Ontario Summit for Students with Disabilities
2026 Speakers
The 2026 Summit will be held on Saturday, February 7, 2026.
Thank you to all of the speakers at the 2026 Ontario Summit for Students with Disabilities.
2026 Sponsors
Keynote Address: Under the Luminiferous Veil; from Invisibly “Sclerosed”, to Abruptly Diagnosed, and Visibly Composed
[Image Description]: Urja smiles at the camera while taking a selfie, walking down a city street in a hoody and jacket.
Urja Henry Nandivada
Urja (she/her) is a graduate student conducting research in Physics Education at the University of Waterloo. I focus on student epistemology and discipline-based education research regarding the undergraduate physics laboratory. My MSc thesis presented an undergraduate experiment on second harmonic generation suitable for the introductory laboratory. My PhD dissertation will be on pedagogical factors influencing epistemic themes found in undergraduate physics laboratory students.
Panel #1: To University and Beyond: Navigating Co-op, Careers, and Employment Transitions
[Image Description]: Yardena smiles at the camera while wearing a white blouse and black blazer. She is a white woman with curly brown hair.
Yardena Gerwin
Yardena Gerwin (she/her) is responsible for supporting Lime Connect’s efforts to attract new and engage current Network Members. In her role as Community Engagement Specialist, she increases visibility and strengthens relationships with university students, student organizations and professional associations; promotes Lime’s programs and benefits to prospective and current members; and expands community building initiatives. As a 2023 Gates Cambridge Scholar, Yardena earned her Master's in Health, Medicine, and Society from the University of Cambridge. Her research focused on mentoring as a form of workforce preparedness for disabled university students. She previously served as a disability policy fellow on the Senate Health, Education, Pensions and Labor Committee. At Middlebury College, Yardena designed her own major in disability studies and social determinants of health. Yardena also worked with the Middlebury Career Center as a peer advisor focused on disability-specific career advising. Yardena is proud to have been 2020 Lime Connect Fellow.
[Image Description]: Lime Connect logo
[Image Description]: Melissa smiles at the camera. They are a white person wearing glasses with long blonde hair.
Melissa Pagliaro
Melissa Pagliaro (they/she) is a Researcher with the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, collaborating on disability and employment research, evaluation, and policy analysis projects. Melissa is passionate about and actively involved in disability advocacy, particularly in the areas of employment, income supports, and accessible, affordable housing. They hold a B.A. Honours and M.A. in Psychology from Carleton University as well as a Case Management Certificate from McMaster University. Melissa is neurodivergent, with ADHD and traits such as pattern recognition, imaginative and symbolic associations, creativity, general and social anxiety, and passion for their special interests. They are a deaf/hard-of-hearing cochlear implant user and experience major depressive disorder. In their personal life, Melissa enjoys playing video games, spending time with her two cats Misha and Locki, doing mixed media art, and making jewelry.
[Image Description]: CCRW logo
[Image Description]: Jeff wears a suit and tie and glasses, smiling at the camera in a professional headshot.
[Image Description]: A smiling woman shown from the shoulders up, with shoulder-length dark brown hair. She is wearing a light lavender zip-up jacket with a chevron pattern and stands in front of a white wall made of horizontal wooden planks. Bright natural light falls across her face from the left side of the image.
Jeff Lazenby
Jeff Lazenby (he/him) began his career more than 30 years ago and joined Career Edge, a national not-for-profit social enterprise, in 2016 as Director of Business Development. In March 2020, he was appointed President & CEO by the Board of Directors.
As President & CEO, Jeff leads a dedicated team committed to changing lives, helping individuals from marginalized communities overcome barriers and launch meaningful careers. He is responsible for setting the vision, driving strategy, and ensuring Career Edge continues to deliver measurable impact for both talent and employers. Jeff is also a visible champion for the organization in the community and with key stakeholders.
Outside of work, Jeff is passionate about traveling, photography, and running. He lives in Toronto with his wife, Jahnis
[Image Description]: Career Edge logo
Moderator: Katja Newman
Katja Newman (she/her/elle) is the National Educational Association of Disabled Students’ Financial Assistance Program Director and Co-manager of the Building Employment Pathways For People With Disabilities Project. A resident of Nova Scotia, she is a recent graduate of the online Masters in Grant Writing and Program Evaluation Program at Concordia University Chicago. Prior to her Masters, Katja received a Bachelor’s of Social Work degree from Carleton University and a Child & Youth Work Diploma from Georgian College. Outside of her work at NEADS, she enjoys hiking, walks at the beach, reading and educating audiences on the accessibility and inclusion related highs and lows that come with living life as a blind recent post-secondary graduate who navigates the world with the help of a guide dog.
[Image Description]: NEADS logo
Panel #2: Burnout, Stress, and Self-Care: Supporting the Mental Health and Wellness of Students with Disabilities
[Image Description]: Jay is a light-skinned Black person with short, dark, curly hair and a bright smile. They are wearing a fitted, textured long-sleeved black shirt and tights. They have a septum piercing and small hoop earrings. The background is slightly blurred but appears to be an interior space with books on shelves andwarm lighting. Jay is seated in their black power wheelchar, looking directly at the camera with an approachable and confident expression.
[Image Description]: Photo of Emmett Lockwood, a white passing mixed white and First Nations individual with brown hair wearing a blue suit jacket, blue collared shirt and grey tie smiling while standing in front of a cherry blossom bush.
[Image Description]: Teddy has double eyelids, wears a black KN95 mask, black fleece hoodie, and glances happily at the camera. Their black hair is styled as a bixie cut (a combo of a bob+pixie) with long face framing pieces and 2 braided rat tails with blue tips on each side. Behind, is a very colourful background with multiple art pieces hanged on the walls surrounding them.
[Image Description]: Ariadne smiles at the camera in a headshot, wearing a blue bow tie and clear glasses. She has a braid down the left side of her head.
Jay Baldwin
Jay Baldwin (they/them/iel) is a proud black, queer, disabled, neurodivergent, powerhouse, educator and activist for all things human rights, currently based in Ottawa, Canada, born and raised in the GTA. Jay is in the last semester of their Bachelor of Arts Honours in Women and Gender Studies with minors in Critical Race Studies and Disability Studies.Everything Baldwin does stems from their passion and drive to make the world a better and more equitable place for everyone but especially those who are marginalized and stigmatized by society. They are the admin and creator of the Facebook group: “Disabled, Queer, and Fabulous!” Baldwin started this group in October of 2020 with the aim to provide an online community for disabled, queer people and their supporters to combat isolation in a safe(r), accessible environment away from the pandemic, as well as to allow folks with identities meet up at this intersection to feel seen and heard by individuals who “get it.” Since 2020, this online space has blossomed into a beautiful community of 1.3k members worldwide, and counting.
Emmett Lockwood
Emmett Lockwood (he/they) is a multiply disabled, queer, and mixed white and Pimicikamak Cree scholar r who grew up in the so-called United States. Lockwood holds a B.A. In Political Science and Gender and Women's Studies from the University of Wisconsin -Madison and is currently pursuing a M.A. In Critical Disability Studies. Emmett's research interest revolve around interpersonal care relationships in disability community and how they are shaped by paradigms of care within formalized medical settings.
Teddy Tsang Chow Wong
Teddy Tsang (fae/they) is a queer of colour, weirdo, part-time visibly disabled and full-time invisibly disabled human. Fae is currently working out the fine tunings of how to exactly complete their Fine Arts BA in Indigenous Visual Culture with their chronically ill body and neurodivergent being. Faer believe decolonial love and other surrounding decolonization practices are essential to community and individual care. Also, Teddy loves cats and sweet treats!
Moderator: Ariadne Jevnikar
Ariadne (she/her) is a PhD candidate at Lakehead University in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies stream. Ariadne’s research explores how high school principals influence the school culture for sexual and gender minority youth. Ariadne is a Board of Directors member for The Disabled CoLab.
Moderated Discussions
[Image Description]: Samantha is a white woman with curly brown hair and glasses, smiling at the camera.
Samantha Fowler
Samantha (she/her) is a science communication specialist and PhD student currently living with chronic pain, generalized anxiety disorder, and bulimia nervosa. She navigated being a student with disabilities at the University of Waterloo, graduating Valedictorian with a BSc in 2019, as well as Laurentian University, graduating with a MScCom in 2020. She currently works at the University of Waterloo as the Disability Inclusion Coordinator and is a Co-Executive Director for The Disabled CoLab. Samantha is a PhD student in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo studying critical disability studies.
[Image Description]: Emma sits on a bench next to her black Labrador service dog, Marlowe. Marlowe sports a blue service vest and is licking Emma’s face. Emma wears a back brace.
Emma Collington
Emma Collington (she/her) is a PhD candidate in molecular genetics at the University of Waterloo. She studies mitochondrial metabolism in anaerobic eukaryotes, with a particular interest in parasitic helminths. Emma has a genetic connective tissue disease caused by mutations in collagen and fibrillin, which results in her joints, organs, and blood vessels being too elastic. When not studying or sleeping, Emma is involved in her local disability community, and volunteers with the program that trained her own service dog, Marlowe. She is a Co-Executive Director for The Disabled CoLab.
Closing Remarks
[Image Description]: Victoria smiles at the camera in a professional headshot, wearing a black blazer and glasses.
Victoria Parlatore
Victoria (she/her) is a fifth‑year Doctoral Candidate in Higher Education at the University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). She lives with a combination of chronic mental and physical disabilities, and uses her experiences navigating disability in postsecondary education to guide her work reimagining access on students’ terms. Victoria is currently recruiting participants for the first phase of her study, an online questionnaire. If you are interested in taking part, she welcomes you to learn more and participate here: https://rotman.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dgnFTVgriaMvLgO.