meet michaela
// Design activism is about using the power of visual communication to make positive transformation – specifically by raising the voices of individuals & groups that would be normally overlooked.
Michaela Partridge is a feminist campaigner, writer and creative consultant working to advance gender equality by combining her life-long passions – human rights and visual arts. Her work is grounded in the context of rural India, where she started her career working for RGMVP, a poverty eradication and women’s empowerment project in Uttar Pradesh. As a consultant, she has helped lead the impact of various missions – from visualizing knowledge for data-driven reports and program documents to designing new websites and creating visual identities for different initiatives.
“When you think of activism, your mind doesn’t automatically go to design, but most causes actually do have recognizable imagery associated with them that really helps get their message out. This is where I believe my work can have the greatest impact, to help enhance this shape and carve out something recognizable that people can get behind.”
She has built a following on social media where she engages with news and culture through the lens of art activism. Sharing her own work and the work of those who inspire her, Michaela aims to engage, provoke and inspire audiences to question normative ideas around gender, sexuality and beauty to rethink a path forward.
Michaela has a Bachelor’s degree in Art and Religion from Syracuse University in New York and a Master’s degree in Gender and Development from the University of Sussex in the UK. Read Michaela’s Advocacy Portfolio.