Dr. Reshma Thomas
Artist
Dr. Reshma Thomas
"It is clear that I have different roles, but no matter what medium I use or style I explore, they all share the same purpose: to create, interact, voice, engage, and inspire.
Work that is beautiful, Work that is political, Work that is accessible, Work that challenges,Work that is expressive, Work that is cryptic.
I happily take up all these roles to examine what it means to be human, to voice and express, to push communities to engage thoughtfully and make steps toward social progress, and to bring people and ideas together.
It can leave you excited, sad, emotional, inspired to act, and create a burning desire to fight injustice.
I wish to be part of creating history for future generations, reach out & touch people around the world, lift people when they are down, and create art for the silenced".
About Reshma Thomas
Dr.Reshma Thomas is a gender rights artivist, writer, artist, and gender policy advisor. She is also passionate about social impact, human rights and gender equality projects. Director of Business Development at Ekaart Digital Systems, a company that advises restaurants on effectively tackling food wastage and provides digitization platform with customers in Canada, Middle East, Singapore and India
Born in Kerala, India she is a self-taught artist with a penchant to explore the deeper perspective of life through her work. Most of her inspiration flows from the natural beauty and life of human beings around. She makes use of her spirit and enthusiasm for art to magnify life. For her, art is an extension of her outlook to life and the struggle of weaker sections of society.
Reshma studied at the University of Madras and holds a Ph.D. on Transgender identity issues and public policy. She focuses on bringing gender realization of social equity, social inclusion and social justice in the context of sustainable development.
She is a Gender and Development consultant with various government agencies and non-governmental organizations to strengthen the gender focus in public and private institutions, organizations and communities to promote the rights of those who are most marginalized within a society.
Reshma was involved in formulating the transgender policy of the Government of Kerala, the first state in India to have a policy for transgender communities. She worked alongside LGBTQ communities, non-governmental organizations and the Department of Social Justice, Government of Kerala.
Her Ph.D focused on a comparative study of the transgender communities and government policies between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. She also has a Master's degree in Public Administration from the Madras Christian College, Chennai.
Reshma has presented many papers about the historical and present influences on the transgender community in various publications.