Dior Vargas

Dior Vargas is an award-winning mental health activist with over ten years of experience in advocacy. She specializes in working with universities and corporations to discuss self-care advocacy, wellness accessibility, diversity, equity and inclusion, and diversity within mental health.

She is the creator of the People of Color and Mental Illness Photo Project, a response to the invisibility of Black Indigenous People of Color in the media representation of mental illness. She is also the editor of The Color of My Mind, a photo essay book based on the photo project.

Dior is the recipient of numerous awards, including the White House Champion of Change for Disability Advocacy Across Generations under the Obama Administration.

Dior tours the country delivering keynotes, hosting workshops, and speaking on panels, and her work and insight have been covered in media outlets such as The New York Times, Forbes, Newsweek, and NBC News Latino. Dior has a BA in the Study of Women and Gender from Smith College, an MS in Publishing from Pace University, and an MPH from New York University. She is a native New Yorker and currently lives in New York City.