Kim Vance is the co-founder of ARC International and has been its Co-Director since 2003. ARC International plays a unique role in facilitating strategic planning around LGBT issues internationally, strengthening global networks, and enhancing access to UN mechanisms.

Before founding ARC, she was the Board President of Egale Canada and the Canadian Human Rights Trust. She is a seasoned activist in the local, national and international LGBT communities, and has won numerous awards for this work. She has also spent many years working and volunteering in women's/feminist organizations in Canada, particularly in the areas of economic development, employment, prisoner's rights, information technology, film/television and sexuality education.

She is a trained adult educator and is currently a graduate student at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Her current area of research is documenting and analysing "best practices" within global movements advancing human rights based on sexual orientation and gender identity. She was a successful litigant in the same-sex marriage case that changed the law in her province, and she is also a proud parent to two adopted children, Marcus and Patty.

When asked why she joined the Building Global Democracy Programme and what her aspirations for the programme were, Kim replied:

She is excited about documenting the important work happening in the global LBGT communities for the Building Global Democracy project. There has been significant involvement and advancement in international democratic processes but very little documentation and analysis of this work.
buildingglobaldemocracy.org/content/kim-vance

Respondent Venus Ilagan Secretary General, Rehabilitation International, Philippines

Venus M. Ilagan is the Secretary General of Rehabilitation International and currently based in New York City. She is the first person with a disability and the first from a developing country to serve as RI SG. Venus also holds the distinction of being the first woman chairperson of Disabled Peoples’ International – a post she held from 2002-2007. She earned a degree in Mass Communications from the Centro Escolar University in Manila, Philippines with journalism as her field of specialization. She worked in the media for 14 years, and then took on the job as project director for a national rehabilitation program for children with disabilities in the Philippines funded by the Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA). In October 2008, she joined RI and moved to the United States. Venus has actively participated in the elaboration of the United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
She has been involved in various initiatives for the empowerment of leaders of persons with disabilities in the Asia-Pacific Region and other parts of the world. She has extensive experience in local and international development work, including activities such as disability rights promotion and advocacy, organizational development and management, and fund-raising for programmes and projects of grassroots persons with disabilities – with particular interest in efforts related to the rehabilitation and empowerment of women, children and young adults with disabilities.

Full program
buildingglobaldemocracy.org/content/rio-workshop-programme