Past Event

Founder, Timsle.com

Quayce Thomas is the founder of Timsle.com, a social accountability network he built to manage his bi-polar disorder while studying architecture.

Through Carleton’s READ Initiative, Quayce developed a keen interest in the intersection of research and technology. Since then, Quayce has become an active member of Ottawa’s start-up community.

A natural collaborator, Quayce has developed several organizational partnerships over the past few years, including representing Carleton University nationally as an expert in accessibility, and interning at IBM Advanced Studies.

Quayce is a graduate of Carleton’s Born Social Fellowship and has an avid interest in running and biking (even through Ottawa winters!)

Senior Disability Advisor, Paul Menton Centre (PMC) for Students with Disabilities

Somei Tam is a Senior Disability Advisor with over 20 years of experience working at the Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities.

Somei holds a Bachelor in Education and a Master in Education from the University of Ottawa. Somei has extensive experience in the field of post-secondary disability accommodation services.

As a Senior Disability Advisor, she provides advice and support to both students with disabilities and faculty in the implementation of the accommodation process.

Outside of Carleton, Somei served as the Vice-Chair, Chair, and Past Chair of the Inter-University Disability Issues Association (IDIA), a professional association of disability service providers representing twenty universities in Ontario.

Lead, Coordinated Accessibility Strategy (CAS) Implementation

With 20+ years of experience in research and academic environments, I have an enthusiastic appreciation for the power that research and education have to improve lives and the world we live in. I believe in using an empathetic approach that values those with lived experience in order to collaborate and co-create positive societal change.

As a member of READ, I co-develop ideas with colleagues, researchers, and community partners, help bring ideas to life as projects that address real-world accessibility issues, and build community.

I live with visible and non-visible disabilities and am passionate about the role universal design can play in making the world more accessible and equitable for all.

Fourth year Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies

My name is Rebecca and I am a passionate disability rights advocate.

I am also a fourth year Applied Linguistics and Discourse Studies student with a minor in Disability Studies.

In my non-academic time I have the privilege to work with the READ Initiative on some critically important projects that work towards creating more inclusive spaces for persons with disabilities.

Adjunct Research Professor Department of History & School of Industrial Design, Carleton University Senior Research Associate, Inclusion / Education & Skills, Future Skills Centre, Conference Board of Canada

Beth A. Robertson is a Senior Research Associate, Inclusion/ Education & Skills, with the Conference Board of Canada (CBoC) who previously taught at Carleton from 2012-2019.

She brings over eight years of experience researching and developing innovative solutions to address global challenges in the domains of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA).

Both her past work as an instructor and her current work with the CBoC has focused significantly on identifying strategies that will ensure experiential education and work-integrated learning programs are inclusive and accessible.

Assistant Director, Research and Development READ (Research Education Accessibility Design)

Tara Connolly, M.A., RP, is the Assistant Director Research and Development for the Research Education Accessibility Design (READ) Initiative at Carleton University.

She is a Transitions Specialist with over 20 years experience consulting on the use of inclusive practices to support accessibility in a variety of settings. She has worked in school boards, post-secondary institutions, government agencies and healthcare settings as a content expert, to build capacity in accessible practices.

In her counselling practice, Tara supports a neurodiversity of thinkers, in particular adults and youth on the Spectrum, to thrive on their own terms. Together, with her clients, she co-creates meaningful strategies that facilitate the transitions into and throughout adulthood.