Anan Bouapha is a human rights leader working to advance LGBTQI rights and inclusive development in Laos. He is the Founder of Proud To Be Us Laos, the country's first LGBTQI rights organisation, where he works at the intersection of advocacy, policy, and community organising to promote equal rights for people within sexual and gender diversity communities. Recognised by the HuffPost as the leader of Laos' nascent LGBTQI movement, Anan brings a practitioner's lens to dismantling the cultural, legal, and normative barriers that marginalised communities face.
Anan's work began in HIV/AIDS prevention and has since evolved into broad political and policy advocacy across inclusive development. Through Proud To Be Us Laos, he partners with state enterprises, corporations, and private sector employers to embed diversity and inclusion into workplace practices — work that earned the organisation a place among The Guardian's Top 9 World LGBT Change Heroes. He continues to engage policymakers, government leaders, universities, and youth groups across Laos to champion legislation and policies that protect LGBTQI people and integrate their rights into national development frameworks.

Anan's practice is grounded in rigorous international training. In 2014, he received an Australia Awards Fellowship to study Social Health and Policy at UNSW. He later completed a Master's in Development and Human Rights at Goldsmiths, University of London as a Chevening Scholar, and a second Master's in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action at Sciences Po Paris, supported by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These experiences continue to shape his approach to rights-based advocacy in Laos and across the region.