Our Steering Committee

CEO, DEEN Support Services

Rabia is the CEO of our parent organization, DEEN Support Services, a disability support organization created by and created to support Muslim Canadians with disabilities. She is a consultant with diversityworX, previously served as a commissioner at the Ontario Human Rights Commission, on the board of Accessibility Standards Canada, and a member of the National Disability Advisory Group organized by the Minister of Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough. Rabia was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. She is the founding member of Race and Disability Canada.

Founding Member, Organization of Canadian Tamils with Disabilities (OCTD) & Ethno-Racial People with Disabilities Coalition of Ontario (ERDCO)

Sricamalan (Sri), in his mid-50s, immigrated to Canada from Sri Lanka as a victim of the minority Tamil ethnic cleansing. After earning a Master’s degree from New Dehli and London, Sri is a Human Resources professional at Toronto Metropolitan University and a founding member of OCTD and ERDCO.

ATI Foundation

Selvamanikam (Bhrapa) was born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka with perfect eyesight. His visual impairment was caused by optic nerve and retinal issues caused by an accident while playing at a young age. He pursued his education in Colombo and obtained his Bachelor’s degree with Honours from the University of Jaffna. Due to the ongoing war in Sri Lanka, Bhrapa moved to Canada in 1997. He began working at Scotiabank, becoming the first person with vision loss in their call centre department. He has continued to work there for more than 25 years.

Focus on Ability

Ingrid (She/Her) is an award-winning speaker and bestselling author and holds the position of IDEAL (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, Leading to belonging) Chief Officer at Realize Canada. Ingrid is committed to helping combat discrimination in all forms, driving systemic change and debunking myths and stereotypes of stigmatized identities. Her dedication is deeply rooted in her lived experiences of early childhood trauma, living in foster care, disability, and gender-based violence.

Co-Founder, Volunteer Executive Director, Islamic Social Services Association (ISSA)

Shahina is an educator, speaker, social justice activist, writer, and author. She is widely recognized for her work in anti-racism advocacy, social justice and combatting Islamophobia. For over two decades, Shaina has worked to highlight the ongoing growth of Islamophobia and its impacts through her writing, community organizing, media engagement, public speaking and offering training across various sectors.

Executive Director, Plan Institute

Stephanie and Plan Institute lead efforts to empower individuals with disabilities to live fulfilling lives. With a focus on addressing intersectional barriers, Plan Institute provides educational material, collaborative community projects, and advocacy for policy reformation. Stephanie has a Bachelors degree in Political Science and a Masters degree in Human Security and Peace-building, and has spent 15 years working with nonprofit organizations on disability issues, as well as working internationally on community integration initiatives. Stephanie has a strong belief in the right to full and equal citizenship for all those within the community.

Ethno-Racial People with Disabilities Coalition of Ontario (ERDCO)

Leroy Ennis is a disability advocate that started working with the disability community in 2014 with ERDCO. He is currently the ERDCO board chair. Leroy has worked with numerous organizations and committees to address issues that create barriers for people with disabilities. He continues to work with and support organizations that advocate for disability rights, poverty reduction, accessibility and other barriers to people with disability.

CEO, Founder, Accessibility for All

Meenu Sikand is the founder and CEO of Accessibility for All.  An experienced C-Suite leader across government, healthcare, corporate, and non-profit sectors, she has led large organizations in dismantling ableism and racism by applying the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) lens.  

Meenu acquired a spinal cord injury shortly after she immigrated to Canada from India. She’s used a wheelchair since and has experienced firsthand that it’s not the disability that disables people, but it’s the inaccessible environment around them and the lack of support systems. Throughout her career, she has worked to build and strengthen systems and public policies that enable people with disabilities to participate in and thrive in their communities with dignity. Meenu has spent most of her life showing others that although people with disabilities can work hard and contribute to society, working hard isn’t enough to change society’s attitudes about disability. AFA focuses on public education campaigns to raise awareness of disability and diversity, as well as human rights training. Meenu is a well-respected mentor and coach in the SA community, where she uses her privilege to amplify the voices of people with disabilities and BIPOC populations.  

“We all have unique abilities, and to the best of our abilities, we should be able to contribute to the world that we live in. The system should be set up in such a way to enable you and not disable you,” she says.

In addition to her role at the Ministry, Meenu has been an IDEA champion for over three decades, dedicating her professional and personal life to advocating for the rights of people living with disabilities and those in marginalized communities at the local, national, and international levels. As an immigrant woman with a disability, she has been pushing the boundaries within the EDI profession to ensure people living with disabilities are included in the conversation. Meenu’s lived experiences, among other things, as a South Asian immigrant to Canada and a woman with a physical disability, mean that Ms. Sikand has a critical eye for equity, accessibility, intersectionality, and public policy.

Meenu has received many accolades, including the Community Service Award from the Indo-Canada Chambers of Commerce, the 2020 Senior Executive of the Year award from the Canadian Center for Diversity & Inclusion and the Accessibility Champion Award for the Region of Peel in 2017. In 2020, she was the first SA woman inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame.