WE BELIEVE STRENGTH COMES FROM ADVERSITY. BRING ON THE CHALLENGE.

Brick by brick we are building a design-abled, accessible world.

OUR STORY

At Accessibrand™, we truly believe that strength comes from adversity. So much so, we have built our business model on this belief. We describe ourselves as a disability collective. All of our team have lived disability experience and are proud inclusion advocates. We know this makes us stronger as individuals and agile in business.

With our disability experience, we have the knowledge to help you expand your market – 22% of the Canadian population has some form of disability. We can help your business become more accessible and inclusive.

We are not looking for charity. We are skilled designers, writers, marketers, communicators and strategists. This is social enterprise!

We are ready to do amazing work to help your company reach its goals.

MEET THE TEAM

Jolene MacDonaldFOUNDER/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Gillian Lynne-DaviesDIRECTOR OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Bill AdairPROJECT MANAGER

Kelly ThibodeauBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING PARTNER

Jenny NovakACCOUNTS ASSOCIATE / HR MANAGER

Tanya MurphyCREATIVE DIRECTOR

Jeff PercivalASSOCIATE PARTNER/SALES

Andrew TuttyTESTING/AUDITOR

Jessica OddiACCESSIBLE DESIGN CONSULTANT

Farshid SadatsharifiEDUCATION & ADVOCACY ASSOCIATE

Sebastien GeminSOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Alexandria DitnerDESIGNER & ILLUSTRATOR

Jolene MacDonald photo in black and white

JOLENE MACDONALD

FOUNDER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Jolene is the Founder of Accessibrand™. For over a decade, she has known that people with disabilities needed a different work model to be able to give their full potential to their careers.

Accessibrand™ is based on Jolene’s 20+ years of knowledge in the graphic design and marketing industry, as well as her 17 years as a successful entrepreneur and award-winning designer, creative director and illustrator. Top that all off with her own personal disability experience, and out comes an innovative model for a design, marketing and communications agency.

Jolene is an advocate, wife and mother of three. She has volunteered with Little People of Ontario, Rare Disease Foundation, and sits on the Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee. She helps other parents advocate and find their voices.

CONTACT JOLENE

Gillian Lynne-Davies photo in black and white

GILLIAN LYNNE-DAVIES

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Gillian has decades of experience developing, implementing and achieving strategic marketing and communications approaches for provincial and national level non-profits.

Gillian has been overseeing website development since 1995. She has written content for many websites, campaigns and e-newsletters. She is formally trained in integrated marketing digital strategy.

Gillian has a playful and creative approach to successfully deliver memorable campaigns. Her strength is in idea generation, taking a “go big or go home” approach to the execution of projects. She also has a strong background (over 20 years) in accessibility and inclusion.

CONTACT GILLIAN

Bill ADAIR photo in black and white

BILL ADAIR

PROJECT MANAGER

ill is the part-time Executive Director of Spinal Cord Injury Canada, a charity that assists people with spinal cord injuries and other physical disabilities in achieving independence, self-reliance and full community participation.
Bill has extensive professional and community experience in the areas of healthcare and disability. He is a founding member of the Canadian Disability Policy Alliance, the Ontario Neurotrama Foundation and the Dorothy Ley Hospice. Most recently, he has lent his leadership and expertise to the Government of Canada through the Federal Accessibility Legislation Alliance working on the Accessible Canada Act, the Working Group on Alternate Format Materials, the Parliamentary Precinct Advisory Panel and leading an Accessible Communications workshop for the Public Service education program run by the Treasury Board. Bill is on the Board of Directors for Accessibility Standards Canada and Minister Qualtrough’s Disability Advisory Committee.

Bill has a Bachelor of Science (University of Minnesota) and is a graduate of the Executive Leadership Course on the Management of Non-Profit Organizations (Harvard University). He received a Meritorious Service Medal in 2016

CONTACT ACCESSIBRAND

Kelly T in black and white

KELLY THIBODEAU

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & TRAINING PARTNER

Kelly is a consultant, trainer and speaker who’s been making online marketing make sense for organizations, nonprofits and industry groups for over 25 years. Kelly believes that content can’t be conversational until it’s inclusive. As the daughter of a mom with physical and cognitive disabilities, she’s witnessed first hand the impact of an inaccessible world and wants to affect change to build a more inclusive society. She has been a post-secondary instructor at Simon Fraser University, RRC Polytech and the University of Winnipeg. Her experience in digital accessibility started in 2007 as a member of an internal working group for a leading international financial services organization, and then as a key member of an Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) working group within a private insurance organization.

CONTACT ACCESSIBRAND

Jenny Novak photo in black and white

JENNY NOVAK

ACCOUNTS ASSOCIATE / HR MANAGER

For many years, Jenny has been the owner and operator of her own wedding and event planning business, Simple Sunshine Events which is based out of the beautiful Muskoka region. Due to recent life changes, Jenny has decided to take a break from working on events and has now taken what she has learned as a planner and put these skills to use here. Being a planner, you need to be able to multitask, problem solve on the fly, have a thorough understanding of your clients needs. Her genuine empathy and compassion is the perfect fit for our team and for our clients. She is the organizer extraordinare! These components are vital to Accessibrand and to fulfill her role as Accounts Associate / Human Resources Manager.

Jenny oversees various behind the scenes operations such as invoicing, payments, timesheets, client payment plans, developing polices and procedures, and working alongside our managers and Founder. She is always willing to lend a hand to our team members and we are not sure what we would do without her!

In her spare time, Jenny enjoys being out on her boat fishing, hanging poolside with her family, going hiking on her property, painting, drawing and loves a good puzzle and a cup of coffee.

CONTACT ACCESSIBRAND

Tanya Murphy photo in black and white

TANYA MURPHY

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Tanya brings 18 years of passion and dedication as an art director, and is known for her clean design solutions. She is a strategic creative thinker with a background in advertising and corporate identity, developing brand suites for local, national, and global accounts. She is proud be part of the Accessibrand team, leading the development of creative solutions for diverse, accessible, and inclusive design for our clients.

Tanya is a painter and photographer in her spare time, and is a passionate believer of the power of fine art and design to create positive change. She has Art Directed Toronto’s ReelAbillities Film Festival for the past six years, and lives in downtown Toronto with her wife and two children.

CONTACT ACCESSIBRAND

Jeff Percival photo in black and white

JEFF PERCIVAL

ASSOCIATE PARTNER/SALES

Jeff is well versed in the marketing communications industry. With over 17 years as owner of Jaz Visuals Solutions Inc. in Kitchener, his company changed the large format landscape with his innovative approaches, customer service and cutting edge equipment. Jeff has been a creative person since he was young and has many kudos to his 33 year career for both design and art. Jeff currently teaches part time at Conestoga College, completed training in accessible documents and brings great knowledge and customer service to Accessibrand.

CONTACT JEFF

Andrew Tutty photo in black and white

ANDREW TUTTY

TESTING/AUDITOR

After graduating from George Brown College and the CNIB Business Computing course, Andrew was involved with the use of personal computers and peripherals in the business environment. He has developed and facilitated employee Lunch and Learns, training for parallel systems, audited large financial institution’s computer systems for security compliance, tutored students at The Canadian National Institute for the Blind in the computer program and the list goes on!

Andrew has also sat on many boards and committees including; The Physically Handicapped Citizen’s Association, Halton Hills Accessibility Advisory Committee, and most recently sat on the Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee where he met Jolene.

Andrew has Retinitis Pigmentosa but this hasn't slowed down his sense of humour or his dedication to helping others. Andrew is our lead auditor and tester at Accessibrand and he brings a wealth of knowledge to our team.

CONTACT ACCESSIBRAND

Picture of Jessica Oddi in her wheelchair in black and white

JESSICA ODDI

ACCESSIBLE DESIGN CONSULTANT

Jessica is a disabled graphic designer in Canada with versatility to spare. She specializes in crafting pieces tailored to exceed the desires of her clients.

She undertakes projects on every scale — her work has even been featured in the New York Stock Exchange! She delivers quality designs with prompt turnarounds for clients in every industry, with a limitless and adaptable style.

Jessica is particularly interested in collaborations involving much needed representation, inclusivity and empowerment. You can find her on The Disabled List, and has also been featured in Canadian Women in Design. She also runs (or rather: rolls) The Disabled Life with her sister, Lianna. Her work is widely recognized and adored in the disabled community and makes an amazing team member for Accessibrand.

CONTACT ACCESSIBRAND

Farshid Sadatsharifi photo in black and white

FARSHID SADATSHARIFI

EDUCATION & ADVOCACY ASSOCIATE

Farshid is a bilingual accessible content creator, journalist, and podcaster.

He was born with Cerebral Palsy (CP), which has given him a lifetime living with limited mobility, but - at the same time - a dream and passion for dismantling the barriers of an inaccessible world.

He is an unshakable optimist dedicated to ensuring that the communities he belongs to are working towards being more accessible for all.

Farshid’s new role with Accessibrand is now focusing on podcasts, educational materials, and advocacy as a consultant. Previously, he was our operations/project manager.

CONTACT FARSHID

Sebastien Gemin photo in black and white

SEBASTIEN GEMIN

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Having been born four months premature, Sebastien had to be in an incubator, had too much oxygen, and ended up being completely blind in his right eye (retinopathy of prematurity) and legally blind in his left eye. He went through grade school and high school like everyone else despite his visual impairment and graduated from Conestoga College (Doon Campus) with a diploma from their Software Engineering Technician program four years ago.

He is also a huge car enthusiast - even though he cannot drive, he could probably tell you what car you drive without even noticing the badge up close.

CONTACT ACCESSIBRAND

Alexandria Ditner photo in black and white

ALEXANDRIA DITNER

DESIGNER & ILLUSTRATOR

Alexandria is a recent graduate of the Graphic Design Advanced Diploma program at Conestoga College, where she also previously graduated from both the Media Foundations and Design Foundations programs.

She has a passion for industrial design, often applying those skills to fine woodworking and metal fabrication projects. Some of her passions are music, photography, anime and illustration.

What she doesn't talk about enough is her woodworking talents (she built an electric guitar and documented it for her thesis), illustrations and the fact that she is a stock car racer! Alexandria is the first to offer help and stay up way too late making sure she gets the job done just right!

CONTACT ACCESSIBRAND

TERRITORY ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

At Accessibrand™, we all acknowledge that we live and work on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples. Waterloo region is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River.

Our active work toward accessibility is also committed to raising awareness for our colleagues toward appreciating and respecting reconciliation and community-building.

people holding hands

LET'S CHANGE THE WORLD TOGETHER

Headquarters located
in Waterloo Region
519-580-7967