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Janelle is our 2025 Disability Changemaker of the Year for leading a national movement that’s transforming how Canada understands and responds to brain injury. A counsellor, author, and founder of the CGB Centre for Traumatic Life Losses, Janelle uses living experience as a catalyst for advancing social change.

Janelle is also the driving force behind the campaign to create a National Strategy on Brain Injury and she’s earned cross-partisan support for a coordinated, people-first approach to prevention, rehabilitation, and research. Janelle’s achievements also include establishing the BC Consensus on Brain Injury, Mental Health and Addictions, a participatory research initiative focused on the intersections of brain injury, mental health, and addiction.

Through public education, coalition-building, and survivor-led advocacy, Janelle has helped move brain injury from the margins of society to a recognized public health priority. Janelle was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal for her efforts to establish a National Strategy on Brain Injury Act.

We honour Janelle because her work dismantles silos, amplifies the living experiences of people with disabilities, and turns compassion into coordinated action.

TD Bank is our 2025 Corporate Changemaker of the Year for making accessibility a core business practice.

TD is advancing access to barrier-free banking through accessible ATMs, virtual interpretation, and by launching the TD Accessibility Adapter — a free browser tool that lets online users personalize websites to their accessibility preferences.

The bank pairs accessibility tools with inclusive employment through programs like the TD Ability Network and its partnership with organizations such as Specialisterne Canada, which helps employers find and hire neurodivergent candidates for job postings.

Through its TD Ready Commitment initiative, TD also supports March of Dimes Canada’s Online Employment Services, which provides nationwide, no-cost job coaching and on-the-job support for people with disabilities. This program is dismantling barriers to employment by making sure employees have the resources they need to succeed. TD is a recognized leader in disability inclusion whose actions prove accessibility works as both a social imperative and as a driver of economic prosperity.

We honour TD because it invests where it matters most: in accessible experiences, inclusive teams, and programs that help people with disabilities realize their full potential at work and in life.

The University of Guelph (U of G) is our 2025 Community Changemaker of the Year for turning inclusion into action. Through Project SEARCH, U of G brings students with disabilities in their final year of high school onto campus for immersive, career-focused learning opportunities.

The school provides students with up to 700 hours of real-world experience across multiple departments during three 10-week internships.

Project SEARCH is delivered in partnership with March of Dimes Canada and local school boards. U of G is the first post-secondary institution in Canada to host students as part of the program. During the first year, seven students graduated from the program and two were offered employment by the university — proof U of G is building talent pipelines and encouraging an inclusive hiring culture on campus.

Beyond internships, U of G is shifting expectations by embedding accessibility into its standard operations and making inclusion a shared responsibility across departments and teams. Their leadership shows what’s possible when like-minded partners come together to remove barriers and unlock pathways to success. We honour U of G for its commitment to disability inclusion and for creating real pathways to success.

Volunteer Changemaker of the Year
— Dr. Harsha Malempati