Ari Tommy Hazelman is a blind 34-year-old Samoan man posted as the disability inclusive officer for the Samoa Blind Persons Association, (SBPA), the only association in Samoa that deals with issues affecting blind and visually impaired people. Hazelman works with the SBPA’s Braille unit and is involved in the organization’s advocacy work through various activities under a project funded by the Disability Rights Fund.

Passionate about disability rights and accessible information, Hazelman is a member of Samoa’s CRPD resource team, Samoa’s disability reference team on disaster risk reduction, and Nuanua O Le Alofa, a nationally recognized disability rights advocacy organization.

Hazelman loves to meet and network with new people and speaks six languages including Samoan, English, Fijian, Hindi, Japanese and German. He has represented Samoa at international events like the Harkin Summit on employment of persons with disabilities and attended the Duskin Leadership Training Programme in Japan for people with disabilities for the Asia Pacific region in 2019-20.