Traci Walters

Traci Walters is an award-winning educator on people with disabilities who advocates for an independent living philosophy, nationally and internationally. She served as National Director of Independent Living Canada from 1993-2010. Prior to this, she was the founding executive director of the Niagara Centre for Independent Living. In 1996, Traci was elected Community Observer to the Liberal Task Force on Disability Issues. This effort resulted in the tabling of the Equal Citizenship for Canadians with Disabilities: The Will to Act Report.In 1999, she received the Founders Award from the Centre for Independent Living in Toronto. In 2002, she was instrumental in obtaining support from Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and the Secretary of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, whereby they declared the worldwide theme for the United Nations International Day of Disabled Persons to be “Independent Living and Sustainable Livelihood.” She has given workshops in Bosnia, Moscow, Japan, and at the Disabled Persons’ International World Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, in 2007. It was there that she was awarded an international Meritorious Service Medal by the World Movement for Independent Living for Endless Effort and Passionate Heart. In 2008, Traci was selected to participate in the Governor General’s Leadership Conference. In 2010, Traci was selected to travel to the United Nations Headquarters in New York to participate in Canada’s ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the first international treaty that comprehensively recognizes the rights of persons with disabilities.