Shaneel Lal

Spearheading the end of conversion therapy in New Zealand

Shaneel was born in Fiji and migrated to New Zealand at the age of 14. They are of iTaukei and Girmitiya descent. Shaneel is passionate about liberating people who live within the intersections of being BIPOC and queer. 

Shaneel co-founded the Conversion Therapy Action Group to work towards a ban on conversion therapy. They have also worked alongside the Ministry of Education to design a more inclusive education system. Shaneel was selected as the Global Youth Leader for Open Government Partnerships and sat on the Amnesty International Global Youth Taskforce. In 2019, Shaneel joined the Executive Board at Rainbow Youth.
In 2020 Shaneel Lal was awarded the 2020 Impact Award for Inclusion.