Danielle
Gallo
My Professional Mission:
-
Advocate globally for inclusion and accessibility in all spaces.
-
Galvanize community-led change in the areas of disability/ mental health access, gender rights, and social work, using the profound power of storytelling and the arts, with an emphasis on the lived experience.
-
Inspire young people to academically, athletically, socially, and emotionally reach their highest potential, and confidently walk their own paths of purpose, impact, and fulfillment in the world.
​
My Personal Mission:​
-
Earn a Master's degree in Social Work and serve in the Peace Corps: Philippines.
-
Become a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion.
-
Strive to create bold and courageous art, lead with empathy and curiosity, commit to radical inclusion, accessibility and equity.
-
Always "take the leap into the absurdity."
Currently, I have the honor of joining the Family Voices National team as a Project Coordinator, where I support programs that create community networks and advocate for families of children with special health care needs and disabilities.
​
My passion for sustainable and community-driven advocacy led me to international human rights nonprofits, including the European Disability Forum in Brussels, Belgium, where she served as the Strategic Communications and Policy Coordinator. There, I worked to execute massive strategic communication and political campaigns to lobby for a more inclusive and accessible world for over 200 million Europeans with disabilities. Since then, I've also worked for several organizations and coordinated efforts in gender rights, educational access, mental health advocacy, democratic governance, global health, religious freedom, and cross-cultural exchanges in post-genocidal countries across the globe.
Educational access has always been a pillar of my personal and professional life, and as such, my experience as an educator and youth advocate is extensive. I've worn many hats: as a preschool teacher, a theatre arts educator, an educator of students with disabilities, a director, an online learning specialist, a writer of accessible curriculums, and a Brazilian jiu jitsu coach for the last decade. I have always been eager to tangibly make a difference in students’ lives, and be able to witness my impact firsthand. But in doing so, my commitment to creating systemic changes and building lasting foundations of inclusion was strengthened, and I am now excitedly jumping back into the behind-the-scenes advocacy world.