Time:
9:30 am - 1:30 pm ET

Location:
Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School
90 Bur Oak Ave, Markham, ON L6C 2E6

Agenda:
9:30 am Registration
10:00 am Opening
11:00 am Break w/ light refreshments
11:30 am - 1:30 pm Panel discussion

Panel Discussion Topic:

Education and Inclusive Learning for Asian-Canadians with Disabilities

Explore culturally responsive teaching practices and the intersectionality of disability and ethnicity. Hear insights from educators, policy commentators, family members and advisors to the board on impactful initiatives, lived experiences, and strategies to advance inclusive education for Asian Canadians with disabilities.

Networking and Collaboration

Connect with educators, advocates, and community leaders who are passionate about making a difference. Share ideas, build relationships, and collaborate on future initiatives to support Asian Canadians with disabilities.

MODERATOR:

Elaine Cagulada is a researcher and scholar who teaches at Queen's University and University of Toronto in the areas of disability studies. She lives in and with deafness and disability. Elaine completed her PhD on opening interpretations of deafness, disability, race, and policing at University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

PANELISTS:

• Dr. Farah Ahmed: Farah, a Faculty Fellow of York Center for Asian Research, is Full Professor at the School of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Health, York University. She conducts community engaged mixed-method research to examine and address health inequities at the intersection of immigration/refugee status, gender, and race specially for the socially stigmatized issues including mental health and neurodiversity.
• Fiona Ning Cheuk is a doctoral candidate in Social Justice Education at the University of Toronto. Her dissertation research focuses on public consultation processes for policy and legislation on disability and accessibility.
• Lisa M. Fernandes: An Ontario Certified Teacher, Lisa has taught secondary science and math in public and private schools across the GTA and York Region. She received a Community Service Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Success from the York Region Secondary School Vice-Principals' Association. Lisa has extensive experience supporting K-12 students, families and teachers with a focus on Twice Exceptional (2e) students, identified with a label of giftedness and at least one label of disability. Currently, she is a doctoral student in the Educational Leadership and Policy program at OISE/UT, specializing in neurodiversity-affirming schools and policy reform.
• Aparna Menon: Aparna is a mother to a 7-year-old son diagnosed with nonverbal Level 3 autism, Down syndrome, and multiple other diagnoses, a tutor to autistic adolescents, and a parent counsellor at a center in Mumbai. India. She is also a researcher and a Ph.D. candidate in Public Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Her research examines autism and autistic nonverbal communication through a critical disability studies and social justice framework.
• Thanh Thanh worked as an early childhood educator in specialized centres and is a researcher for the Inclusive Early Childhood Service System (IECSS) project at the Toronto Metropolitan University.

Time:
2:00 pm ET

Location:
York Lion Stadium
230 Ian MacDonald Blvd, North York, ON M3J 1P3

York United Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League (CPL) and plays its home matches at York Lions Stadium (Capacity: 4000), located on York University's Keele Campus in North York, Toronto.

The Club was founded in May 5, 2018 (originally as York9 FC) and was rebranded in December 11, 2020, to York United FC. The club's rebranding in 2020 aimed to broaden its appeal beyond York Region to encompass the entire Greater Toronto Area.

By watching the match and stepping onto the field to interact with the players, children will experience the true spirit of sports, gain encouragement, and build confidence and interest in participating in physical activities.

Time:
TBA

Location:
Landmark Cinemas Kanata, Ottawa
801 Kanata Ave., Kanata, ON K2T 1E7

Join us for a special movie charity event where families come together to enjoy a fun film and support children with special needs through joy, community, and compassion.

The discussion will include an overview of the Accessible Canada Act, highlighting its implications for Asian-Canadian communities and its role in advancing accessibility and inclusion.

This session also explores the diverse experiences of individuals with disabilities within Asian-Canadian communities, focusing on how societal, historical, and cultural factors intersect to shape attitudes and access to care and supports. Panelists will share insights on the barriers and facilitators encountered by Asian-Canadian people living with disabilities and discuss possible ways forward.

Time:
7:00 - 9:00 pm ET

Format:
Live Zoom webinar with interactive audience Q&A

GUEST SPEAKER:

Rabia Khedr: Rabia is dedicated to equity and justice for persons with disabilities, women, and diverse communities. Rabia most recently served as a Director on the Accessibility Standards Canada board and a Commissioner on the Ontario Human Rights Commission. She sits on the Minister’s Disability Advisory Group. She is the National Director of Disability Without Poverty and CEO of DEEN Support Services. A founder of Race and Disability Canada, she is also a board member of the Muslim Council of Peel and the Federation of Muslim Women. A motivational speaker and documentary commentator, Rabia draws on her lived experience of being blind and advocating for siblings with intellectual disabilities.
Rabia has received numerous awards for her humanitarian services, including a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Metal and the Daniel G. Hill human rights award. Rabia holds a Bachelor of Arts (University of Toronto) and a Master of Arts (York University).

MODERATOR:

Dr. Farah Ahmed: Farah, a Faculty Fellow of York Center for Asian Research, is Full Professor at the School of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Health, York University. She conducts community engaged mixed-method research to examine and address health inequities at the intersection of immigration/refugee status, gender, and race specially for the socially stigmatized issues including mental health and neurodiversity.

PANELISTS:

• Cindy Jiang: Cindy is a doctoral student in the Critical Disabilities Studies at York University. Her research areas include social inequities in health, particularly mental health and disability health promotion among racialized populations. Cindy's research projects include working on a large national study looking at how to reduce the stigma of mental illness among Asian men in Canada as well as a local project looking to diversify mental health curriculum with racialized mad artists.
• Dr. Vanessa Fong: Vanessa Fong is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia. Her scholarship focuses on health equity and improving health and social services for families of children with disabilities from underserved communities. She has training and experience applying integrated knowledge translation (iKT) approaches and has collaborated with not-for-profit organizations, policymakers, and people with lived experience on various research projects. Vanessa's doctoral work highlighted major gaps in services and supports for Korean families of autistic children and the need for policies that support culturally-responsive and equity-driven care.
• Dr. Elaine Cagulada is a researcher and scholar who teaches at Queen's University and University of Toronto in the areas of disability studies. She lives in and with deafness and disability. Elaine completed her PhD on opening interpretations of deafness, disability, race, and policing at University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

This session explores employment challenges faced by Asian Canadians with disabilities. Panelists include employees sharing personal experiences, workplace inclusion specialists offering strategies for inclusive hiring and accommodations, and experts on disability employment. Discussions will highlight fostering inclusion and promoting success through collaboration and understanding.

Time:
7:00 - 9:00 pm ET

Format:
Live Zoom webinar with interactive audience Q&A

MODERATOR:

Heather W. Wong: Heather is a PhD student in Organization Studies at Schulich School of Business, York University. Heather's research examines how organizations and workplaces can be designed to center access and inclusion. Her current projects investigate the limits of compassion toward workers with invisible disabilities and explores how we can move beyond individual accommodations to create organizations where access is built in from the start. Prior to academia, she worked in marketing and product management.

PANELISTS:

• Mubina Jaffer, Manager of Training and Education at Abilities Centre since 2023, brings extensive experience in accessibility, inclusion, and leadership. A wheelchair user and single mom, her lived experience enriches her work with diverse organizations and communities worldwide. A former parasport athlete, Mubina now enjoys cheering for her son at hockey arenas, driven by her passion for fostering connections and empowering others.
• Lisa Kelly: Lisa Kelly is a passionate advocate for disability inclusion and accessibility. As a person with a disability and a strong background in this area, she has worked tirelessly to enhance access to services and opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Lisa has contributed to national conversations on inclusive employment practices and has been actively involved in initiatives promoting equitable access to career counseling and development resources. At the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, she leads Discover Ability, a free portal that connects job seekers with disabilities to meaningful employment opportunities. The portal also provides employers with resources to hire and retain persons with disabilities, foster inclusive workplaces, and enhance their business outcomes.
• Cameron Lau: Cameron Lau is an aspiring finance professional who has been diagnosed with ADHD as well as ASD. He has a bachelors of arts in economics, from Wilfrid Laurier University. His career first began in 2017, through the Holland Bloorview Youth@Work program, pushing a cart selling snacks at the hospital. Cameron has worked in the sales division at Fidelity Investments, through the Holland Bloorview Ready to Work program, and most recently, in the claims team at Chubb Insurance.
• Carolyn McDougall supports high school aged youth to get critical first work experiences and connects talented young workers with disabilities with inclusive employers in the Toronto area. Carolyn is an occupational therapist and healthcare manager. She speaks with families, employers, service providers, educators and policy makers across Ontario about why early work experiences matter and how to get started realizing the benefits for individuals, organizations and communities. Carolyn shares examples of preparing for work, inclusive employment practices, disclosure, accommodations, employment supports, funding and policies.
• Dr. Mahadeo Sukhai, the world's first congenitally blind geneticist, is a leading expert in accessibility and inclusion with over 20 years of experience in the field and 25+ years as a scientist, researcher, and educator in medical sciences. He specializes in improving accessibility in postsecondary education and employment for persons with disabilities. Dr. Sukhai chairs the Employment Technical Committee for Accessibility Standards Canada, co-chairs the CIHR Expert Advisory Committee on Accessibility and Ableism, and serves on the boards of HDRN Canada and the Institute of Neurodiversity Canada. He is also a member of the Disability and Work in Canada steering committee.

This session delves into actionable solutions to address barriers faced by Asian Canadians with disabilities. It spotlights cultural, social, and structural challenges, featuring insights from community leaders, non-profit representatives, and therapists. Topics include fostering inclusion through cultural understanding, innovative programs, and building resilience.

Time:
7:00 - 9:00 pm ET

Format:
Live Zoom webinar with interactive audience Q&A

MODERATOR:

Elene Lam: Elene Lam is an activist, artist, community organizer, and educator dedicated to advancing disability and racial justice. She is a Sessional Assistant Professor in Critical Disability Studies at the School of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Health, York University. For over two decades, Elene has championed the rights of marginalized communities, addressing the intersections of disability, race, and labor. She is the founder of Butterfly: The Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network, amplifying the voices of racialized and disabled individuals in the fight for equity and inclusion.

PANELISTS:

• Yoonmee Han is actively involved in disability advocacy, particularly with the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians (AEBC) and the Toronto Disability Pride March (TDPM). Her work is rooted in a strong commitment to accessibility, human rights, and disability justice. She's particularly interested in advancing peer-led and community-based mental health care and support systems. She is a doctoral student in the Science and Technology Studies program at York University.
• Kennes Lin oversees as Director of all clinical services at Hong Fook Mental Health Association, a leading ethno-cultural community mental health agency in Ontario. Communicating her extensive experience working with Asian youth and families therapeutically and in community, she has taught at OASW on topics of anti-Asian racism, at York University's School of Social Work, and as a field educator at University of Toronto's FIFSW. Kennes is passionate and engulfed with the vision and practice of using individual and family psychotherapy as a path towards collective liberation from on-going violently oppressive structures.
• Yin Brown has been an advocate for equal access and opportunities for persons with disabilities since 2009 when she returned to Toronto from teaching abroad. Yin is the Project Coordinator for DisAbled women's Network (DAWN) Canada in Toronto. Previously, Yin has worked at CNIB as the Manager, Advocacy for Ontario, and at CBM Canada as the Advocacy Coordinator. Yin has also been serving on the Board of Directors at Ontario Council for International Cooperation (OCIC) since 2011. She is also currently the Toronto Chapter President of Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians and the Co-Chair of City of Toronto's Accessibility Advisory Committee.
• Boris Tia is the Manager responsible for Accessibility at CBC/Radio-Canada. Since August 2024, Boris has been leading efforts to make the organization more accessible, both for its audiences and its employees. His work focuses on ensuring that CBC/Radio-Canada remains an inclusive and welcoming environment.

Time:
6:45 pm - 8:15 pm ET

Location:
Code Ninjas
20 Vogell Rd A1, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3L1

Code Ninjas offers coding classes for kids, typically ages 7-14, using a curriculum centered around building video games, apps, and robotics.
Their teaching philosophy is: "Kids have fun, parents see results."

Children learn real coding languages while developing important skills such as:

• Problem-solving
• Critical thinking
• Creativity
• Resilience

If your child enjoys video games or technology, Code Ninjas is a great way to turn that interest into practical digital skills that will benefit them for life.

This special in-person event invites audiences to witness the benefits of inclusive, adaptive physical activity in action. The evening will feature a demonstration by autistic children engaged in hockey and skating—highlighting how movement, teamwork, and encouragement can build confidence and social connection.

More than a game, this showcase is a reminder that inclusion isn't just about access—it's about celebrating strengths, building community, and creating spaces where all children can thrive.

All are welcome to attend. Families, educators, community members, and sport inclusion advocates are especially encouraged to join.

Time:
5:30 pm - 8:15 pm ET

Location:
West Rink, Thornhill Community Centre
7755 Bayview Ave, Thornhill, ON L3T 4P1

Time:
9:30 am ET

Location:
Ottawa

Join us for a fun-filled Mini Golf charity event where children and families can enjoy friendly competition, develop coordination skills, and connect with others in a supportive, joyful atmosphere. It's a great way to promote inclusion through play—one putt at a time!

Time:
10:00 am ET

Location:
Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School
90 Bur Oak Ave, Markham, ON L6C 2E6