Fred Maahs - The importance of accessible travel for all.

Fred suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the chest down just a few days before starting his first year in college. He has used a wheelchair ever since. After obtaining degrees in Business and Marketing, he spent more than 30 years as a corporate executive working for Fortune 100 and Fortune 30 companies traveling the world and building his expertise and reputation as an internationally-recognized disability advocate, keynote speaker, and accessibility travel and tourism expert.

Fred served on three panels at the White House regarding issues that impact the lives of people with disabilities. He has presented on the issues faced by people with disabilities when traveling by air to the United States Department of Transportation. He worked with local, state, and federal levels of government on disability-related issues. Fred founded FJM Solutions, LLC in 2019 and Maahs Travels in 2021. Maahs Travels (www.maahstravels.com) works across the globe to refine accessible travel, provide accessibility, diversity and inclusion training, and define market potential and strategies to attract more people to global destinations. Maahs Travels works with international governments in the Caribbean, Dubai, Jordan, Portugal, the UK, Israel, and the United States, airports and airlines, hotels and travel destinations, to find solutions to refine accessibility.

In 2019, Fred joined Tarita Davenock and Travel for All (www.travel-for-all.com) as a partner and Chief Operating Officer. Travel for All is headquartered in Canada and provides global, accessible and inclusive travel experiences tailored to the unique needs of each traveler. In 2020, Fred was named Editor of Melange Accessibility for All (www.readmelange.com/accessibility) and he served on President-Elect Joe Biden’s Disability Policy Committee.

He is working with the #EndExclusion Coalition based at St. Cloud State University on a major project for World Expo Dubai 2020 and all future World Expos. And, he is expanding his portfolio to address accessibility solutions in Asia and Europe.

He serves on the National Board of Directors for the American Association of People with Disabilities and Advisory Boards for a number of start up tech companies serving people with disabilities. He received his B.S. in Business Management from West Chester University, an A.S. in Business from Widener University, is certified in Corporate Social Responsibility Leadership from the Center for Corporate Citizenship at the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, and resides in Wilmington, Delaware.