Julia Hanigsberg Make Your Mark Staff Award Recipients

2026 recipients

Victoria Madsen

Senate

Victoria Madsen exemplifies the highest standards of excellence, collaboration, and dedication to client service within the TMU community. As Senate Policy and Appeals Specialist, she provides exemplary guidance on complex academic matters, ensuring fairness, consistency, and clarity in the application of university policies. Through her professionalism, institutional knowledge, and unwavering commitment, Vicki strengthens trust with students, faculty, and staff. Her collaborative leadership, tireless work ethic, and innovative approach to problem-solving have significantly enhanced the Senate Office’s operations and the university’s academic governance. Vicki’s contributions embody the spirit of the Julia Hanigsberg – Make Your Mark Staff Award for client service.

Ketan Marballi

Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science

Dr. Ketan Marballi exemplifies excellence in service, mentorship, and collaboration at Toronto Metropolitan University. As Postdoctoral and Graduate Student Professional Development Specialist in FEAS, he has transformed professional development through inclusive, evidence-based programming and personalized advising that empower students and postdocs to achieve their goals. His initiatives, including the national Postdoc to Research Faculty Crash Course and award-winning 3MT coaching, have earned national recognition and high-impact results. Respected for his empathy, integrity, and innovation, Ketan has elevated TMU’s reputation and fostered a culture of care, confidence, and professional growth across the university and beyond.

Evangelia Taylor

Athletics & Recreation

With over 25 years of dedicated service, Evangelia Taylor continues to innovate in support of wellbeing and belonging at TMU. Building on an already significant baseline coordinating Recreation’s group fitness and instructional programs, she went above and beyond in 2024-25, playing a key role in the development of a broad range of new programs - from celebrating cultural diversity and 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion to nutrition workshops. Through her collaborative leadership, she has built capacity across partnerships, leaving a lasting impact on colleagues, student wellbeing, and truly doing the work to bring TMU’s intentionally diverse, inclusive and equitable community to life.

Birch Bark Canoe Team

• Terry Bennell, Facilities Management and Development
• Dominic Brifoglio, Facilities Management and Development
• Paul Cantin, Ted Rogers School of Management
• Daniel Care, Facilities Management and Development
• Arnel Espanol, The Creative School
• Habibah Haque, Ted Rogers School of Management
• Rita Lingner, Ted Rogers School of Management
• Iskender Ozdemir, Facilities Management and Development
• Debra Rughoo, Ted Rogers School of Management
• Dino Sorge, Facilities Management and Development
• Carrie Wiebe, Ted Rogers School of Management

For the Birch Bark Canoe Display Project, an innovative solution that transformed a two-year challenge into a campus success. This cross-functional team rejected external vendor reliance, instead collaborating internally to design a custom, preservation-grade display using repurposed red oak. By weaving together sustainable resource management with vital Indigenous cultural protocols, the team created a permanent learning tool that enriches the campus community and sets a new precedent for respectful, in-house project execution.

Student Case Management Team

• Sharon Abrahams, Equity and Community Inclusion
• Freda Bizimana, Student Affairs
• Keith Christie, Community Safety & Security
• Simon Finn, Student Affairs
• Marco Hernandez, Community Safety & Security
• Daniela Jimenez Tirado, Equity and Community Inclusion
• Jori Jones, Student Affairs
• Danielle Kandel-Lieberman, Student Affairs
• Sabah Rahmath, Equity and Community Inclusion
• Hannah Reinsborough, Student Affairs
• Stephanie Santos, Equity and Community Inclusion
• Antoni Shelton, Equity and Community Inclusion
• Miranda Stahl, Community Safety & Security
• Cameron Switzer, Community Safety & Security
• Tamara Sylvester, Equity and Community Inclusion
• Matthew Tsuda, Student Affairs
• Ken Williams, Student Affairs

TMU’s Student Case Management team meets faithfully every week to address critical incidents involving students with an “above and beyond” commitment to “client service” and the safety of the community. Impressively, in the 2024-2025 academic year, this team met 45 separate times and had 225 discussions about high-risk matters. In light of our special downtown location and that the word “safety” features prominently in TMU’s new academic plan, this team exemplifies an “above and beyond” approach to gather information, assess information and plan next steps with an unwavering commitment to safety and humanity in the hardest-of-hard circumstances.

The Creative School 360 Re-Org

• Maria (Yvette) Benavidez, Human Resources
• Cherie Bova, The Creative School
• Nora Chin McAllister, Human Resources
• Marie Crosta, The Creative School
• Dan Greenwood, The Creative School
• Shawn Haswell, The Creative School
• Yun (Michelle) Hu, The Creative School
• Romina Ishani-Afousi, The Creative School
• Aseel Kafil, The Creative School
• Shannon Kribs, Human Resources
• Tannisha Lambert, The Creative School
• Adriana Manni, The Creative School
• Deniz Mavitas, Human Resources
• James McCrorie, The Creative School
• Nicholas Nghiem, Human Resources
• Lesley Salvadori, The Creative School
• Michael Turco, The Creative School
• Lindsay Wiener, Human Resources

For their innovative leadership and cross-functional collaboration, this team is recognized for orchestrating a transformative reorganization of more than 80 administrative and technical roles. Challenging the status quo, they unified fragmented units into high-performing teams, modernized job descriptions, and addressed complex stakeholder concerns with clarity and empathy. Their initiative delivered measurable cost efficiencies, streamlined operations, and a future-ready organizational framework. This award celebrates their forward-looking vision, operational excellence, and unwavering commitment to building a resilient, agile, and sustainable workforce model, setting a new benchmark for institutional innovation, effectiveness, and long-term impact.

Past recipients