Employees with Disabilities Community Network
Who we are
TMU’s Employees with Disabilities Community Network includes faculty and staff with visible and non-visible disabilities. Through their mutual support, members provide a diverse perspective of their experiences of living and working with disabilities.
Members are not required to disclose their disability in the workplace or with members of the network. They have the option to participate through a confidential listserv only or to choose to participate in activities based on their interest and availability.
What we do
The network brings together employees with disabilities, providing them with a forum to support one another through shared understanding and experiences. We also raise awareness of those with disabilities and the challenges they face, and advocate to promote an equitable and inclusive workplace for all.
The group meets on a regular basis covering a range of topics determined by member interest. Our objectives include:
- provision of peer support and mentoring
- fostering a community of belonging
- generating discussion and ideas to enrich the experience of employees with disabilities
- supporting career development of employees with disabilities
- sharing strategies and tools
- serving as a liaison to address identified issues or barriers to inclusion
- promotes awareness and generates discussion around disability, accessibility and issues of equity, diversity and inclusion on the campus and beyond
Across the Universe-City
The network is proud to present Across the Universe-City, a short film that captures stories from the lived experiences of employees with disabilities at TMU. The film challenges viewers to consider their role in creating a more inclusive experience for everyone. Taking a collaborative and consensus-based approach, the network created the film with these goals in mind:
- to educate about the impacts of ableism and the importance of combating its effects
- to increase the awareness of accessibility and barriers on campus as well as how to address them
- to empower employees with disabilities to seek out supports available on campus
- to ignite community engagement about accessibility and anti-ableism as a shared responsibility
The network’s hope is that this film is a valuable and lasting resource that will benefit all members of our community.
A film by Cyrus
Produced in collaboration with Employees with Disabilities Community Network at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU)
With the generous support from TMU’s:
- Office of the President
- Office of Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion
Production Manager
Wilson Lin
Camera
Lekan Agunbiade
Shay Schwartzman
Cyrus Sundar Singh
Sound Recordist
Wilson Lin
Editing and Animation
Conall Pendergast
Sound Mixing
Marcus Huyskens
Composer
Cyrus Sundar Singh
Musicians
Sricamalan Pathmanathan: Miruthangam and Tabla
Cyrus Sundar Singh: Guitars, bass, and drums
Poet Isis Oya: Spoken word
Narrators
Muffa Munshi
Heather Willis
Post Production Studio
LifeStyle Media Inc
Subjects in order of Appearance
Sricamalan Pathmanathan
HR and Employment Equity Coordinator and
Co-chair, Employees with Disabilities Community Network
Elizabeth Mohler
Former Project Coordinator, Magnet
Susan Silver
Associate Professor, School of Social Work and
Co-chair, Employees with Disabilities Community Network
Jyothy Nair
Registered midwife and nurse and TMU alumni
James McKay
Manager Talent Acquisition
Sandy Carpenter
Academic Services and Learning Strategy Coordinator, Athletics
Mary Economou Green
Retired TMU contract lecturer and CUPE 3904 retiree
Kelly Campbell
Assistant Director, National Student Recruitment
Joanne Dallaire
Elder (Ke Shay Hayo) and Senior Advisor, Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation
Charmian Zoll
Communication Specialist, Facilities Management and Development
Leanne Sachs
Program Manager, Privacy, Compliance and Records Management
Heather Willis
Accessibility Coordinator, Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion
Rudhra Persad
Manager, Student Engagement and Development, Faculty of Community Services
Murtaza Haider
Professor, Department of Real Estate Management
Sinthuran Jegatheeswaran
iBEST Research Associate, St. Michael’s Hospital and TMU
Eliza Chandler
Associate Professor, School of Disability Studies
Crystal Mark: Poet, Isis Oya
Former Education and Awareness Consultant, Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion
Yvonne Simpson
Curriculum Specialist, Office of the Vice-Provost, Academic
Muffa Munshi
Project Coordinator—PMO—Magnet
Dr. Tanya De Mello
Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion
Jennifer Alefounder
Director, Workplace Wellbeing Services
Erica McDiarmid
Former Mental Health Lead, Workplace Wellbeing Services
Morgan Kool
TMU alumni
Tandem Bike Captains
Mitchell Kamiel
Ken Deering
Acknowledgements
- Michelle Cho, TMU staff
- Trisha Anne Parco, TMU student
- Carter Nickerson, TMU student
- Image Arts, Creative School, TMU
- The Image Centre, TMU
- The Chang School, TMU
- The Catalyst, TMU
- TMU Farmers Market
- Adam Chaboryk, Digital Media Projects, Computing and Communications Services
- Toronto Metropolitan Faculty Association
- Andrei Cojita, Senior Director of Finance, Administration and Strategic Programs,
- Faculty of Science
- Workplace Wellbeing Services
- Mara Eksteins, volunteer at the Farmers Market
- Kavisha Vaikunthan, accompanied for eastern drums of miruthangam and tabla
- CUPE 3904, TMU
Student volunteers
- Nicholas Bavetta
- Paul Beniaminov
- Eamon Boily
- Brianna Burns
- Mihir Kore
- Bojana Lelas
- Liam Mackenzie
- Maya Martelluzzi
- Brooke McCarthy
- Felisa Nguyen
- Sia Prasad
- Yusuf Shamma
All original music © Cyrus Sundar Singh
Across the Universe-City
© MMXIII Toronto Metropolitan University
All rights reserved. No part of this film may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without prior written permission of the publisher, expect in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.
For all permission requests regarding usage, please contact The Employees with Disabilities Community Network (EwDCN) at Toronto Metropolitan University at: ewdcnetwork@torontomu.ca.
Resources
Eh Sayers podcast from Statistics Canada
Check out Statistic Canada’s Eh Sayers podcast. The first episode focuses on disability in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (external link) . Participants discuss the realities of people living with disabilities, their challenges and all the changes that the pandemic has brought in their daily lives.
Accessibility Data Hub from Statistics Canada
Explore Statistics Canada’s Accessibility Data Hub (external link) for data related to accessibility and disability. The hub offers disaggregated data (large data sets broken down by categories such as disability type and severity, age, region, gender, ethnicity, income level, etc.). This information can help users better understand the important differences in the experiences of different groups, including the barriers they face.
Talk by David Dame on International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) 2021
On December 10, 2021 in honour of IDPD, Human Resources hosted Microsoft's Director of Accessibility, David Dame for an engaging talk about:
- his lived experience as a person with a disability,
- how intersectionality combines to create different modes of discrimination and privilege, and
- his commitment to activism both personally and professionally.
His talk also spoke to the intersections of disability, a critical framework to helping us to better understand discrimination, privilege and our roles as professionals.
Watch this past event online
Art at the intersection of visible and invisible identities | IDPD 2019
On December 3, 2019 in honour of IDPD, Access TMU and the Employees with Disabilities Community Network presented Art at the Intersection of Visible and Invisible Identities featuring artists Apanaki Temitayo M and Sean Lee.
Watch this past event online
Get in touch
To get in touch with the Employees with Disabilities Community Network, please contact:
Sricamalan (Sri) Pathmanathan
Human Resources and Employment Equity Coordinator, Human Resources
Email: pathmana@torontomu.ca
Phone: 416-979-5000, ext. 7976
Dr. Susan Silver
Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Faculty of Community Services
Email: ssilver@torontomu.ca
Phone: 416-979-5000, ext. 6216