ABOUT DANI

Danielle Khan Da Silva is an award-winning queer South-Asian/Portuguese photographer, director, writer intersectional conservationist and National Geographic Explorer. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of Photographers Without Borders and co-founder of the Sumatran Wildlife Sanctuary, Reclaim Power mentorship program, and other initiatives. Danielle holds Hons. BSc. degrees in conservation biology, psychology and global studies, as well as an MSc. in Environment & Development from the London School of Economics. She is passionate about Indigenous science, rematriation, Indigenous land and water stewardship, and their applications to orca/humpback whale conservation. She has done two TEDx talks around different aspects of her work and is currently writing two books on conservation and science topics.

VISIONARY

Dani envisions a unified world where humans have remembered and realized their roles as healers and guardians of this beautiful planet, returning to reciprocal relationships with Mother Earth and one another.

She is the Founder and Executive Director of Photographers Without Borders®, which was established in 2009; she is Co-Founder of the Sumatran Wildlife Sanctuary; she recently founded an artistic healing space called "Ferngully," which is set in a 30-acre forest between Muskoka and Algonquin Park in northern Ontario. Dani was also the founding Co-Chair of the Dandelion Initiative, an organization run for and by sexual assault survivors in Toronto, Canada. Dani has also supported scores of visionaries and storytellers carry our their dreams and visions through her Reclaim Power mentorship program, which was founded in 2020.

Dani is called on to consult for organizations around the world on topics such as ethical literacy and decolonization in storytelling, decolonized conservation practice, protecting the rights and sovereignty of Indigenous people, land/water protection, sacredness in storytelling, rediscovering the role of humanity, as well as empowering heart-centered, decolonized leadership. She has consulted for and worked with organizations such as Nia Tero, the World Intellectual Property Organization, MC Satchi, SeaLegacy, United Way, University of Toronto, Sony, and more.

STORYTELLER

Dani is an award-winning documentary photographer/director who is a Sony ambassador as one of the original Sony Alpha Female award recipients. She has created several award-winning short documentaries for Photographers Without Borders and her images have been published by the British Journal of Photography, National Geographic, the United Nations, The Independent, The Economist, and the book Cities, Slums and Gender in the Global South: Towards a Feminised Urban Future (Chant & McIlwaine, 2016), among others.

She has published research in the book Climate Governance in the Developing World (Held, Roger & Nag, 2013) and completed a distinguished Master's dissertation exploring the psychology of climate change messaging. She was also an instructor at Fleming College for the Environmental Visual Communications post-graduate program taught at the Royal Ontario Museum for several years.

Dani is currently working on projects with National Geographic, Patagonia, Globe and Mail, and the Safina Centre, and is working on her first book. She is also working on a fine art body of work called The Mother Earth Verses.

SPEAKER

Major shows/talks include:

• 2023 “Inclusive Approaches to a Complex Idea,” National Geographic Explorer Fest

• “Rediscovering the Role of Humanity,” (first delivered in 2019 at National Geographic Exodus Fest).

• Storytelling for Change Podcast Host

• “Grassroots Narrative” - TEDx Talk

• “Connection is the Key to Conservation” - TEDx Talk

MENTORSHIP

Dani runs an annual mentorship program called “Reclaim Power.” Reclaim Power is a holistic, compassionate and trauma-sensitive approach to building a business or project, with a focus on decolonial praxis and personal/collective healing. This 9-month program is designed to support and guide those who reimagine systems and ways of being, and to bring their visions to life.

AWARDS

Dani has an Honours BSc. in Conservation Biology, Psychology and Global Studies from the University of Western Ontario and an MSc. in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics.

Dani was the recipient of first Sony Alpha Female award, was named a Canadian Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leaders Award, and was listed as number 2 in Matador Network's Top 17 Female Photographers of 2017 as well as their Top 5 Women Changing Media. She has been nominated for the 2018 Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award; she has also been nominated for Canada's Top 100 Powerful Women 2016, 2016 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards, and the 2015 Women in Biz Social Good Award. She won an Ontario Volunteer Service Award for over 10 years of Community Service in 2017 and was recently also named “Woman of the Week” at Women’s Post. She was a Reelworld E20 participant. She received the Helge Hummelvoll scholarship for the prestigious Missouri Photo Workshop in 2019. In 2022 Dani is a Senior Fellow for the Safina Center and has been mentored personally by Cristina Mittermeier, Carl Safina, Ami Vitale, the late Dr. Sylvia Chant, and Dra. Rosales Mesa to name a few.

She currently studying to be a yoga teacher, is certified in Ayurvedic practice and is also certified in the Trauma of Money™ method.

Her documentaries have also received numerous awards and mentions.