Bhanuben Solanki lives with her husband and daughter in Bhagwatinagar, an informal settlement in Ahmedabad, India. She had a very challenging childhood, and was forced to marry at 13, but excelled in school. She earns a living as an ASHA (health) worker, teaching English, and doing sewing work. She is also an influential Vikasini (Community Leader) who has worked for numerous years supporting women in the community with government paperwork, and petitioning for services and neighborhood improvements from local government (with support from Mahila Housing Trust). She led a an awareness campaign to educate people about importance of voting, what to look for in the candidate when voting to empower community members to participate in the elections.
Somsook Boonyabancha, is Chairperson, Asian Coalition for Housing Rights (ACHR), a regional network of grassroots community organizations, NGO’s and professionals actively involved with urban poor development processes in Asian cities; former Director of the Community Organization Development Institute (CODI); Chairperson, of the Baan Mankong Program Committee.
Boonyabancha has been working and facilitating sustainable, equitable collective housing development and slum upgrading in Thailand and other Asian countries for 30 years – specializing in community-led initiatives. As director of CODI, she fostered a “city-wide” approach to community upgrading that has been replicated in cities across Thailand. She is based in Bangkok, Thailand.