OUR
Magda Chmielinski, President
Magda was born and raised in Communist System in Poland, without Deaf Accessibility, TTY and Closed Captioned. When the Communist ended in 1989, she moved to California, USA at 14 years old and learned both English and American Sign Language. She studied Upward Bound Program at California State of University in Hayward during her last year in high school. She earned a degree in Electronic Publishing & Printing Technology from NTID/RIT. She worked at Gannett newspaper company as a Graphic Designer and Pre-Press Specialist for 6 years before she moved to Ontario in 2007. Since then she has been volunteering in various organizations, one of them was fundraising for Deaf Missionary in Haiti. She joined the Greater Toronto Deaf Centre as a Secretary in November 2019. She became Treasurer of TAD in January 2019 then in January 2021 moved into President of TAD. She is hoping to bring more diversity & grow Deaf Community stronger. She has three beautiful daughters: Olivia, Malaika & Caprina and a dog named Moka. She loves doing fundraising, hosting events and traveling. Her favorite food is Polish, Sushi & Ethiopian. Her favorite color is turquoise. president@deaftoronto.ca
Vice-President
Vacant
If you are interested in this position, send email introducing yourself and your background to secretary@deaftoronto.ca
Linnea Vella, Secretary
Linnea was born in Brampton, Ontario to a hearing family of four and attended Ernest C. Drury School for the Deaf until her graduation in 2012. Linnea has skills in organizing spreadsheets, posting to social media, and researching information online. Her favorite food is sushi and homemade bread. Her hobbies are numerous from writing to reading to playing video games. Linnea loves to travel, cooking food and trying new things out. She has been with Toronto Association of the Deaf since 2021 and look forward to picking up valuable skills during her time on the board. secretary@deaftoronto.ca
David Rosenbaum, Treasurer
David was born in Australia. He spent over 25 years in the U.S. before moving to Toronto in 2011. Among his projects in the U.S: managing the annual Deaf Expo, publisher of the “Deaf USA” newspaper, distribution of EF Flashex visual alerting alarm clocks, and producing media programs. Upon arrival in Toronto, he first served for TAD filling in as treasurer and coordinated International Week of Deaf activities in GTA. Now currently CEO of H3 World TV and leading the DeafDots team. treasurer@deaftoronto.ca
Gary Malkowski, Director at-large
Gary was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. He graduated from Ernest C. Drury School for the Deaf and Gallaudet University. He was President of Ontario Deaf Sports Association (ODSA), Chair of Ontario Association of the Deaf Education Task Force, and led Deaf Ontario Now movement. He also served as board member with Canadian Deaf Sports Association (CDSA), Canadian Association of the Deaf (CAD) and Canadian Cultural Society of the Deaf (CCSD) during 1980s and 1990s. He has been a member of TAD for 36 years and served on the TAD Board for 10 years. He received numerous awards and honours provincially, nationally and internationally. He has appeared on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines nationally and internationally. Gary teaches Civics and Career class at the International Yeshivas High School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Toronto, and is Director for Sign Language Institute Canada. director3@deaftoronto.ca
Daniel Loaiza, Director at-large
Daniel was born in Colombia and attended hearing school without a sign language interpreter until college. He is the Deaf member in the family. When he was 11 years old, he learned Colombian Sign Language “LSC”, Deaf Culture and Deaf Community. He was the President of the Palmira Association of the Deaf “ASORPAL” for over 9 years providing resources, support and advocacy for Deaf Community in Palmira. In 2019, he resigned as President to move to Canada. He was a Colombian Sign Language instructor and taught hearing people to communicate with Deaf people and he also ensured accessibility in services. As a Multimedia Designer, he developed many projects successfully to break down the barriers of communication. He is excited to be part of the TAD board to work hard together for TAD members and the Deaf Community across GTA. dloaiza@deaftoronto.ca
Director at-large
Vacant
If you are interested in this position, send email introducing yourself and your background to secretary@deaftoronto.ca
