Leadership
International President
Dr. Joseph D’souza leads multiple organizations both in India and internationally. He is the International President of the Dalit Freedom Network and is particularly concerned about human rights issues in India and other parts of Asia. He has spoken at both the United Kingdom and Hong Kong Human Rights Conferences. He has spoken at the Human Rights Commission meetings in Geneva and has had discussions with Mary Robinson, the previous United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR). In addition, he has been a delegate at meetings with members of Parliament in Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom, and Congressional leaders in the United States.
D’souza is also the President of the All India Christian Council**.
In 2005, Dr. D’souza published his first book, Dalit Freedom Now and Forever. It traces the history of the Dalit quest for emancipation and the response of the Indian church. It gives a strong challenge toward the elimination of caste discrimination around the world.
Dr. D’souza lives in India and operates out of London and Denver.
Email Dr. D’souza:
Joseph’s Blog site: http://www.josephdsouza.com
**Please note: DFN partners only with All India Christian Council (AICC) members who are actively involved in the transformation and emancipation of the Dalit-Bahujan people, not with the AICC as a whole.
President
Dr. Ana Aspras Steele has directed government relations and the social justice movement for Dalit Freedom Network in the United States since 2006. In the 110th Session of Congress, she spearheaded the team efforts that resulted in the first legislation of the U.S. government to address the practice of untouchability perpetrated every day in Indian society against the Dalit people, House Concurrent Resolution 139, passed on July 24, 2007. In January 2009, Ana accepted the role of DFN’s Executive President. In November of 2009, the DFN Board of Directors appointed Ana as the new President of Dalit Freedom Network USA.
Before advocating for Dalit justice and joining the staff of Dalit Freedom Network, Dr. Steele taught at Harvard University for 10 years, where she received several distinctions for excellence in teaching. For eight and a half years of her Harvard appointment, she taught foreign leaders, physicians, corporate executives, journalists, scholars, and researchers at Harvard Law School, Harvard Business School, Harvard Medical School, the Kennedy School of Government, and the Harvard Nieman Foundation of International Journalism. She holds a bachelor’s degree, Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, in Russian and Chinese, two masters and a Ph.D. in Italian, and has studied Greek, Latin, and Spanish. In addition to teaching at Harvard University, Dr. Steele has taught at Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, Loyola, Notre Dame, the Smithsonian, and the World Bank.
Ana also dedicated ten years of her career to international humanitarian and faith-based initiatives and directed, monitored, and assessed multiple global programs that tackled poverty in Peru and the slums of Nairobi, AIDS in Africa and the Bahamas, clean water in Mexico, early childhood education in Hungary, the orphan crisis in Romania and Uganda, the health needs of displaced Tibetans in China, and the trafficking of children and women in the Philippines. She has spoken at conferences and mass gatherings in India, England, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Italy, Germany, France, Holland, China, South Africa, the Bahamas, Mexico, Croatia, and the United States.
Ana is currently leading DFN’s advocacy work in the Executive and Legislative branches of the U.S. Government with a goal to increase the awareness of our nation’s leaders and lawmakers about the trafficking and enslavement of Dalits. She is also working with members of Congress on efforts that will require greater accountability on all stakeholders’ part to end the human trafficking and all forms of modern-day slavery still scourging the nation of India.
She brings to Dalit Freedom Network a commitment and an invitation to others to engage faith and justice in the present ground-swelling, worldwide campaign for Dalit freedom.
To request Dr. Steele as a featured speaker for your event please email Gina or call us at 202-375-5000.
Click here for a PDF version Dr._Ana_Aspras_Steele_Bio.pdf
