Carleton Breakfast Club March 14, 2024

For the last decade, Ariana Abadian-Heifetz ’12 has been exploring how to disrupt cycles of violence and trauma by using body-positive metaphors and stories to dislodge shame and address the underlying mindsets and beliefs that perpetuate harmful practices. Based on her prior work with young women in India, she authored an acclaimed graphic novel, Spreading Your Wings, to inspire positive self-image shifts around menstruation and gender norms. Join Ariana in a dialogue around healing shame, supporting cultural renewal, and addressing the underlying root causes of gender discrimination. Ariana holds a Master’s degree from NYU in Identity Development and studied social movements (POSC/IR) at Carleton. She is an avid poet, potter, and dancer and draws insight from navigating her own liminal identities as an Iranian-Zoroastrian and American-Ashkenazi Jew. She currently lives in Washington D.C., and works for KONU as a facilitator on Adaptive Leadership, mobilizing change processes, and adult social-emotional learning. Her work has been featured in Teacher Plus Magazine, The New Indian Express, Feminism in India, Firstpost, and Mid-Day, and she has also published pieces on gender norms and social-emotional learning in India Today, Deccan Chronicle, and Daily Pioneer.