Thursday, June 16
10:00 am – 11:15 am – Telling Our Own Story: Power of Storytelling for Survivor Healing and Culture Change

Meghna Bhat, PhD (she/her) is a proud first-generation South Asian immigrant, feminist scholar, trained storyteller, and an independent gender and social justice consultant with 18 years of extensive work experience including gender violence prevention and intervention work. Born and raised in India, Dr. Bhat’s own experiences of witnessing and surviving sexual and domestic violence motivated her to be an outspoken advocate of gender and social justice. She is passionate about using films/ cinema and storytelling as tools to create ongoing social, culture and narrative change around gender justice, mental health, and racial, social and immigrant justice. Dr. Bhat has successfully facilitated interactive and engaging web conferences and workshops on using different forms of storytelling for prevention education and survivor-centered healing at the Institute for Violence, Abuse, and Trauma (IVAT) San Diego Summit, Nevada Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence (NCEDSV) State Conference, the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence Shifting the Lens Conference, and the University of Philippines and UNITAR. In addition to serving as an elected member in the Anti-Harassment Committee at the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), she is also one of the selected Storytelling Ambassadors for Capital Storytelling, a non-profit organization based in Sacramento, CA.