She once felt unseen. Now the world is calling her one of its most inspiring women

What the report says

Watchdog Uganda profiles Petua Bakwesegha-Summersby, a Ugandan-born behaviour support practitioner, disability inclusion advocate and international speaker now based in Darwin, Australia. The article says she founded Heartward House, an NDIS-registered organisation that provides trauma-informed Positive Behaviour Support and employment services for children, adolescents and adults with complex needs, and that her work spans schools, homes and forensic support settings.

According to the report, Bakwesegha-Summersby’s approach is rooted in the idea that behaviour is a form of communication. She says her own childhood, spent between Kenya, Ethiopia, the United States and Uganda, included periods of loneliness and feeling unseen, which later shaped her empathy for people who are overlooked or misunderstood. The story also notes her leadership background in school and her later studies in communication, criminology and criminal justice in Malaysia and Australia.

The piece says her growing profile recently earned her a place on Titanium Magazine’s “Top 50 Global Inspirational Women to Look Out For 2027,” with recognition linked to an event in Marrakech, Morocco. It also describes her international speaking and advocacy work, including appearances at inclusion conferences in India, and highlights her view that inclusion efforts must move beyond discussion to practical implementation.

The profile presents her career as part personal journey and part broader argument for disability inclusion: that people’s behaviour may reflect unmet needs, and that effective support depends on listening, dignity and creating safer environments for those often left unheard.