Board of Directors

Phil has served on the board of Canadian Helen Keller Centre (CHKC) since 2012, most recently as chair.  He is hoping that he can continue the great work of those before him as CHKC drives to expand their services while improving the lives of those most vulnerable. A father of 3 great young kids and a husband to an amazing wife, Phil enjoys spending time outdoors or building something when he isn’t working for the family’s Communications and Television Channels businesses.

Al is a senior consultant based in Toronto with his firm of URSA Enterprises which specializes in management and communications.

Previously, he was the executive director of a national music products trade association for 30 years (1979-2009). His background also included stints as vice president of a large public relations consulting firm, and executive director of a symphony orchestra association based in North York for 12 years.

His involvement with the GTA deafblind community as a volunteer intervenor began in 1973 with the Deaf-Blind Association of Toronto (DBAT) and continues to the present. He is also currently vice chair of the CHKC Board of Directors, and chair of the CHKC Board Strategic Planning Committee.

For his nearly 50 years of outstanding volunteer service in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Al has been awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers, and the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship (OMC).

Shaunna is the Marketing and Commerce offering leader in Canada for Deloitte Digital. Shaunna works with clients on their marketing and loyalty strategy and is a thought leader in this space in Canada. Shaunna works with clients on large transformation programs that span strategy, people, process, data and technology.

Kim was chair of the CHKC Board of Directors from 2016 to 2018. Kim began her service on the CHKC Board in 1998 as one of two deafblind members at that time and had served as vice chair since 2014. With her election as chair, Kim has earned a place in history as the first deafblind person to lead the organization’s Board of Directors.

Kim first began receiving intervenor services through CHKC’s new outreach program in 2007. Her interactions with intervenors and staff have given her an even greater understanding of the agency, how it is run and the important work it does for the deafblind community. Kim is able to combine her perspectives as a Disability Studies scholar, a successful business professional and as a person who is deafblind receiving intervenor services to guide her work on the CHKC Board.

After spending 20 years in corporate IT, Kim enrolled part-time in Ryerson University’s School of Disability Studies in the summer of 2000. The empowering program opened Kim’s eyes and gave her the tools and language she needed to address accessibility and advocacy issues in the community. With a degree, several awards earned during her studies and a lifetime of her own experiences, Kim left the corporate IT world in 2003 to pursue various projects as an advocate and accessibility expert.

Vim is a businessman and former senator. He is most known for his leadership, vision, passion and commitment towards empowering people with disabilities. Vim has made major contributions to removing barriers and bringing equality to individuals who are deafblind.

He has also been a pioneer and driving force behind the growth of the Canadian Paralympics and is well known for his ground-breaking work on behalf of people who are deafblind. His project, Rotary Cheshire Apartments (RCA) and CHKC enables deafblind people to live independently in a barrier-free environment.

He was an inaugural trustee, chair of the Content Committee, and fundraising team member raising $167 million for Winnipeg’s Canadian Museum for Human Rights, which opened in 2011.
He has been recognized with the Order of Ontario, Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from York University, the Ontario Medal of Good Citizenship, and Lifetime Achievement Award by the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame. Vim was also chosen by India Abroad as one of the 30 most influential Canadians of Indian origin. CARP also listed him as one of the top 25 Canadians over 45 who have contributed to the quality of life for others and have made a difference in Canada.

I have a seasoned financial background in public accounting and private health industry, including the last 15 years in transformational businesses with significant organic growth and through several mergers and acquisitions.

As a senior executive in the private sector, and with my CPA,CA background, my network breadth includes some Ontario ministry connections as well as real estate developers, designers, contractors.

For the last 4 years I was at Motion Specialties, a $200+million revenue generating health business predominantly delivering and servicing mobility devices for all ages in 4 different provinces; Ontario, Alberta, BC and Saskatchewan.  My role evolved to become the Chief Financial Officer of the organization. I left at the end of 2018 and am now consulting on a part-time basis.

I am currently serving on the board of CarePoint Health, a Mississauga integrated primary health care service provider. I also chair the Audit Committee.

I am halfway through my board accreditation program at Rotman sponsored Institute of Corporate Directors and will be completing the program in January 2020.

My goal is to bring my experience and connections to benefit the intended expansion of CHKC. I appreciate the bid process has commenced in 2019 and I would be honoured to be part of such an established, impactful and ever evolving organization like CHKC.

Upon attending the most recent AGM, meeting clients, caregivers, staff and board members, and hearing of the true value this organization provides and the respect that is mutually shared, I am very interested in joining this board. With your strategic plan in place, I am prepared to contribute to the board’s vision based on what has been shared with me to date. Please let me know if there are further details required from me for your consideration.

Amit is a qualified professional accountant (CPA, CA) from Canada, USA and India and has held progressively senior positions in his 25+ years of career in banking industry. He is the Chief Financial Officer of SBI Canada Bank, a Canadian subsidiary of State Bank of India. In his current role, he is also responsible for Treasury and is the Chair of Asset-Liability Management Committee (ALCO) of the bank. Prior to joining SBI Canada, Amit worked with many international banks like Citco Bank, Dundee Bank, ICICI Bank and Deutsche Bank.

Besides being successful as corporate executive, Amit is actively involved with the community also and voluntarily serves many not-for-profit organizations like Indus Community Services and Agarwals Based in Canada. He was also on the Board of Toronto Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) where he led the Chapter as Chairman during 2014-15. Amit is known to mentor new immigrants and is often invited to speak at various professional development events. He has recently joined the Board of CHKC.

Anupam has been the president of the Kothari Group of Companies since 2014, a diversified real estate development and lending company. The Kothari family and the Kothari Group support many charitable causes in Ontario and Manitoba. The focus of those efforts has been in health care and education. As part of their commitment to the communities they are building, they wanted to ensure that they gave back to those communities in a meaningful and impactful way. Anupam joined the board of CHKC to assist with the future expansion plans.

Tina is a tenant of CHKC, who has lived in one of our apartment units since 2002. She really enjoys her independence while also receiving intervenor services on a regular basis. Tina received a Bachelor of Social Work from Ryerson University from 2004 to 2011. In addition to her educational background in Social Work, Tina received a certification in Grade Two Mastering Literary Braille through correspondence at the Toronto’s CNIB. She has been a member of CHKC’s Board of Directors for five consecutive years and enjoys swimming, walking, reading, and cooking homemade Italian food on her time off.

Cheryl Ramey has worked in the field of congenital deafblindness and multiple disabilities for the past 34 years.

In the most recent 18 years she has shared her skills, knowledge and experience through teaching and mentoring students as a professor at George Brown College in the Intervenor for Deaf-Blind Persons Program.

She has held the position of Program Coordinator for the Intervenor Program since January 2017.
Cheryl’s career began with specialized training in deafblindness at the W.Ross Macdonald School for the Blind and Deafblind in Ontario where she worked as a Resource Consultant for the Ministry of Education.

She spent nine years as the Executive Director of a supported independent living program for adults with deafblindness in Manitoba. Cheryl was also the Director of Training for CDBA ON for 1.5 years.

Cheryl has sat on a number of boards including the Canadian Deafblind Association, National; Canadian Deafblind Association, Ontario Chapter and the Deafblind Ontario Services.

David is principal at David Young Law, a privacy and regulatory counsel practice. He has been advising clients on privacy issues since prior to the enactment of Canada’s private sector privacy laws. He advises both private and public sectors on all aspects of privacy law including compliance procedures, consent, data sharing, employee privacy, personal health information, security, breach response and access to information. David advises on marketing matters including digital advertising, anti-spam, social media and food and drug law. His practice also includes corporate regulatory compliance.

David is a co-author of Canadian Advertising and Marketing Law (Carswell) and Marketing Communications Services Agreement – Commentary and Model Agreement 5th ed. (Association of Canadian Advertisers).

David is the 2015 recipient of the Ontario Bar Association’s Karen Spector Memorial Award for Excellence in Privacy Law. He is recognized as a ranked lawyer in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, Chambers & Partners 2018 Canada Guide and The Best Lawyers in Canada. David is a member of the Canadian Marketing Association’s Ethics and Standards Committee.