual assault she suffered while at a university and the response from her friends. In the days after the installation, the actress Alyssa Milano used the hashtag in relation to Weinstein, causing it to go viral.
References
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External links
- {{officialwebsite|http://www.royaramezani.com/}}
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Category:Iranian women designers
Category:York University alumni
Category:School of Visual Arts alumni
Category:Iranian women's rights activists