Maya Bhardwaj (she/they) is a queer South Indian American scholar-activist, community organizer, consultant to social movements, writer, musician and artist, currently based in London.

Maya’s consulting supports organising projects that seek to dismantle racial capitalism, caste apartheid, and cisheteropatriarchy through strengthening movement resources around structure, strategy, and narrative change. Their research explores queer of color politics and culture in diaspora, with specific focus on South Asian diasporic leftism and the possibility of Black and Brown solidarities. This draws on fifteen years of lived experience within social movements across the US, Europe, Latin America, South Asia, and Southern Africa.

Maya is also a practicing violinist and visual artist with various collectives. Maya holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Pretoria, a MSc from SOAS, University of London, and a BA from Northwestern University. Maya has been working with us here at PIRC since 2020, with narrative research, facilitation, strategic guidance and mentorship.