2026 Awards and Honors 

About the Linda Gonzales Award:

Linda Gonzales was the first Executive Director of APRIL for 20 years, and truly was a visionary when it came to including youth with disabilities as leaders in the rural Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement and more specifically, the APRIL youth movement. It is a great honor to give this award to recognize and celebrate Linda’s many contributions to the youth movement and Independent Living. 

Congratulations to our 2026 Linda Gonzales Award Winner for Outstanding Rural Youth

About the APRIL Advocacy Award:

Formerly known as the Earl Walden Award, the APRIL Advocacy Award honors and recognizes an outstanding disability advocate in their field at our Annual APRIL Conference. Initially created to honor Earl Walden, a great friend and supporter of our organization in it's early years, he took APRIL under his wing when we needed an advocate on our side. We know he would be so proud to realize that his legacy continues to live on through the APRIL Advocacy Award. 

Meet our 2026 APRIL Advocacy Award Winner:

Honors:

We want to honor some of our APRIL Board Members who will be ending their tenure on the board. Please join us in recognizing the contributions they have made and the dedication they have put forth to make APRIL a success!

Hank Bostic

Lidia Fonseca

Jill Nyberg

Angie Zimmerman

Kendra Brown

Emily Smith (Youth)

Hannah Adira (Youth)