Amanda is a Lived Experience Associate at Surrey Place. She has been working at Surrey Place since 2020. She is a permanent part-time employee. Amanada uses her lived experience to provide feedback on projects, help with research, promote accessibility, consultation and co-design work. Amanda loves her job because she gets to teach people how to work with people with IDD and help to make things better for clients at Surrey Place. When she isn’t working, Amanda loves hanging out with her friends, going to movies and out for dinner, Ice Capps, and swimming

Tamara Taggart is a community leader, activist, veteran broadcaster, cancer survivor, mother, and former candidate in the 2019 Canadian election.

Born and raised in Vancouver, Tamara is a community leader who advocates for others and raises much-needed funds for many important causes. Throughout her career as a broadcaster on local television, radio and digital media, Tamara earned her place as a trusted voice for people in Vancouver. She has focused two decades’ of volunteer efforts on health care and the well-being of children and people with disabilities.

Tamara chaired BC Women's Hospital’s Hope Starts Here campaign, raising $17 million for the newborn intensive care unit. She also served as chair of the BC Cancer Foundation’s Inspiration Gala for five years, raising more than $16 million for cancer research and treatment in British Columbia.

Tamara’s 2014 TED Talk, “Two Conversations that Changed My Life”, struck a chord with medical professionals and universities around the world, by reframing the way healthcare practitioners communicate hope.

In 2015 Tamara was awarded the Order of BC—the highest honour awarded by the Government of British Columbia—in recognition of her years of public service. She also received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of the Fraser Valley in 2016.

Dr. Yona Lunsky is Director of the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, and Senior Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. She directs the Health Care Access and Developmental Disabilities Program (H-CARDD) at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) which brings research, policy and practice together to improve the health of adults with developmental disabilities. She is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine and Adjunct Scientist at ICES Toronto. Dr. Lunsky’s research explores clinical and systems issues related to health services. She is involved in a number of projects focused on improving primary, emergency and mental health care and is particularly interested in working together with health care providers and recipients to design tools to improve health care delivery.

Website/Social media links: Website; Twitter; @yonalunsky @hcardd

Dr. Ullanda Niel is the Chief of Family Medicine and a Developmental Consultant at Surrey Place, Toronto. She is the Clinical Lead Family Medicine for the Developmental Disabilities Primary Care Program (DDPCP). She is also an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and assistant professor at Queen’s University. She has a clinical practice as a family physician at Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities and a care home (Participation House) in Toronto. Dr. Niel has completed a fellowship in the Primary Care of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities at Queen’s University and is a co-author of the 2018 Canadian Consensus Guidelines on Primary Care for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Dr. Niel has interests in primary care access for adults with intellectual disabilities, knowledge translation, caregiver supports (acceptance and commitment therapy) and global health.

Angie is a Nurse Professional Practice Lead and Clinical Nurse Specialist at Surrey Place. She has Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Life Sciences, Bachelor of Nursing Science and Master of Nursing degree in Community Health from the University of Toronto. Prior to Surrey Place, Angie worked at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehab Hospital in Acquired Brain Injury inpatient unit and Neuromuscular outpatient clinic. She now provides nursing consultation care with Surrey Place’s Plus 45 clinical team. She is part of ECHO Ontario Adult Intellectual & Developmental (AIDD) Disabilities program. Angie is also part of the IDD Provincial Intellectual and Developmental Disability Palliative Care Network (IDD PCN), and DD Ontario Nurses Community of Practice Vice Chair.

Dr. Lori Haskell is a pre-eminent expert on trauma-informed mental health approaches. A clinical psychologist and educator, she provides therapeutic services for survivors, and has helped transform service delivery models and legal processes for victims of abuse. Notably, she developed and delivers front-line training programs on sexual violence for legal, law enforcement and health care professionals. Her groundbreaking work has raised awareness of the impacts of abuse and has positively changed societal, institutional and criminal justice system responses to vulnerable individuals and groups.

Tracey has served in her present role 14 years as Director of the Palliative Pain & Symptom Management Consultation Service (PPSMC) for Toronto; past Member of the Toronto Central Hospice Palliative Care Network Board of Directors; Ryerson University Advisory Council to the Health Services & Health Information Management Programs; past Chair of the provincial Palliative Care Consultation Network (PCCN); current Member of the Ontario Palliative Care Network (OPCN) Clinical Advisory Council; and Chair of the provincial Intellectual and Developmental Disability Palliative Care Network (IDD-PCN).

Lee graduated from the George Brown College Intervenor for Deafblind Persons Program in 2005 and started her career as a dedicated full-time intervenor for CHKC. In 2006, she moved into the role of Consumer Support Specialist, where she works closely with consumers of the deafblind community and community partners.  Lee is a behavioural competencies trainer and sits on a number of committees including National Deafblind Awareness Month, CHKC Revenue and Diversification/Occupancy Committee.