For over to a decade, the Tamil community has been making strides towards the creation of a community centre to address the gap in services available to them in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). They believed a community centre would streamline services to the Tamil community and the neighbourhoods they live in, while also being sensitive to the needs of Indigenous, Black, Caribbean, and other racialized communities who face similar challenges
Deepiga Vigneswaran is a Senior Advisor in the Development Division at Infrastructure Ontario (IO). She oversees all aspects of design, construction, and operational planning of development sites to support the delivery of large-scale capital projects enabling infrastructure investment around GO/LRT stations in Toronto and the Greater Golden Horseshoe.
Deepiga previously worked as an Investment Associate at EBG Investment Solutions, a boutique impact investment firm based in Zurich, Switzerland where she evaluated global real estate and private equity assets for institutional clients. Deepiga started her career as an Urban Planner and has a demonstrated history of working for both public and private organizations in the GTHA.
She holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies in Urban and Regional Planning (Specialization in Land Development and Minor in French) from the University of Waterloo, and a Master of Science in Real Estate (Specialization in Finance) from Lucerne University in Switzerland. Deepiga has a love for languages and is fluent in Tamil, French, and German. She volunteers her time to teach Tamil to both adults and children. Her work in this space has been guided by one of her personal philosophies, “உடல் மண்ணுக்கு, உயிர் தமிழுக்கு”.
Karthika Saravanan, a public sector professional at the City of Toronto, has provided ten years of expertise in Project Management, HR, Payroll, and Complement Management. Her leadership has steered transformative business projects, fostering operational excellence and elevating employee experiences. Currently as a Supervisor within the Municipal Licensing & Standards Division at City of Toronto, she plays a pivotal role in ensuring the delivery and enforcement of by-laws.
Karthika is a long-term active member at YRDSB’s School Council dedicating her time towards creating a positive and collaborative educational environment, significantly contributing to the community's well-being. Passionate about mental health advocacy, she has provided countless volunteer hours in the past at Sick Kids Hospital and McMaster Children’s Hospital for various initiatives. Karthika’s commitment to community engagement reflects her dedication to public administration, making a meaningful impact in her professional and personal realms.
Anushyan is a Mergers and Acquisitions leader working at Constellation Software, a leading public tech company in Canada. He brings expertise in relationship management, financial valuation, investment diligence, and execution. Previously leading Nissan Canada's CPO digital retail strategy, he achieved an 80% increase in national sales volume and steered transformative technology projects. Anushyan holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo in Canada, an MBA certificate from the London School of Economics, and is in pursuit of the Chartered Financial Analyst program.
Anushyan engages with various parts of the Tamil Community Centre project. He helps facilitate stakeholder engagement, community partnerships, and user feedback. He collaborates with community organizations and the local population to gather feedback for both the design process and programming of the Tamil Community Centre.
Anushyan emigrated to Canada in 2004 and has been active in the community since his roots in supporting events and advocacy with Mississauga Tamils Association through to his current role as the Secretary of the National Council of Canadian Tamils. Anushyan also serves as the Director of Mentorship at the Canadian Tamil Professionals Association, dedicating his time to providing Tamil professionals with mentorship and networking opportunities towards career betterment.
Nedra Rodrigo founded the Tamil Studies Symposium, an annual interdisciplinary conference series that brings together academics, artists and community, as well as the bilingual, intergenerational queer-positive event series, the Tam Fam Lit Jam, which has partnered with Regent Park Film Festival, Reel Asian Film Festival and the Toronto International Festival of Authors. Her PhD research on Tamil refugee narratives received a fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). She is regularly invited for speaking engagements on topics related to arts and immigrant and refugee identities by universities, schools, libraries and arts organizations from Cornell University to the Metro Toronto Reference Library.
As a researcher and community capacity builder, Nedra has conducted in-depth stakeholder consultations, data analysis, researched public funding systems, written grants and advised on project designs for municipalities and non-profits. Nedra brings her extensive experience in arts programming and stakeholder consultations to this project, where she maintains an anti-oppression lens and a commitment to improving access for underserved groups.
A member of the Board of Directors of the Tamil Community Centre project from its inception, she has participated in community asset mapping, research and design that helped define the project, as well as grant writing resulting in $26.3M in funding from Federal and Provincial governments.
Kubes Navaratnam is the Managing Partner at Nava Wilson LLP. Over the past 8 years, he has led the law firm to its current position as one of the top 10 real estate law firms in Ontario. He leads negotiations on complex real estate and corporate matters, including the formation of investment entities, and the development and construction of condominiums. He is a two-time honouree of Homes Magazine’s annual “Who’s Who of Real Estate”. Kubes is the Centennial College’s Legal Program Advisory Committee Chair.
Kubes received an LL.M. in international humanitarian law from the University of Toronto, a J.D. from the University of Western Ontario, and a B.Eng. in Computer Engineering from McMaster University. Kubes brings to the Tamil Community Centre a wealth of experience in guiding a real estate project through its full lifecycle: from financing to entitlement, and the eventual construction and delivery of a project. His background in humanitarian law and equity has left him with a keen interest in governance.
Kubes joined the Tamil Community Centre so he could help develop a platform for the next generation of Tamil kids (like his son) to be able to connect with their Tamil culture and community.
Ramanan Santhirasegarmoorthy is an entrepreneur, broadcaster, writer and motivational speaker and a passionate advocate for Tamil concerns in the GTA. He hosts a popular radio show on East FM 102.7, focusing on current affairs, self-development, capacity building and motivation. Through this role, and as a writer in public forums, Ramanan has bridged connections with the different cross-sections of the Tamil Canadian community including businesses, civic and political spheres, and service providers.
Ramanan’s relationships with the different intersectionalities of the Tamil Canadian community, through his years of volunteer work, made him instrumental in bringing together the wide range of stakeholders of the community to this project. His efforts were foundational in developing community consensus and setting up the Steering Committee to conduct the initial needs assessment for a Tamil Community Centre.
Ramanan brings a knowledge of both the breadth and depth of community stakeholder needs to the project. He has a keen interest in engaging all areas of the Tamil community to shape the Tamil Community Centre, and hopes to build an intergenerational space where all members of the community feel welcome and engaged.
Santha Panchalingam is an accomplished Canadian entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. Santha is the CEO of Santha Electrical & Plumbing Ltd., a company in operation for over 35 years in Canada. Santha has also garnered recognition for his community service, including the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Award and the Ontario Community Service Award.
Santha's notable achievements extend to his role as the President of the Canadian Tamils’ Chamber of Commerce for three years. During his tenure, he skillfully guided the Chamber through the challenges of the pandemic and facilitated its acquisition of a building without the need for a loan or mortgage. He was the most significant donor in supporting the Chamber's building project.
In addition to his business ventures, Santha maintains a philanthropic mindset and annually contributes tens of thousands of dollars to hospitals and community organizations. Beyond his impressive business and philanthropic endeavors, Santha Panchalingam is a dedicated family man, with a loving wife, three beautiful daughters, and a cherished granddaughter.
Sinnadurai Jeyakumar is a structural engineer with over 30 years experience of entrepreneurship. He graduated from the University of South Bank in the United Kingdom, and started his company, Innovative Detailing Services Inc. in 1992. He has worked on a variety of projects, but his career highlight has been working on the World Trade Centre, Towers 1 & 4, in New York, New York.
He is an active member of the community including business, political, and charitable organizations. He was the president of the Canadian Tamils’ Chamber of Commerce from 2013 – 2015. He was the Project Coordinator of the Canada Kandasamy temple building project. He supports local Hospital programs and his philanthropy spreads to initiatives in Sri Lanka to help children affected by war, through organizations such as VAROD and Anpuneri.
His active participation helps him excel in his professional, personal, and communal life.
