Kyra Leanani Cereola serves as Executive Assistant to the NICJR Executive Director. In this role, they provide administrative support to the Executive Director and general support to the NICJR leadership team and Board of Directors. Kyra is passionate about radical honesty and meeting people where they are, drawing on a background in feminism and disability justice to tailor communication to each team member.
Before joining NICJR, Kyra worked as an Events Coordinator for Disability Voices United, a disability advocacy nonprofit in California. In this role, they successfully organized large-scale virtual and in-person events; provided extensive IT support; and managed the organization’s communications. Kyra also supported legislative advocacy in this role, organizing and implementing meeting protocols that ultimately led to the passage of AB 1147, the Disability, Accountability, and Transparency Act. As a liaison between California legislators and disability community advocates and stakeholders, Kyra facilitated impactful meetings that drove significant policy changes.
Kyra graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Feminist Studies. Their academic research focused on LGBTQIA+ rights, accessibility in infrastructure, racial disparities in education, and the pragmatic applications of Black Feminist Science Fiction.