Award of Excellence 

by Patchen Barss 

The Rick Hansen Foundation has become a Canadian icon of efforts to progress on inclusion, equity, and diversity for children with disabilities. Hansen himself has a personal magnetism that inspires people and provides them with new perspectives on what it means to be an advocate and changemaker.

Under his leadership,
the Foundation has provided resources for young advocates and youth affected by disabilities, including annual scholarships in continuing education, its Youth Leadership Committee, annual awards for young difference makers across Canada, and its School Program. His foundation empowers young individuals to make change in their own communities.

Hansen remains a “man in motion,” personifying the ideals of his Foundation. Currently, he and the Foundation are rethinking how people of all ages and abilities access spaces where we live, work, learn and play. The Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification is an innovative program that rates, certifies, and showcases built environments based on how well people with mobility, vision, and hearing disabilities can access them. More than 2,000 sites have been rated through the program.

Hansen demonstrates a unique mix of resilience and vulnerability. As a public speaker, he talks authentically about the “big, dark canvas of despair” that he faced after a truck accident at age 15 left him unable to walk due to spinal cord injuries, supporting research for therapies and rehabilitation technologies alongside his accessibility work.

He has inspired new generations of change leaders. Hansen has worked with organizations such as March of Dimes, Easter Seals, Parasport Ontario, and the Canadian Paralympic Committee, and has mentored many accessibility advocates, including Maayan Ziv, whose work with AccessNow is empowering people to discover a world of accessible opportunities, make better decisions, and remove barriers. Rick Hansen’s legacy extends well beyond the thousands of lives he has directly touched, and helped create a future that will continue to improve people’s lives for generations to come.