CULTURAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS INITIATIVE
CORE TEAM
Monica Boța-Moisin
Founder, Strategist & Cultural Sustainability Weaver
Nicole Crouch
Academic Research & Creative industries lead
Shravani Deshmukh
Administration & Community Engagement Lead
Helena Rojas
CIPRI Mexico & Latin America
Founder, Strategist & CULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY WEAVER
Monica Boța-Moisin is a Cultural Intellectual Property & Fashion Lawyer and Cultural Sustainability Consultant working at the intersection of law, fashion, intangible cultural heritage related to Traditional Knowledge (TK) and Traditional Cultural Expressions (TCEs) and biodiversity. She is the to-go person for partnerships, legal strategy and cultural sustainability consulting, keynote speeches and event moderation.
She is the proponent of a soft law framework - The 3C’s Rule: Consent. Credit. Compensation© - for sustainable, fair and equitable relationships between creative industry stakeholders and Traditional Knowledge Custodians (incl. craftspeople) who belong to Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Groups and Local Communities. She coined the term cultural intellectual property rights® and designed the first-ever workshop on cultural sustainability in fashion© following a rights-based approach.
Having extensive experience with Intellectual Property systems in various jurisdictions she is designing benefit-sharing business models for the promotion of cultural sustainability in fashion and creating legal solutions and advocacy tools for systemic change in fashion and law. Together with her team Monica travels in various geographies to conduct fieldwork and consultations with craft custodians and implement grassroots legal literacy programs under the 3Cs - Get Weaving! Campaign.
Monica is the founder of the Cultural Intellectual Property Rights Initiative® (CIPRI) and WhyWeCraft®.
Nicole Crouch was born by the ocean, in Australia. She is a senior textile designer and design team manager in the commercial fashion industry. Her textile print designs span runway, royalty and celebrities to local and accessible markets. She has also worked with traditional textile artisan communities in rural India and the Borneo jungle. This combination of experiences has developed an understanding of the rhythms and values of textile creation within various contexts.
Nicole is a Casual Academic teaching Textiles design and a PhD candidate at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Her research titled: "Commercial Textile Print Design, Cultural Sustainability and Cultural Misappropriation: An Ethical Guide Beyond Intellectual Property for Designers" aims to connect textile print design with the opportunity to engage with Cultural Sustainability. To empower textile print designers to avoid cultural misappropriation and leverage their creativity, flexibility and intuition to comply with Cultural Intellectual Property Rights and the right to self-determination of Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic groups and Local communities.
At CIPRI Nicole translates complex legal concepts into fashion industry methodologies and tertiary design education strategies. She is the go-to person for collaborations with academic institutions and workshops for design teams in creative industries.
Academic Research & Creative industries lead
ADMINISTRATION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT lead
Shravani Deshmukh is an Intellectual Property Law professional who likes to regularly take up courses to upgrade her knowledge in the field. She currently works with “Create & Protect IP Partners”, a company she co-founded, and specialises in Technology Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights.
One of her primary aims is to create awareness and promote Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions while keeping in mind the changing business strategies. She believes that protecting the intellectual creation of local and Indigenous communities is extremely necessary and needs to be encouraged. She feels that even a small dialogue can make a huge difference and loves to connect with people who are willing to learn. Her creative acumen along with the ability to grab technology concepts gives her the edge in her profession.
At CIPRI Shravani coordinates the CIPRI® Workshops and is the primary contact person with the CIPRI Systems-Change Enablers, Ambassadors and Ecosystem Connectors. She is the go-to person for affiliation and involvement with the CIPRI Network as well as participation and contribution to the CIPRI® Workshops.
CIPRI MEXICO & LATIN AMERICA
Originally from San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas Helena Rojas is a textile researcher by vocation and conviction. Throughout her career, she has built collaborative and transdisciplinary bridges between community knowledge systems, participatory methodologies, and the intersection of art, design, and traditional cultural expressions. Her practice is rooted in ethical, horizontal, and situated processes, in which ancestral knowledge from Indigenous communities is recognized as a foundational and legitimate source for internal innovation and co-creative cultural processes. In this context, she has coordinated textile and design projects in both Mexico and the United States, promoting respectful approaches to traditional techniques, aesthetics, identities, and territorial autonomies. She has also facilitated connections between individuals and Indigenous
communities—including designers, researchers, creators, students, and cultural agents—strengthening her role as a social weaver and weaver of change for cultural sustainability,
committed to fostering intercultural relationships based on respect, listening, and reciprocity.
She is collaborating with CIPRI since 2022 on translating and disseminating The 3C Rule: Consent, Credit, Compensation© Cam inTsotsil and Tseltal languages, alongside the members of Mujeres Indígenas Fotógrafas (MIF), and served as
CIPRI's ambassador in Mexico until 2024. Since 2025, she has become part of a stronger articulation to expand CIPRI’s actions and impact in Mexico and LATAM.