ABILITY ONLINE ORGANIZATION Announces 2019's Board of Directors

TORONTO - May 17, 2019 - PRLog -- Ability Online, the first social media and secure technology platform for young people with disabilities to connect to each other and the world around them, announces this year's board of directors.

Board of Directors

Laurie M. Clark CDI, DOSJ, Chair of the Board since 2017: Founder of two technology companies and awarded the "Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada" , Ms. Clark is a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of capital markets experience and over $7B in direct budget oversight across Technology and Finance. Ms. Clark has over nine years of experience as an Independent Corporate Director, and served on compensation, audit, and nomination & governance committees for public companies.

Vince Morelli, Vice-Chair of the Board:  In MED-RX Brand Development and Canadian Hospital Specialties, Mr. Morelli has enjoyed a 30 year career in the Medical Device industry in a variety of sales, marketing and business development roles as well as General Manager for the Canadian operations of a global manufacturer of mobility devices and home healthcare products. Mr. Morelli is a Past-Chair of the Board, and a member of the Board since 2011.

Scott Gasson, Accountant, Board Director and Treasurer: A retired Internal Audit professional with over 20 years of experience leading corporate Internal Audit functions in a variety of industry sectors.  A strong understanding of corporate governance, Mr. Gasson was a member in good standing with the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario and the Institute of Internal Auditors until his retirement in 2017, and a member of the Board since 2006.

Rob Wittmann, Board Director:  35 years of experience in financial services and capital markets, with a focus on payments, foreign exchange, and interest rate trading. Past President and CEO of Jameson Bank, a founding partner of Knightsbridge Foreign Exchange Inc., led the North American FX division of Travelex Americas, and a Managing Director with RBC Capital Markets for over 15 years. He is past president of The Financial Markets Association, past member of the Canadian Foreign Exchange Committee, and former Chair of The Canadian Committee for Professionalism. Mr. Wittmann has been a Board member since 2016.

Edi Cote, Board Director, appointed April 2019: Over 25 years' experience in Information Technology, Ms. Cote is a top performer for IBM Services in Canada working with clients worldwide. Awarded "Best of IBM" in 2015, given to only 500 IBM employees worldwide and also awarded the IBM 100% club 3 times in the past 5 years for her contribution to IBM customers and revenue growth. Ms. Cote has participated in the highly recognized Business Insight and Industry Program at the Harvard Club in Boston and Transformative Selling in Dynamics Markets at Boston University.

Natascha Kiernan, JD, CDI, Board Director, appointed November 2018: An experienced attorney including as Counsel in the London office of Skadden, Arps. Ranked one of 2014's "Top 40 Under 40 Rising Legal Stars in Europe" by Financial News, Ms. Kiernan represents financial companies and international governments in financings and mergers and acquisitions. As the mother of a young child who has experienced long-term hospitalizations and has overcome significant medical issues, she feels a strong personal commitment to helping young people experience full and active lives regardless of any physical challenges they may face.

Lori Kong, Board Director, appointed February 2019:  An accomplished Portfolio Manager with more than eight years of experience in leading and managing global teams delivering complex enterprise projects across North America. Ms. Kong advocates for effective communication, accessibility, and diversity while upholding the belief that excellence is attainable when the right people, processes and resources are aligned. Lori is fluent in English and Chinese and dedicates her personal time towards volunteer efforts in diverse Technology and Art community projects.

Mayank Pandya, Board Director, appointed February 2019: A career spanning 20 years with start-ups, multinationals and the public sector in 7 different countries. Mr. Pandya has led global teams to transform complex environments, enable organizations to embrace modern technologies and deliver enterprise scale programs cheaper, faster, and better. As someone who has started thinking about the legacy he wants to leave, he is excited to broaden his life experience and give back to the community by being a part of the Ability Online family.

Neha Varma Maediratta, Board Director, appointed February 2019: With over C$2.3Billion of legal transactions, Ms. Maediratta found success as a corporate commercial lawyer. Her passion for understanding problems and charting out uniquely creative solutions led to helping start-ups scale and thrive. Ms. Maediratta moved to Toronto from Singapore in 2018 after having helped a start-up raise C$25M, and is the Director of Legal and Business Operations at Loopio Inc. in Toronto.

"We are very pleased to have Natascha, Neha, Lori, Mayank and Edi join our board and look forward to their contributions," said Laurie Clark, Chair of Ability Online and founder of Smarten Up Institute and Canchek Corporation. "As leaders in their fields, they understand the power each of us has in challenging traditional thinking and to apply technology to the greater ability of our over 7000 members across North America."

"Having been involved with Ability Online for 29 years, I look forward to working with each Director and am particularly excited by the energy of the group as we move to broaden our reach in North America", said Michelle McClure, Executive Director of Ability Online.

About Ability Online https://www.abilityonline.org
Founded 29 years ago, Ability Online is the first not-for-profit social network connecting youth with disabilities to each other and the world around them, and:
• Gives youth with disabilities, parents and professionals a safe, secure and positive online experience every time they log in.
• Removes social barriers and reduces the stigma associated with being different, increasing self-esteem and self-confidence.
• Promotes independence and a better quality of life with online learning and skills development.
• Promotes respect, acceptance and inclusion.