Jason DaSilva

Jason DaSilva is a director, producer, writer and disability rights activist best known for the Emmy Award winning documentary, When I Walk, the first film in a documentary trilogy. The documentary follows his diagnosis of primary progressive multiple sclerosis for seven years as he progresses from cane, to walker, to wheelchair. Following the success of When I Walk, Jason released the second film in the trilogy, When We Walk. When We Walk follows his life as he deals with his MS and fights to stay close with his son. The film is based on his New York Times Op-Ed article, Mapping the Disability Trap. In 2019, the film premiered at the Hot Docs Film Festival, won best documentary at the Center for Asian American Media’s CAAMFest, and had its New York debut at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. The final film, When They Walk, is currently in production. Jason DaSilva is also the President and Founder of AXS Lab, a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving a voice to people with disabilities through film, media and technology. As the President of AXS Lab, Jason is the key creative and strategic voice of the organization, providing insight to necessities in disability activism and facilitating AXS Lab’s work with the United Nations and partner organizations around the world. AXS Map, a crowd sourced Google map based platform which rates the accessibility of businesses, is the primary technology branch of AXS Lab, the largest online database in North America for accessibility. In 2015, Jason had the opportunity to share his AXS Map on a disability panel at the White House. AXS Map serves as an active tool for change alongside his films. AXS Lab contributed to the United Nation’s Flagship Report on Disability and Development which was published in 2018. In 2014, Jason won three awards: the American Association of Persons with Disabilities (AAPD) Paul G. Hearn Leadership Award, the New Mobility Magazine: Person of the Year Award, and the Christopher Award for Excellence in Film. In 2019 he was awarded the Top 40 Trailblazers Award from the Community Resource Exchange, an award for leaders who are driving meaningful change in their communities and the larger world, and the Made in New York recognition at the Gotham Awards.