Jana Offergeld is a Social Pedagogue and an alumna of the International Diploma on Mental Health Law and Human Rights from Germany. Her research focuses on human rights, disability, mental health and social justice. Jana has recently completed her PhD on article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities (UN CRPD), conducting a participatory study on legal capacity and supported decision-making in collaboration with Mensch zuerst e.V. (People First Germany).

Since 2021, Jana works at the German Institute for Human Rights, the national monitoring body for the UN CRPD. She is an advisory board member of the Bochum Center for Disabilitiy Studies, an editorial board member of the Journal on Disability and International Development and a freelance lecturer conducting capacity building workshops for people with disabilities and professionals in the mental health and social sector on legal capacity, inclusion and other human rights related issues.