– ADVISORY BOARD –
Deidre Guy
Deidre’s job description: Director of the CJ’s SKATEBOARD Foundation
Deidre has chosen managerial and entrepreneurial roles throughout her life, the most rewarding in the world of disability and accessibility. Having lived experience with disabilities, she is motivated by a desire to make real change in the lives of disabled Canadians. Her passion for removing barriers to success for others with disabilities is clear to anyone she meets.
Deidre is the Co-Founder of the Inclusive Workplace and Supply Council of Canada (IWSCC) – a not-for-profit organization that works in support of Veteran and disabled-owned Canadian businesses. Always seeking opportunities for collaboration and expansion, Deidre engaged regularly with governments, corporate Canada, diverse business owners and partner organizations in the disability and Veteran spaces. Part of Deidre’s work was running the organization’s research efforts. Through community-informed studies like the foundational Project VENT, Invisible Disabilities in the Workplace, or the extensive Accessible Procurement study, Deidre is a leader in inclusive business practices targeting Veterans and the disabled.
No longer with the IWSCC, Deidre has certainly not lost her passion for helping others and has begun work with organizations like Every Canadian Counts and CJ’s Skate Park. Deidre develops community awareness and education through government advocacy, public speaking, and connecting like-minded people.
Deidre sat on the Governing Council of the Canadian Accessibility Network (CAN) for its first 5 years and is currently on the Board of Every Canadian Counts.
JAY MANDARINO
Founder and President, CJ’s SKATEPARK (A Not-For-Profit Corporation)
Founder and Director, The CJ’s SKATEPARK Foundation
(A Registered Charitable Organization)
President, JBM Auction Services
(A Not-For-Profit Corporation)
President and CEO, The CJ Group of Companies
Board Member of LDAO (Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario)
“Jay’s His philanthropic work has been acknowledged in many editorial articles, letters of praise and with numerous awards including three medals – the Diamond Jubilee Medal from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship from the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, recognizing individuals who, through exceptional long-term efforts, have made outstanding contributions to their communities, and the Order of International Ambassadors Medal.”
MARTIN WEEKS
Martin Weeks, Executive Vice President and Group Treasurer of Scotiabank, is responsible for managing Scotiabank’s global treasury and investment operations, including medium-term and capital funding, asset/liability management, liquidity, and public and private investment portfolios.
Martin chairs the Group Asset Liability Management Committee (ALCO) and participates in several other Bank committees.
Martin joined Scotiabank in 1992 and in his close to 30-year career at Scotiabank, Martin has held senior Treasury and Funding roles in both International Banking and Global Banking and Markets. Most recently Martin was Senior Vice President and Head, GBM Treasury & Deputy Treasury, with responsibility for the bank’s funding and liquidity.
Martin holds a Masters in Finance from London School of Economics/London Business School,
as well as qualifications in retail banking and corporate treasury management.
MICHELE POWER
Michele is a Special Education teacher and has worked in the field of education for over 15 years. As the Co-founder and Director of a special education school and charity, she spent 10 years in the non-profit sector supporting children with Autism and their families. She now focuses her work on helping students with Dyslexia and other Learning Disabilities.
Michele has been involved with coaching and volunteering for various youth organizations including the Girl Guides of Canada and local soccer clubs. She became involved with CJ’s SKATEPARK when her two kids developed a passion for skateboarding. Now she spends most weekends at the park, watching her kids as they persevere to learn new tricks and have so much fun doing it.
Michele has seen how the sport of skateboarding has made such a positive impact on her whole family and she is very excited to contribute to the CJ’s Advisory Board.
SIOBHAN O’CONNELL
Siobhan’s journey with skateboarding began later in life when she discovered the sport as an adult at CJ’s Skatepark. Growing up, she was heavily involved in team sports, and being an athlete always felt like an important part of her identity. When she finished university and her competitive playing days, she fulfilled her passion through coaching and community recreation, which further emphasized the unifying power of athletics.
Siobhan’s career as an educator, particularly in special education, has allowed her to witness the transformative power of sports and physical activity firsthand. The challenge and excitement that skateboarding offers have captivated her, making it a perfect fit for her adventurous spirit.
With her background in community recreation and education and a commitment to inclusivity and accessibility, Siobhan is excited to contribute to the advisory board for CJ’s Skatepark. She believes that by fostering a welcoming and supportive environment, they can enhance the skateboarding community for enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds. She is honored to be part of this community and looks forward to using her experience and enthusiasm to help shape the future of the beloved skatepark.
TIM FORAN
Tim’s love for storytelling, strategic thinking, art, design, and ideas has helped him have an adventurous career in marketing since his graduation from business school in 1999. He started in brand management at Unilever and then into strategy and creative direction roles at agencies, including his current role as Head of Planning at Behaviour in Toronto.
Tim first met Jay in 2014 when he was searching for a super-pro printing partner for his recently founded branding shop, Temporarily Unpopular Ideas. Jay, Lisa F, and CJ’s proved to be just that – an amazing company with exceptional quality and customer care. Beyond their work, he was also blown away to learn that CJ’s had also created an epic skatepark.
This year, after a thirty year break from skateboarding, Tim and his brother Matt decided to get back on their boards and joined CJ’s weekly Later Skaters Lessons with Jay. He loves it. Tim’s three young daughters also took up skating this year, had a blast at CJ’s camp this summer and now join him at the park. He can already see that skateboarding at CJ’s is giving his daughters all the gifts it gave him all those years ago: thrill, joy and daily growth which seem so rare to find for kids these days.Tim’s other loves include cooking, synthesizers, podcasts and his wife Sacha.
ULF BEIN
Ulf has been part of the CJ family for over three decades before the skatepark was born. After graduating with a degree in imaging technology at Ryerson, he ran his own graphic arts and photography business for many years, becoming a client of CJ Graphics in the late 80s for his design company, before moving to teaching in the arts.
Ulf has been with the skatepark from the very beginning, even before it was officially a skatepark. He connected with skateboarding before the park existed by bringing his three daughters to the ramps inside Jay’s printing plant on weekends. Soon, they started as volunteers helping other kids learn on the two ramps. Once the CJ Skateboard Park and School were officially built, they worked as coaches and instructors. Sierra, Savannah and Aliya have filled multiple roles at the park and helped empower other women skaters to grow and join the skate community.
Ulf also became a facilitator and completed the International skateboard certification program himself several years ago. He now sits on the advisory board of the largest not-for-profit indoor skatepark and continues looking for ways to give back to his community and nurture other families to find a community at CJs as his family did.
GEOFF CHRISTENSEN
As a long time friend and business associate of Jay’s for over 30 years, I have seen the smiles and many great things Jay has done for thousands of children and adults of all backgrounds as well as promoting awareness for a multitude of causes he supports as a philanthropist and charity auctioneer.
As the current Chair of the Graphics Program Advisory at Mohawk College in Hamilton (25 years on the advisory/20 as Chair) I have seen firsthand the positive impact advisory volunteers of differing backgrounds can have on the overall effectiveness of a program or institution.
The youngest of my 3 daughters was one of the participants in the early 2000’s when Jay began his first modest Skate Park in the back of his Parklawn facility which is also part of my connection to the Advisory Board.
DANIEL KRATOCHVIL
Daniel has been a great volunteer instructor with CJ’s SKATEPARK since 2009 with our Special Needs Program, and an Advisory Board member since 2013. Dan specializes in working with children affected by autism & Aspergers, but is great with all levels of challenges, and can teach adults regardless of their skateboarding ability.
Dan is not only an incredibly gifted and extremely patient instructor and ambassador, but he is also a very talented skateboarder. With over 23 years of skateboarding, Daniel finds the opportunity to coach younger skaters extremely rewarding no matter what experience level they are at.
He is also the editor on the upcoming book “Ramp Up”, a guide on how to skateboard written alongside CJ’s SKATEPARK founder & President, Jay Mandarino. Dan is also certified in ISCP/SKATZ and has his first aid training.
DANNY ANISFELD
Danny is a labour lawyer at Caley Wray, a firm in downtown Toronto that represents unions in a broad range of legal matters. He is American and grew up in Los Angeles and lived for nearly 20 years in New York City before planting roots in Toronto in 2013.
Before coming to Canada, Danny worked for as a public defender in the Bronx, New York, and for a nonprofit legal services office in New York City.
While he doesn’t have the time to skate as much as he’d like, Danny loves to skate transition and is working on his lip tricks.
He lives with his wife, who is a professor at the University of Toronto, 10-year-old boy-girl twins, and a cockapoo named Peanut.
ARASH EJTEMAEE
Hey there! I’m Arash, originally from Iran but now living the Canadian dream since I was 11 an moved to Halifax. Fast forward seven years, and I ditched school to dive headfirst into the wild world of entrepreneurship. It meant getting cozy with P&L statements and Balance Sheets, I also discovered my inner industrial designer (totally self-proclaimed and unaccredited, mind you).
When I’m not busy being a ridiculously fun dad to my two awesome boys, you can catch me at my company shomi!, where my amazing team and I solve complicated visual display challenges. And on those rare days when I actually have some me-time, my adrenaline-loving self jumps on my motorcycle, disappears into the wilderness for camping adventures, or dives into underwater caves (okay, maybe just once, but I love bragging about it).
My hero? Sir Ken Robinson (seriously, look him up, he was amazing!). My passion? Empowering kids. Some people even call me a child-whisperer! If I wasn’t busy running my company, I’d be all about inspiring parents to connect with their kids on a deeper level nurturing values like empathy, integrity and resilience.I’ve been a volunteer and a camp counselor working with awesome organizations like Sick Kids, Campfire Circle (formerly Camp Oochigeas), and lately, CJ’s Skatepark.
SHANNON MALLOCH
Shannon previously served as our Executive Director of CJ’s SKATEPARK FOUNDATION and was in charge of programming at CJ’s SKATEPARK.
She has been involved with the skatepark for many years as a volunteer at various events, including our “ Kids Being Kids” program which is a free program for kids and their families affected by cancer.
Shannon has over 12 years of experience working in the non-profit sector and has a lot of experience working with children, their families, and the community. Shannon is a graduate of the University of Toronto and holds a Bachelor of Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto.
Shannon has always enjoyed participating and being involved in sports. She was a competitive figure skater for 10 years, earning multiple gold medals in Skate Canada competitions.
Now that she is working as an Executive Director of another large organization, she is excited to be able to volunteer on CJ’s SKATEPARK advisory board in a different way.
CAREY KURTIN
Carey Kurtin is a senior investment professional currently managing private investments agnostically across a variety of sectors including Hard Assets, Maritime, Energy, Agriculture, Technology, and the Arts. Since its inception in 2015, Carey has been one of two Principles of In Colour Capital. A Principal investment firm based out of Toronto, ON.
Carey has sat on multiple boards including Mount Sinai Hospital and TTEE Arts Foundations. He currently with both musicians and professionals to help mentor them through their careers and entrepreneurship journey.
Carey developed his affinity for skateboarding 30 years ago as a skater and product nerd. Recently re-connected with CJ’s though his daughter whose passion for skateboarding parallels his own. CJ’s is a great facility to harness the further of skateboarding in Canada. I am honored to be part of it.
KEVIN PAGE
Kevin has been in the action sports world for over 20+ years. It all started at the retail
level working on the floor at Board Zone and being there for when they turned into a
large mail order.
From there, Kevin moved on to Jaysport – the first Canadian distributor
for XYZ, Platinum Skateboards, Elwood Clothing, Darkstar Wheels, Joyride, Type A, and Atlantis Snowboards.
Years later, staying in the snowboard industry, he moved into a customer service position with Geo X and worked with SIMS in Toronto then California and New York City.
From then to this day he has been on the publishing side of things doing ad sales to some of the biggest brands in the Snowboard, Ski, and skateboard industry.
He was at SBC Media then went to the King Network and when SBC Media was bought out of bankruptcy by CJ Oyster Publishing he joined as the director of sales & marketing.
He also co-manages CJ’s SKATEPARK retail shop and works with brands for skatepark sponsorships and events.
When Kevin is not working, he loves to play golf, Snowboard, and skateboard.
TERESA KRAMARZ
Teresa Kramarz is a Professor at the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto. She is the Co-Director of the Environmental Governance Lab, the Co-Chair of the United Nations Development Programme’s Advisory Group for Energy Governance, and Co-Convener of a global Taskforce on Environmental Accountability in the Earth System Governance network. She has been working on environmental politics and governance issues for 30 years starting her career in the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, the Food and Agricultural Organization, and the Canadian International Development Agency where she served as an institutional analyst, coordinated monitoring and evaluation programs, and developed national and global development initiatives.
Since 2005, Teresa has been an active academic. Her research focuses on the renewable energy transition, environmental accountability, and environmental partnerships. She has published three books, and numerous academic articles, and is a regular contributor to national and international media on environmental politics. Her work as an advisor to community organizations in Toronto and internationally focuses on supporting initiatives that promote environmental justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. CJ’s Skatepark has been a safe and inclusive outlet for her youngest child since joining and Teresa is excited to contribute to the great work of the organization.
MICHAEL BROOKE
Michael took his first ride on a skateboard in the summer of 1975 and never stopped.
In 1995, Michael and his brother, Andrew, created the world’s first “old school” skateboarding website called The SkateGeezer Homepage.
In 1999, Warwick Publishing released Michael’s first book. “The Concrete Wave (The History of Skateboarding) sold over 42,000 copies. The book also spawned two feature films – Dogtown and Z Boys and The Lords of Dogtown. In 2000, concrete wave TV hit, and 52 episodes were broadcast to over 26 countries for 4 years.
The book also led to the creation of Concrete Wave – a magazine that was the first in the world to feature variety within skateboarding. It had over 100,000 readers worldwide.
In 2012, Michael founded Longboarding for Peace. Volunteers engaged in a number of highly impactful initiatives. These included bringing Israeli’s and Palestinians together to skateboard, trading guns in for skateboards, blood drives, working with the Bob Marley Foundation in Jamaica and highlighting the plight of the wrongfully convicted.Over the course of 6 years, LFP gave away $300,000 worth of skateboards.
In 2018, Michael sold his magazine business and spent 5 years working as a funeral director’s assistant. In 2021, he decided to return to the world of entrepreneurship and founded a new business called Time For My Story. The company turns people’s memories into magazines.