Reverend Liz Walker

Liz Walker, former journalist, humanitarian, and minister, leads the Cory Johnson Program for Post Traumatic Healing (CJP). Named after a young, murdered member of Roxbury Presbyterian Church where Reverend Walker served as pastor, CJP is a faith-inspired, clinically supported, community-based program that addresses the epidemic of Post-Traumatic Stress in a neighborhood too often overrun by violence. CJP offers weekly community gatherings called ‘Can We Talk…’ where residents are encouraged to share traumatic experiences, increase their understanding of psychological trauma, and learn coping skills. The program also offers access to mental health support that some residents might not otherwise receive. Since it began in 2014, CJP has served thousands of residents and is in the process of replicating its ‘Can We Talk…’ community conversations around the country. 

Reverend Walker took a lead role in vaccine education for communities disproportionately impacted by COVID 19, serving on Massachusetts Governor Baker’s Advisory group for COVID vaccine distribution.

With a life filled with many chapters, Liz Walker is still best known as Boston’s first Black television news anchor, a position she held for 21 of her 28-year television news career. She is the recipient of two Emmys, symbolizing the highest recognition from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and an Edward R. Murrow award for journalistic excellence.

A 2005 graduate of Harvard Divinity School, Reverend Walker has long been actively involved in a healing ministry.  She helped found the Jane Doe Safety Fund, a multimillion-dollar anti-violence initiative in Massachusetts that continues to work on policy and supports domestic abuse shelters and safe houses around Massachusetts. She spent 10 years as a humanitarian working in South Sudan one of Africa’s most troubled countries and helped build a girls’ school there.  years as Boston’s first African American News Anchor on WBZ TV.

Considered one of the nation’s most healing voices, Reverend Walker is a member of the Core Strategy Team of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization and serves on the Board of Trustees for Boston Medical Center.  She has served on the Board of Trustees for Andover Newton Theological Seminary, the Tufts Health Foundation and Board of Overseers for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.   She is the mother of three and grandmother of two.