Dr. Ruth Warick is a founding member of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association of which she is a former president. She is also a past president of the CHHA Vancouver Branch, the Wavefront Centre for Accessible Communications and the BC Family Hearing Resources Society. She was first elected president for the CHHA-BC in 2019. She is also president of the International Federation of Hard of Hearing Persons and first vice-chair of the International Disability Alliance.

Born hard of hearing, Ruth was employed for over 25 years at The University of British Columbia as an Accessibility Advisor. She is passionate about accessibility, awareness, education, and inclusion for persons with hearing loss.

Gael Hannan is a renowned speaker, writer, and hearing health advocate. She writes a weekly article for HearingHealthMatters.org, a regular column for Canadian Audiologist, and is the author of the critically-acclaimed book, “The Way I Hear It: A Life with Hearing Loss”. Over the past 25 years, Gael has created award-winning programs and presentations and she has served on the board of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, both nationally and provincially. She lives on Vancouver Island with her husband Doug, aka the Hearing Husband.

Elwood Major is semi-retired after a successful 40-year career in the Real Estate Industry. Born with no hearing in one ear and partial hearing in the other, he grew up in north eastern British Columbia without the benefit of hearing aids and support. In the 90’s, he found a dedicated hard of hearing group which provided information and peer support. Today he is part of the movement to further increase the knowledge and benefits of CHHA BC.

Elwood is a graduate of the College of New Caledonia, President of the Abbotsford Hard of Hearing Branch, a Past President of the Rotarian’s, and previously involved with the Chamber of Commerce.

Jessica Niemela is a pediatric audiologist in Vernon, British Columbia. She previously worked in Surrey as a registered nurse in the emergency department. She is the recipient of Speech-Language & Audiology Canada’s 2020 National Clinical Certification Exam Award-Audiology.  She has served on the panel on currently affected populations for the Lancet Commission on Hearing Loss. She is the CHHA-BC YPSP event coordinator for the Okanagan region. She is also a CHHA-National Online Mentor, where she provides a volunteer 1:1 mentorship for those all over Canada struggling with hearing loss. Jessica has bilateral moderate-severe sensorineural hearing loss and wears hearing aids.