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
Linnea Vella, Secretary
Linnea was born in Brampton, Ontario to a hearing family and attended Ernest C. Drury School for the Deaf until her graduation in 2012. She has recently completed a course about making online content accessible to all. Linnea has skills in advising others about making content more accessible for the deaf, organizing spreadsheets, writing blog posts and researching information online. She is excited to be part of TAD board as the Secretary and looks 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, Board member 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
Juan Jaramillo, Board member at-large
He is a former Child and Youth Advocate from the Ontario Provincial Advocate’s Office for Children & Youth. He worked within the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to provide equity and communication between diverse communities across Ontario for 9 years. These experiences have provided him with a valuable insight in leading and strategic solutions within the Ministries, School Boards, Community Services and with various Agencies. He was born in South America, Colombia, and he became deaf at birth. He moved to Canada at a very young age and grew up surrounded by Spanish music and learning dance moves. His most popular performances were ASL versions of, “Rock Around The Clock” from the era of the 1950’s. Juan learned ASL dance choreography while a student at Gallaudet University’s Dance company. He co-founded Dancing Hands, a group of deaf performance artists and toured with them for 22 years. He specialized in ASL song Interpretation and ASL consultation for the theatre and stage, and has for over 25 years. One of his highlights was performing both the Canadian and American National Anthems at t. He has done this for the Blue Jays games in Toronto Skydome (2002), the NHL 100 Centennial Winter Classic games in both Toronto and Ottawa (2017- 2018). He has also acted in a short film called, “Toward You” as a supporting actor. This film received the MENA Film Festival’s audiences 1st Choice Awards in the short film category. He appeared in Season 2 of the CBC documentary TV series “YOU CAN’T ASK THAT.” He has also been involved in various theatres like the Sound Off Deaf Theatre Festival, the Toronto Fringe Festival, and the Abilities Arts Festival. He performed with Chicago MAP, Deaf Short Play Festival 2021 and won the Judge’s 4th top pick as playwright for, “But the truth is…” He currently works with the Roseneath Children’s Theatre as a Deaf Theatre Interpreter. He loves putting on a great show and providing accessible art & entertainment for everyone. jjaramillo@deaftoronto.ca