Draft:Katheleen

Vania Deonizio (born September 26, 1974) is a Afro-Brazilian Expressive Arts Therapist, Author and Keynote Speaker. She is a proponent of using music and dance as a healing tool for everyone, specialized for hospitalized children. She is the founder and board member of Dancin Power, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to use the power of music, mindfulness and dance to improve the lives of hospitalized children. Vania has dedicated the past 18 years to the cause and is an spokesperson for the organization. Starting in 2018 Vania started to travel around the world doing keynote speeches to create awareness' of the invisible wounds we carry, especially in the face of traumatic experiences. In 2017 Vania decided to go back to school to study Expressive Arts Therapy at the California Institute of Integral Studies, in San Francisco, CA - United States. She earned a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Expressive Arts Therapy in 2020, making her the very first person in her family to earned a college degree and graduate degree.

Early Life & Education Vania was born in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, and grew up in the Slums of Rio. She is a daughter of Alendina Deonizio, a maid, and Rivaldo Deonizio, a salesman. Vania has one younger brother from her mother's side, Marcio Viana, who lives in Rio de Janeiro. Vania was left with her maternal grandmother after birth, as her mother left to work in a different in the North East as a maid to a family of missionaries from the United States.

Personal Life Vania spent part of her childhood in the Baixada Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro, an area that has a very high rate of crime. When she was 6 years old her family moved to the state of Minas Gerais looking for safety from the crime and dangers in Rio. When she was 9 years old her mother who was at that time living in Pernambuco, took Vania to live with her in the house she was a maid for the missionary family in Caruaru, PE. She stayed with her mother for a few months, but longing for her grandmother Alzira, she asked her mother to take her back to Minas Gerais, which her mother did. At the age of 17 years old, Vania got pregnant of her only child, Reydrick Deonizio. She became a single mother, raising her child with no presence or support from the baby's father. Despite no support, Vania raise her son with pride and sacrifice. When she was 26 years old Vania moved to the United States in search of her version of the American Dream. Through her journey, she encoutered many obstacles and nevertheless, she remain positive that life would get better. And it did, after years in the United States Vania was able to bring her son to live with her and have a chance of better education and opportunities. He attended excellent schools in San Francisco, including one of the top college preparatory High Schools in the Bay Area, Lick-Wilmerding High School With that Reydrick received an excellent education and was able to travel to countries like Senegal and France. In 2018 Vania was invited by the British Medical Journal to travel to Amsterdam to give a talk about her work with Dancin Power. From there, she started doing keynotes around the globe, her very first keynote was in Melbourne, Australia in 2018 at the International Forum in Quality and Safety in Healthcare hosted by the British Medical Journal and The Institute for Healthcare Improvement. From there, she started to get invited to do keynotes in other important conferences in the healthcare field. In 2018 she spoke in front an audience of over 5,000 people at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement Annual Quality and Safety in Healthcare. Vania was featured by NBC Bay Area in their Bay Area Proud showing the important work she does in the community. Her work using dance as a therapeutic tool was featured at the HuffPost showing her work in action. She has since continue working hard to help other healthcare providers to adopt more expressive arts into their patients care journey. She has made her life mission to help improve lives through dance and is not stopping anytime soon. She lives in the Bay Area near her son Reydrick and wife Liliana.