Katarzyna Heba Biography

Katarzyna Heba – Polish attorney, has been running her own law firm since 2017. Her professional experience includes not only legal practice, but also activities for persons with disabilities and popularizing legal topics in the media.

For many years, as an expert, she has been conducting trainings, creating broadcasts and articles devoted to the rights of persons with disabilities, their access to justice, legislative changes and personal assistance. She not only explains the regulations and its consequences, but also shares her personal experience as a blind person who, despite barriers, effectively practices the profession of an attorney and actively works for the benefit of society. Her social and professional activities focus on the rights of persons with disabilities and the accessibility of public space and information.

Her involvement in projects implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Poland resulted, among others, in leading the monitoring team in a project concerning the implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. She co-created a project for the defense and security of the state, including detecting threats to the blind and visually impaired. She is also the chairwoman of the CRPD Team within the Horizontal Principles Group of the Partnership Agreement Committee 2021-2027.

As a trainer and lecturer, she conducts training for employees of the government and local government administration, judges, court directors and academics in the field of the UN Convention, independent living, access to justice and the elimination of architectural barriers. The audits of offices she conducted allowed for the formulation of recommendations regarding their adaptation to the needs of persons with disabilities. Katarzyna Heba also serves as chairwoman of the Council for Disabled Persons at the Marshal of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. She also supports persons with disabilities as the president of the Helen Keller Foundation.

For her work, she was awarded the title of Ambassador of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2019), received the distinction “Advocate of the Year 2022”, and in 2024 Polish Ombudsman honored her with a distinction for her activities for the protection of human rights. In the same year, the President of the Republic of Poland awarded her the Silver Cross of Merit for her activities for persons with disabilities and those in need of assistance.