PAL-Reading Services Inc. Board of Directors 2019-2020
TJ Lloyd – President
TJ Lloyd was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago. He has lived and worked in Trinidad and Canada, giving him a glimpse into two very different, but sometimes similar worlds. In Trinidad he worked at a hotel and as an account executive for a printer. In Canada he’s done door to door water heater sales, video game testing, and has several years of retail sales with Bath & Body Works and FG Bradley’s under his belt.
He’s volunteered at PAL since November 2013, has been on the board since August 2014, and has served as secretary and president. He feels his life has been enriched by the staff, volunteers, clients and board members of PAL that he has met over the years.
Marguerite Wallace – Vice-President
Marguerite has been a volunteer with PAL for over 20 years, and the fun and enjoyment never stop, especially as she delves into more fundraising initiatives such as selling Veseys bulbs and seeds, and Purdys chocolates.
Marguerite has been working in the advertising industry for over 30 years, currently as the Broadcast Traffic/Talent Manager at Havas, a Paris-based company. She works on accounts such as Universal Music, Storck and Acushnet.
In her spare time, Marguerite enjoys a good murder mystery, gardening, fitness, cooking, movies and knitting.
Susan Loube – Secretary
Susan grew up in Wyoming, Ontario. She attended Queen’s and subsequently U of T to study biochemistry. Eventually she volunteered at PAL, and has continued to do so, off and on, for more years than she can remember, initially as a reader and then also as a board member in various capacities.
In her own words, “The opportunity to read texts in ecology, sociology, religion, geography, psychology, and accounting, among other subjects, not to mention the real-world lessons offered by board membership in corporate governance, fundraising, law and commercial real estate, have been truly educational. We often talk about how PAL’s work enables lifelong learning for our clients, but volunteers too have a real opportunity to reach beyond the skills and interests they had when they first came to PAL.”
Marie-Catherine Rombaut – Treasurer
Marie-Catherine is a PhD candidate at Université Laval in Québec City, whose thesis involves French audio described movies. She works as a Research Associate at Ryerson University in a research lab that focuses on inclusive media and design. She thrives on working in a learning setting with a wide range of people from diverse backgrounds. She has been volunteering at PAL as a French reader since January 2017 and as a board member since September 2017.
Established in Toronto where she wishes to stay (if immigration lets her), her favourite activities, other than volunteering at PAL, are binge watching, sewing, discovering new restaurants and travelling.
Anita Carroll – Director
Anita Carroll is VP, Corporate Engagement and Resource Development at ACCES Employment. With over 15 years of experience in both non-profit and corporate employment services, Anita has a breadth of experience developing strong, collaborative relationships with small, large and medium sized corporations in a variety of sectors.
At ACCES Employment, Anita’s corporate engagement experience has involved recruitment, sponsorship, fundraising, event planning and promotion of social enterprise activities. Anita has also worked in the recruitment sector with a professional search firm, at Nissan Canada Inc. and she has operated her own placement agency.
Wanda Fitzgerald – Director
Wanda Fitzgerald is an actor, writer, director, photographer and versatile visual artist, active in the Toronto arts community. She was once President of the Glenvale Players, a community theatre organization that exhibited the talents of blind and vision impaired artists. She is an advocate for the rights and opportunities of disabled artists in theatre, film and television.
Wanda has worked at the CNIB Library, Factory Theatre, Alliance Films, and eOne Entertainment as well as being an independent Accessibility Consultant specializing in accessible Digital Content Management and arts accessibility.
Currently Wanda works as an audio describer doing video description for film and television with Urban Post Productions. She has voiced DV for shows such as Saving Hope, Orphan Black, and Love It or List It, as well as a myriad of reality and paranormal TV shows, young adult programming, feature films and documentaries.
Additionally, Wanda is an accessibility consultant and provides audio description for events such as art exhibits and live audio description for theatre.
Danielle McLaughlin – Director
Danielle happily retired in 2016 after nearly 30 years as Director of Education of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Education Trust. She was also the Director of Administration and chief fundraiser for the organization for many of these years, as well as CCLA’s representative on the Toronto Police Services Board sub-committee on race relations. During her checkered career, Danielle spent nine years as a research officer in the department of Zoology at the University of Toronto, several as a teacher of movement for classical musicians, and performed as a Baroque dancer. This may explain why she loves the wide assortment of material that she gets to read as a volunteer with PAL-Reading Services.
Since retiring, Danielle has published two children’s books: That’s Not Fair! Getting to Know Your Rights and Freedoms (Kids Can Press) in 2016, and Freedom of Expression: Deal with it, (James Lorimer and Company) in 2019. She wrote a monthly blog for Huffington Post for a number of years, and now writes a quarterly blog for Ryerson University’s Centre for Freedom of Expression. Danielle also has a weekly Know Your Rights segment on AMI’s Kelly and Company, a program which she also co-hosts from time to time. As a TAB (temporarily able-bodied) person, Danielle considers herself to be an activist working for the rights of people living with disabilities.
Anne Musgrave – Director
Anne Musgrave first came to the city to attend the University of Toronto and became acquainted with the newly founded PAL-Reading Services through her need to get Periodicals read in time to complete assignments and prepare for exams. PAL was instrumental in enabling her to get both her B.A. in Psychology and her Masters in Social Work.
She worked for many years in community development, particularly in the field of disability advocacy for both government and not-for-profit organizations. In 1991 she joined the City of Toronto in its Human resources division in a program designed to increase the numbers of minorities, in response to its commitment to employment equity. After amalgamation she continued to work in HR supporting its Long Term Care division, through recruitment and hiring of its staff. Throughout her work life, she has been passionate about the advancement of equity concerns of people with disabilities in all areas, especially in employment and transportation.
Mala Naraine – Director
Mala has been a client of PAL since 1983, the year she started her undergraduate degree in Philosophy at U of T Scarborough. PAL was a big help to her as a student in getting textbooks read in a short time. She used the services of PAL during her M.Ed. and Ed.D. studies at OISE/UT and was always happy with the transcription. In addition to her doctoral research study, she has completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Ryerson University on access to media through audio description.
Mala has had volunteer community involvement with the following organizations: BALANCE for Blind Adults, Fair Vote Canada, Amnesty International Canada, Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians, and Theatre Passe Muraille.
“Even after I have completed my education,” says Mala, “I continue to bring recreational reading to PAL. I also got to know the different staff and volunteers over the years. I would always look forward to dropping off and picking up my reading materials from PAL as it gave me a chance to visit with the friendly staff who are always accommodating. I now regard PAL as my extended family as I have received over 30 years of services from PAL. I have been delighted to have an opportunity to contribute to PAL as a volunteer on the Board of Directors since 2016.”
Her current involvement on the board involves assisting with compiling the history of PAL, and sitting on the personnel committee.
