Wendy Lu, an award-winning journalist, is currently the deputy editor on the Flexible Editing desk at The New York Times, working with every department in the newsroom to help editors hone their craft. She is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School and previously reported on disability at HuffPost.
Lu has written a multitude of powerful articles focused on the disability beat. Some of her standouts for the Times include a profile of influencers Shane and Hannah Burcaw, a tribute to late disability activist Kitty Cone, and an exploration of the topic of the “human-centered” approach for disabled people in the workplace.
Reflecting on her robust history in shaping disability journalism and representation, Lu shared with Able News that she attributes many of the opportunities she’s been afforded to the existence of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). “Without the ADA, I don’t know where I would be. It’s such a big part of the foundation that has allowed me to go to school with other people, receive accommodations when I’ve needed them, pursue my dream career as a journalist and author, and contribute to society overall.”
Lu is making an impact. She made the Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Media division and received the Disability Futures Fellowship presented by the Ford Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the United States Artists in 2022.
As a Knight Visiting Nieman Fellow in 2020, Lu developed a curriculum for reporters on how to cover disability and also works with newsrooms to train staff on how to include and accommodate disabled reporters and creatives. Currently, she is on the board for the National Center on Disability & Journalism.
Also a dynamic public speaker, Lu lectures and hosts workshops around the world. She’s made appearances at Harvard, Princeton and the Asian American International Film Festival. “Because of the ADA, I’m able to be an active participant in my communities. I can’t imagine what it would be like if we didn’t have the ADA, so it’s mind-blowing to think that it has existed for only 35 years.”
Lu’s debut novel, Casting April (for middle-grade readers), will be published by Knopf Books for Young Readers (a division of Penguin Random House) in 2026.
Read all 35 stories of the New York-based leaders profiled in our ADA 35 edition.