Latino Empowerment: Edwin L. Walker

by | Dec 19, 2024 | Blog

In our next installment of Latino Empowerment, the National Hispanic Council on Aging would like to call your attention to Edwin Walker, the previous Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging, of the Administration for Community Living (ACL). Edwin retired in March, 2024, after carefully picking his replacement, Kari Benson, to lead the ACL in their efforts to help the United States aging population. His tenure as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging, was the punctuating position to a long and storied career dedicated to helping older adults, and ensuring that they are able to live with dignity and good health.

Edwin Walker is from Heathsville, Virginia, where he grew up with a respect and reverence for his elders, a value we hold dear at NHCOA and that is emblematic of Latino communities everywhere. In conversation with the Alliance for Aging Research, Edwin remarked that “As a child, [he] had positive images of growing older because of the examples in [his] immediate community,” and recalls that his community “viewed older people as imparters of wisdom and providers of traditions and culture.”

Edwin graduated from high school in 1974, and went on to attend Hampton University, graduating with a Bachelor of the Arts degree in Mass Media Arts in 1978. Soon after, he would attend the University of Missouri’s Columbia School of Law, and graduate in 1983 with his law degree. Edwin has recalled that he initially had no interest in the field of aging, but quickly found himself working for the Missouri Department of Social Services in 1984, where his initial job was to help monitor Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs), meaning the organizations and nonprofits that have taken on the responsibility of connecting older adults with social services. By 1988, he had gotten to know the network of the Older Americans Act, and became the director of the Missouri Division of Aging.

In 1992, Edwin made the transition from state level to that of the federal government, when he joined the Administration on Aging (AoA) as Associate Commissioner for the Office of State and Community Programs. This was the start of over three decades of experience working for the federal government, as a mover and shaker within the field of aging. During that time, Edwin took on the position of Director of Program Operations and Development, and in 2009 became the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Programs at the AoA. In 2012, the AoA was officially merged to become the Administration for Community Living (ACL); Edwin Walker remained the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging, until his retirement in March, earlier this year.

During his time as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aging, Edwin Walker displayed a keen and powerful understanding of the importance of Medicare, Medicaid, and the intricacies of long-term care for older adults. The level of care and expertise that has come from his career in the field of aging is an incredible example of Latino empowerment, marking the culmination of Latino reverence for our elders and the earnest dedication it takes to make change for an entire demographic.

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