Wallis Annenberg
Dear New Directions Family, Friends, and Community,
It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that I share the news of the passing of our cherished Board member and dear friend, Wallis Annenberg, who died peacefully at her home in Los Angeles on July 28, 2025. She was 86 years old and had been courageously battling complications from lung cancer.
For nearly three decades, Wallis served as a dedicated member of the New Directions Board of Directors, joining us in 1997 with a vision that perfectly aligned with our mission. She believed deeply that people with disabilities deserve the same opportunities in life that others expect and enjoy—a conviction that guided not only her work with our organization but her extraordinary philanthropic legacy.
As a leader of the Annenberg Foundation, Wallis’s generosity touched countless lives and transformed communities. Her recent support for recovery efforts following the devastating January 2025 Southern California Wildfires exemplified her immediate response to human need.
At New Directions, Wallis was more than a Board member; she was a champion for our travelers and a steadfast believer in the transformative power of travel experiences for people with developmental disabilities. She gifted hundreds upon hundreds of travel scholarships as she understood that our programs do far more than provide vacations—they expand self-esteem, open new worlds of understanding, and help create a society where people with disabilities are increasingly understood, appreciated, and accepted as important contributing members of our world.
Wallis’s warmth, wisdom, and unwavering commitment to social justice will forever remain part of New Directions & DNA. Her legacy lives on in every journey our travelers take, every moment of joy and discovery our programs create, and every barrier we continue to break down together.
We extend our deepest condolences to the Annenberg family during this difficult time. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made to organizations serving people with disabilities or supporting the arts—causes that were so dear to Wallis’s heart.
New Directions will be honoring Wallis’s life and her contributions to New Directions at our upcoming 40 th Anniversary gathering in the Spring of 2026.
Wallis Annenberg leaves behind a world made better by her presence, her generosity, and her unwavering belief in human dignity and possibility. We are forever grateful to have called her our friend, our Board member, and our inspiration.
With love and in celebration of a life beautifully lived,
Dee Duncan Founder, New Directions for People with Disabilities, Inc.
New Directions for People with Disabilities, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization providing high-quality travel vacations and holiday programs for adults with mild to moderate developmental disabilities. Founded on the belief that people with disabilities deserve the same opportunities in life that others expect and enjoy, our programs create profound enrichment and expand understanding between people of all abilities.
