For Immediate Release: March 27, 2025
Contact: Jess Davidson at jdavidson@aapd.com; 202-975-0960
Christine Liao at cliao@aapd.com; 202-521-4302
WASHINGTON, DC – The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is thrilled to announce the recipients of its 2025 Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Awards, an award given to emerging leaders with disabilities who exemplify leadership, advocacy, and dedication to the broader cross-disability community.
Paul G. Hearne was one of AAPD’s founders who was passionate about cultivating leaders to advance the disability rights movement. Through the award, AAPD has continued his legacy by recognizing nearly 70 individuals over 25 years in Hearne’s honor. The funding provided by this award has supported advocacy, education, skill building, organizational infrastructure, and more.
AAPD proudly recognizes Fabiola Amaya and Dr. Ather Sharif as the 2025 recipients of the Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leaders Award.
The AAPD Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Awards are given to two recipients – recipients can be an individual or group – of people with disabilities who identify as emerging leaders. Since disability identity and pride look different for everyone and anyone can become disabled at any time, the designation of “emerging leader” is not tied to age, education status, employment, or specific experience in the disability community. Our awardees are chosen based on their vision and desire to develop their leadership, as well as their project’s impact on our movement.
Each individual or team granted a Hearne Emerging Leader Award receives a total of $10,000. They will use $7,500 for their initiative, which will increase the economic and political power of people with disabilities. The remaining $2,500 goes to the recipient directly in recognition of their meaningful contributions to the disability community. Payments are broken up throughout the year to ensure the award would not have a negative impact on disability benefits for any award recipient. All awardees will be honored at AAPD’s virtual National Community Event on April 30, 2025. We hope you will join us! Free tickets to the event can be obtained at this link.
“We are incredibly excited to recognize Fabiola Amaya and Dr. Ather Sharif as Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Award winners. Fabiola and Ather’s work are both impressive examples of disabled people’s advocacy and leadership,” said Maria Town, AAPD President & CEO.
“Ms. Amaya’s narrative storytelling and advocacy have already made her community at the University of Texas more accessible, and she will use this award to elevate the experiences of disabled students navigating inaccessibility in higher education. Dr. Sharif’s research and work have increased the accessibility of data visualizations for people with disabilities, and he will use the award to expand access to data to inform commuting decisions for people with mobility disabilities.”
Susan Diegelman, Chair of the AAPD Board of Directors, said, “Paul G. Hearne understood that investing in emerging and upcoming leaders in the disability community is critical to sustain movements that advance equity and equal rights. The movement for disability rights has been strengthened over the last 25 years by each recipient of the award named in his honor. AAPD is proud to continue Paul Hearne’s legacy by supporting the work and development of these exemplary leaders. We are excited to watch their work expand and grow with the support the award provides.”
Learn more about this year’s recipients:
Fabiola Amaya (she/her)
Fabiola Amaya is a disabled activist, organizer, and writer based in Austin, Texas. She is an undergraduate student at the University of Texas, majoring in social work with a minor in critical disability studies. Passionate about disability advocacy, she founded On the Moov, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing accessibility through community-driven support.
Fabiola’s advocacy extends across various initiatives, including serving as a fellow in the Crip Narratives Collective and playing a leadership role in the Restroom Revolution, a movement focused on making UT’s restrooms more accessible. Her experiences of community activism and disability justice continue to shape her work.
In her free time, Fabiola enjoys reading, painting, and engaging in arts and crafts.
With the support of the AAPD Paul G. Hearne Award, Fabiola Amaya is creating a documentary that amplifies the voices of disabled students navigating accessibility barriers in higher education. Through On the Moov, the documentary will highlight the real experiences of students at UT, showcasing both the challenges they face in having their access needs met and the power of peer support in fostering independence. By elevating these stories, Amaya aims to drive institutional change and expand On the Moov’s impact, encouraging students to join On the Moov and provide support to more disabled students.
Dr. Ather Sharif
Dr. Ather Sharif (he/him) is a Researcher, Software Engineer, Author, and Disability Advocate. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Washington in 2024. His research focuses broadly on human-computer interaction and specifically on the intersection of accessibility, visualization, and customization. The main objective of his research is to make data visualizations accessible to screen-reader users. His work has been published at top-tier academic venues and received several accolades and recognition from several media outlets, including the Philadelphia Inquirer. As an expert in data visualization accessibility, he is currently working on a research monograph on this topic, which will be published by Springer in 2025. He is also a Principal Associate at Capital One and the Founder of EvoXLabs, an initiative dedicated to bridging the gap between technology and people with disabilities. He has pioneered several initiatives, including the evoHaX Hackathon, Accessible World Conference, and UnlockedMaps. Through his initiatives, he is dedicated to increasing the accessibility of information technology and the full participation of people with disabilities in computing.
With the Hearne Award funds, he will enhance and scale his initiative, UnlockedMaps, an online map that assists users with mobility disabilities in making informed decisions regarding their commute. UnlockedMaps is currently deployed in six North American cities; with the help of Hearne Award funds, he will onboard more cities to the UnlockedMaps platform in collaboration with like-minded advocates and organizations.
The recipients of the 2025 AAPD Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Awards will be honored at AAPD’s National Community Event on April 30, 2025 at 6:30 PM. You can learn more about this year’s award recipients and previous awardees on the AAPD website. Please join us in congratulating them on their accomplishments and leadership.