Appointee Biographies

MATTHEW SHAW

Born with a degenerative deafblind condition, Matthew Shaw is a recognized expert in accessibility legislation, policy and practice across industries and sectors. Matthew is the Head, Accessibility Practice for the Rick Hansen Foundation, where he helps organizations develop accessibility strategies that remove barriers and solve social and business problems. Before joining Rick Hansen Foundation, Matthew founded two consulting practices serving corporate, non-profit and public sector clients. He has also held leadership roles in Canada’s charitable sector. Matthew writes and speaks about disability and serves on various committees and boards. In addition to serving as Chair of the Accessibility Standards Advisory Council, Matthew is proud to serve as Vice Chair of Accessibility Standards Canada and Vice Chair of Canadian Blind Hockey, the fastest growing parasport in Canada.

ANA MARIA FARIA

Ana Maria Faria (Toronto) is a seasoned philanthropic executive and Director of Development at the University of St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto. Previously, Mrs. Faria served as the Vice President of National Development for Easter Seals Canada – a national organization serving Canadians living with varying disabilities. She provides a unique perspective as a person with a lived experience, and is committed to removing barriers to accessibility. Her strong strategic planning, fundraising and communications skills have been developed through various leadership roles in communications and marketing in government and the corporate sector. In addition, she has diverse leadership experience in the charitable and not-for-profit sector. Mrs. Faria is dedicated to the community, and has been inspiring philanthropic support for post-secondary student scholarships, the performing arts and literacy programs in Canada.

EYRA ABRAHAM

Eyra Abraham is the founder of Lisnen, a startup changing the landscape of adaptive technologies for people with hearing loss using the latest AI technologies. She’s a technical committee member for plain language with Accessibility Standards Canada. She participates as a steering committee member for Start Access, an initiative on AI and equity with the American Association of People with Disabilities. Eyra is also a board member at the Creative Users Projects, a digital network of artists and creators with disabilities. Building on her hearing loss and technical experiences, her mission is to advance how technologies can positively impact people with a disability to gain equal access at home, at work, and in our community.

KAREN BROWN

Karen Brown has worked in fall & injury prevention since 1998. Previously a member of the CSA Hip Protectors Express Document Committee & co-chair of the CSA Hip Protector Technical Committee, she is currently a member of the Home & Community Care Technical Committee. Karen developed The Oldish, a website publishing articles of interest to aging seniors as well as Real Life Renos focusing on modifications to support increased residential independence. Karen holds certifications in home modification & accessibility allowing her to work in residential, commercial and public spaces. Karen has served on many boards in her South Huron community including Habitat for Humanity, South Huron Chamber of Commerce, served as secondary school council president for five years & in 2021 concluded nine years as a Director on the South Huron Hospital Board of Directors, the last year as Chair. Karen is currently a member of the Innisfil Accessibility Advisory Committee.

DOUGLAS EARLE

Doug Earle is CEO of West Park Foundation working to support West Park Healthcare Centre, a rehabilitation and complex care hospital in west end Toronto. Doug has more than 30 years in progressively senior roles in the non-profit sector, with a focus on health-related causes. He was President and CEO of Fighting Blindness Canada. In the decade prior, Earle led transformational campaigns at CAMH Foundation, UHN Foundation and Brock University. In addition, for four years Doug was the sole proprietor of a communications firm and has worked for four national health charities (arthritis, cancer, hemophilia, & diabetes), Wilfrid Laurier University and TVOntario. Doug is a Certified Fund Raising Executive. In the community, Doug served on the Board of Directors for the Carassauga Festival Inc. for 2005 to 2006.

NIKKI GORE

Nikki Gore, of Toronto, is a global marketing and business leader with over 30 years of experience developing and implementing integrated marketing strategies, supporting sales teams, and building high-performance marketing teams for B2B technology companies. She joined the auticon Canada team, where she leads marketing and business development. auticon Canada enabling businesses to attract and retain highly skilled technological talent on the autism spectrum through inclusive recruitment, education, advisory and coaching services. Ms. Gore has also held executive marketing positions for technology companies ranging in size from start-up to growth to global multinationals. She is the parent of an autistic child and has volunteered with non-profits and advocated for delivering accessible and inclusive experiences for neurodivergent children and young adults.

KAT HAMILTON

Kat Hamilton, of Ottawa, is the Director, Advocacy and Campaigns for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). Ms. Hamilton is an experienced and well-respected social change campaigner and government relations professional who specializes in disability rights advocacy. She is adept at building strong community relationships alongside grassroots organizers and stakeholder organizations, and she has successfully spearheaded systemic changes in policy through her campaigning. Before moving to Canada from the United Kingdom, Ms. Hamilton worked for the Campaigns Team at the Royal National Institute of Blind People where she effectively mobilized national support on a variety of advocacy issues affecting people with sight loss. With a desire to continue to make positive societal change for people with disabilities, Ms. Hamilton joined the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) in 2016, holding various ascending advocacy roles.

GEORGE QUARCOO

George Quarcoo (North York) is a low vision individual who is passionate about making his community accessible to persons with disabilities. Mr. Quarcoo lost most of his sight to Stevens-Johnson Syndrome at 9 years of age, and since then, has made it his life’s work to driving change for inclusivity. Mr. Quarcoo has represented Canada in various Paralympic events as a T12 sprinter, including the 2015 PanAm Games in Toronto; 2017 World Championships in London, England; and the 2018 Common Wealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia. In his professional work, Mr. Quarcoo took on the role of Group Support Coordinator at the Canadian National Institute of the Blind (CNIB), creating and facilitating sports and recreational activities for persons living with sight loss. He then moved on to working at BALANCE for Blind Adults in Toronto as an Assistive Technology Instructor, empowering clients’ independence with the use of Accessible Tech. Mr. Quarcoo is currently in a role at eSSENTIAL Accessibility, where he and his team drive innovative solutions to making the ever growing digital world accessible to persons with disabilities.

TINA DOYLE

Tina Doyle brings a unique perspective to the council as a person with lived experience of a rare disability, offering insights into user-centered service delivery and physical accessibility. As the Principal of AccessAdvance Consulting, a consultancy practice supporting businesses, non-profits, and the education sector in designing accessible spaces and systems through accessibility audits, service reviews, training, and collaboration on disability and accessibility-related research, her goal is not only to help organizations meet legislated accessibility standards but to ensure that the experiences of people with disabilities align with the spirit of the law, creating welcoming environments and meaningful opportunities. With 30 years of experience in higher education, Tina has been involved in removing barriers for people with disabilities, serving as Chair of the AODA Postsecondary Education Standards Development Committee and the Inter-University Disability Issues Association, and as a Sessional Instructor and Director of AccessAbility Services at the University of Toronto Scarborough. She holds a Master of Science in Disability Services in Higher Education from the City University of New York, is registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers and is a designated Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification™ (RHFAC) Professional.

MEGHAN JOHNSON

Meghan Johnson (Cottam) is the Program Manager for the CONNECT Mental Health Counselling program at the Canadian Hearing Services, which provides professional services to Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals who are living with mental health issues or other serious challenges. She is a Deaf individual, who also teaches at St. Clair College in the Deaf Culture and American Sign Language Program. Ms. Johnson holds a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Windsor, and applies her positive attitude and energy into continuing to educate herself through online workshops.

JOHN LANE

John W. Lane (Caledonia) is the Chief Building Official/Senior Manager of Building and Development Services at the City of St. Catharines. Mr. Lane is currently Vice President of the Ontario Building Officials Association (OBOA) Board of Directors and serves as Education Committee Chair. He is also an OBOA facilitator, responsible for delivering Building Code courses to its members. Prior to joining the OBOA, he served for 20 years on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Association of Property Standards Officers as Treasurer and part of its Instructor Team. Mr. Lane has extensive knowledge of the Barrier Free requirements in Ontario’s Building Code, and how they compliment the accessibility requirements associated with the Design of Public Spaces Standards under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005. For over 30 years, Mr. Lane has also served as a part-time professor at Mohawk College, teaching various architectural and building code-related courses.

CHARLES BRIDGES

Billy Bridges (Mississauga) has been a member of Canada’s National Para Hockey Team for over 20 years and the Alternate Captain for nine years. Born with Spina Bifida, he is a Paralympic gold, silver and bronze medalist in the sport of para ice hockey, and a four-time World Para Ice Hockey champion. At 14, he was the youngest player to ever make Team Canada, and the first to record 200 points. He also played professional wheelchair basketball in Spain. Mr. Bridges studies astronomy and English literature at the University of Toronto.

RICHARD PADULO

Rich Padulo (Etobicoke) is the owner and President of Padulo X Experiential Marketing. With over 20 years of experience in marketing, he has led both strategy development and execution of national and regional awareness campaigns, as well as in-person campaigns for the private, public and non-profit sectors. Mr. Padulo has a passion for bringing people together to obtain actionable change. He is the founder of Treat Accessibly, a grassroots social movement which advocates for making trick-or-treating accessible. Started in Canada, the movement is on its way to having 400,000 homes participating by 2025. One home for every one of the 400,000 children and youth with a disability in Canada today. His work in seeking binding resolutions from a ever growing number of cities and towns to champion the movement, like Toronto, Vaughan and more, as well as rallying the private sector to continue to make the movement free to participate across the country ensures continued growth and vision to make Halloween night the first accessible holiday tradition in the world to accelerate accessibility as a whole.