Alexandra “Zandy” Wong, a students at Johns Hopkins University, is a winner of the 2022 Heumann-Armstrong Award.
More about Zandy:
Zandy Wong (she/her/hers) is a third-year undergraduate student studying public health at Johns Hopkins University originally from Alexandria, Virginia. Her research explores the intersection of public health and neuroscience to inform the creation of accessible digital public health systems for patients with disabilities. When she’s not in the lab, she can be found sharing her story of growing up with hearing loss on the TEDx stage and industry panels to encourage acceptance of those with disabilities. She is also the founder of the NextGen Accessibility Initiative where she partners with Gen Z organizations to make their digital content accessible to youth. Her work to advance digital accessibility has helped create accessible educational content for over 200,000 youth in 119 countries. At Hopkins, she collaborates with Hopkins student offices and clubs to host accessibility workshops, check online curriculum for accessibility, and deliver accessible research symposiums. Previously, she interned in the Office of Representative Katie Porter as an American Association for People with Disabilities Intern. She works with federal and state policymakers on creating equitable policies for helping youth with disabilities transition into higher education and the workforce as a member of the Council of State Governments Youth Working Group. She is absolutely overjoyed to receive the 2022 Heumann-Armstrong Award as it reaffirms that she’s on the right path to creating a world where accessibility is universal and having a disability is celebrated through research and advocacy the opportunity to be selected as a 2022-23 Heumann-Armstrong Award Recipient. She firmly believes that this opportunity will allow her access to a space and community where her voice is respected and uplifted – and that is more powerful than any institution designed to silence her.