serena
Body Activist | Weight Stigma Expert | Marketing & Communications
photo credit: ELC Photo
About me
Serena Nangia (she/her) is a long-time advocate for eating disorder recovery, host of The Body Activism Podcast, CEO of The Body Activists, and Marketing & Communications Manager for the eating disorder nonprofit Project HEAL. Serena has spent close to a decade building expertise on body image, eating disorders, and weight stigma. She is a storyteller, researcher, and educator inspired by her siblings’ mental health journeys, as well as her own experiences living in a larger body.
As a freshman in college in 2017, Serena began using her passion and personal experiences to raise awareness about eating disorders and start the first collegiate program of REbeL, a peer-education organization that addresses disordered eating and body image issues.
Five years later, Serena founded The Body Activists as a way to use her Fat identity, stories, and collected research to change the way our professional systems treat Fat people. The Body Activists collaborates with and educates businesses and community leaders to identify, dialogue about, and disrupt harmful stigma and discrimination based on weight and body size.
Presently, Serena is a frequent and respected public speaker and educator on the issue of fatphobia and actively works to elevate diverse voices of People of Color and Fat people. She has taught twenty-four classes with over 800 participants and continues to educate herself on the intersections of body image, Fat Activism, and eating disorders, recognizing the integral role Black, Fat people have played in her growth. She credits much of her education and success to other Fat Activists, including but not limited to Da’Shaun Harrison, Ivy Felicia, Chevese Turner, Laura Burns, Tess Holliday, Angel Austin, Ragen Chastain, Sharon Maxwell, Wednesdae Reim Ifrach, and Ben O'Keefe.
Serena holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies with a minor in Spanish Language from American University in Washington, DC. Originally from Kansas City, Serena is now a resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is a proud sister of triplet siblings and daughter of immigrants.