Pronouns: She/Her
Lucy Diaz is a passionate, 16-year-old, advocate who has been raising awareness about accessibility issues for the last 4 years. Being a daughter of immigrants and sister of a full-time wheelchair user has given her a deeper understanding of different peoples’ perspectives, which has helped her to excel in her goals. She is a high school student with high academic aspirations, but she is also a photographer, book lover and coffee connoisseur.
Her advocacy work focuses on ensuring all built environments are accessible, especially washrooms. Lucy has worked with hospitals and other medical facilities to create washrooms that will be accessible for the people who visit there, including her sister. She advocates because her sister, who is non-verbal, cannot. Despite constant pushback, Lucy continues to advocate because she knows that her sister and thousands of other disabled youth and adults need washrooms that are actually accessible.
Apart from her accessibility advocacy, Lucy advocates for climate action and is also on the alumni council of BC Heritage Fairs. She is very passionate about the preservation of history and is often researching historical topics she finds interesting, for example, Riverview Mental Hospital (now called Place of the Great Blue Heron) which she began to research at the beginning of the pandemic.
She is an active member of her church, which is Hispanic, often serving several times a week in several ministries, such as Sunday school and the Translation ministry (Spanish to English). Lucy Diaz believes that everyone deserves a voice, and if someone does not have a voice, she will use hers.