When Katie “KD” Drackert received the 2026 Paul G. Hearne Emerging Leader Award from the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) in recognition and support of her vital work with Clear the Air ATX (CTA), the moment provided a profound sense of validation. For Drackert, who founded the organization to make air purification more accessible throughout Austin, Texas, the national recognition offered tangible proof that her tireless community efforts were genuinely making a difference in the lives of others.
Winning the award was really reaffirming, Drackert noted, recalling how her close friends reacted to the news by asking her if she finally believed in the impact of her work. The prestigious honor, which highlights emerging disabled leaders making a transformative difference in their communities, came with crucial funding that Drackert immediately put to use to expand the reach, capacity, and overall mission of Clear the Air ATX.
Drackert’s journey into grassroots disability advocacy was forged through personal experience. While she had identified as chronically ill and disabled for much of her life, her relationship with the disability community deepened significantly after she contracted Long COVID in 2021. That turning point exposed her to the systemic vulnerabilities and social isolation that many disabled individuals face when navigating a world unequipped for their needs.
Long COVID revealed what she had always feared most, Drackert explained: that when a person reaches a certain level of disability, traditional support systems can fracture, employers can let you go, and the harsh realities of marginalization become an immediate everyday reality. Experiencing that firsthand, she noted, was a deeply traumatic transition that ultimately galvanized her commitment to systemic change.
In the years following her diagnosis, air purification has increasingly emerged as a cornerstone issue within disability justice. On the Clear the Air ATX website, the core philosophy is clearly articulated: reducing the concentration of viral particles in the air decreases transmission risks, keeping communities safer while safeguarding vital social connections. For Drackert, this is not merely a public health preference, but a fundamental matter of accessibility and civil rights that is frequently overlooked by the mainstream public.
In terms of how society thinks about accessibility, clean indoor air is not necessarily perceived as an access issue by the general population when it fundamentally is, Drackert emphasized. Reflecting on her own medical trajectory, she pointed out that what ultimately altered her life and health status was simply breathing compromised air. She believes that numerous personal crises, ongoing medical expenses, and severe health complications could have been entirely avoided if clean indoor air had been treated as a standard public utility. Driven by this realization, she set out to bring these critical conversations onto a much larger, national stage.
Founded by Drackert in 2023, Clear the Air ATX operates with the clear mission of promoting clean air awareness and actively combating the spread of COVID-19 and other airborne viruses. Among its most popular and impactful initiatives is an air purifier lending library program designed to support community gatherings, personal events, and public functions. To date, more than 500 local events have successfully utilized CTA’s air purifiers to maintain safer environments. Beyond equipment sharing, the organization is heavily engaged in public education campaigns, working to raise local awareness regarding the lingering dangers of Long COVID and the indispensable value of respiratory health equity.
The financial backing provided by the AAPD’s Hearne Award enabled CTA to launch a groundbreaking pilot purifier distribution project. This initiative supplies air purifiers directly to local organizations in Austin for their shared office spaces, while also coordinating the direct distribution of units to multiply-marginalized individuals within the community. The demand for the program was so overwhelmingly high that CTA was regrettably forced to turn interested applicants away due to limited inventory.
Receiving this support from the AAPD has been instrumental in validating the organization’s operational model, according to Drackert. She explained that having the opportunity to pilot this specific program allows CTA to build a robust proof of concept, demonstrating to potential future funders that the initiative not only works effectively, but addresses a deeply felt community need.
In addition to direct community distribution, the Hearne Award funding has significantly bolstered CTA’s ongoing local government advocacy efforts. Earlier this year, CTA joined forces with the Long COVID Collective to collaborate directly with Austin City Council members. Their joint efforts successfully resulted in an official city proclamation recognizing Long COVID Awareness Day. Furthermore, Drackert took her advocacy directly to the municipal level by presenting formal testimony to Austin city officials regarding the profound societal and economic impacts of Long COVID.
Reflecting on the influence of her recent accolades, Drackert noted that having the prestige of the Hearne Award associated with her name and organization fundamentally shifted how local leaders engaged with her message. She observed that carrying the award title makes people take a second look and treat advocacy efforts with a higher degree of seriousness, proving to be an immensely beneficial tool in their civic engagement work.
Forming Clear the Air ATX while concurrently adapting to new medical conditions and shifting physical limitations required immense resilience. Drackert expresses deep gratitude for the resources, professional growth, and personal opportunities that the AAPD and the Hearne Award have afforded her during a period of profound life transition. On top of providing essential resources and bolstering her self-confidence, she shared that the recognition has granted her the valuable time and space needed to explore who she has become in this new chapter of her life and within this version of her body.
Under Drackert’s leadership, CTA has cultivated a diverse organizational culture rooted in intersectionality and mutual respect. Gaby Benitez, a public health researcher and lead organizer with CTA, commended Drackert for her expansive and inclusive vision of disability justice. Benitez described Drackert as a true visionary who deeply believes in integrating disability justice across all realms of social activism. What makes Drackert’s approach particularly special, according to Benitez, is her innate ability to recognize how every facet of social justice is fundamentally interconnected.
Outside of her demanding leadership role with CTA, Drackert balances her activism with her academic pursuits as a first-generation college student at Texas State University. Majoring in communications with a specific concentration in civic engagement, persuasion, and advocacy, she plans to continue her vital community work while pursuing a master’s degree in the future. Looking ahead, her long-term aspirations for the organization are ambitious and clear-cut. In terms of the future of disability rights and justice advocacy, Drackert intends to keep steering Clear the Air ATX forward, working steadily toward institutional sustainability so that the initiative can eventually secure full, permanent funding rather than operating as a part-time project.
The unwavering drive and persistence that Drackert has demonstrated throughout her advocacy journey have firmly established her as a formidable voice for clean air awareness, both within Austin and across the broader advocacy landscape. For those stepping into leadership roles within the disability community, she offers a straightforward and encouraging piece of wisdom drawn from her own experiences. If someone tells you that your idea might not work and that it is a little out there, you are probably heading in the right direction, Drackert advises. If an idea is unconventional, it usually means nobody else is touching it yet, and that it desperately needs to get done—so you should simply go for it.
