Je’anna Clements is a globally recognised children’s rights advocate, speaker and author. She co-founded Riverstone Village’s Sudbury-style democratic school in South Africa and acted as a key facilitator there from 2017 until it was closed in mid 2025.
She is a founding member of the Rights-Centric Education Network, and previously served on the Oversight Committee of the European Democratic Education Community (EUDEC) and has acted as board member and adviser to several democratic schools internationally. Her work consistently promotes educational models grounded in peace, democracy, and a lived experience of children’s rights.
With an academic background in Philosophy, Political Science, and Psychology Je’anna is the author of What if School Creates DYSlexia?, Help, My Kid Hates School!, the forthcoming book Chalk and Cheese: Unpacking the Infamous C Word which explores the impact of the word ‘compulsory’ in educational contexts, as well as the Helping the Butterfly Hatch textbook series for Self-Directed Education (SDE) facilitators. Among the various online and print publishers of her writing are Le Hetre Myriadis, Save the Children Sweden, Children, Youth and Environments journal (University of Colorado), Tipping Points magazine (ASDE), and Sudbury International. She specializes in Horizontal Communication, SDE facilitation, and educational support for children with Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), and is the creator of the demand-sensitivity unit of the Alliance for Self Directed Education (ASDE) in-house Compendium.
She offers online training, mentoring, and consulting for an international network of educators, founders, and families, grounded in the belief that education rooted in a lived experience of full human rights, learner autonomy and empowerment within community enables young people to thrive.