Joel Dembe is a Paralympian and strategic communications advisor. He was Canada’s top-ranked wheelchair tennis player and won over 30 international titles throughout his career. Joel represented Canada at the Paralympics and won our country's first international medal in wheelchair tennis at the 2015 Toronto Pan-American Games, shortly before retiring from sport. He currently serves as Senior Communications Manager at Royal Bank of Canada and is also co-Chair of RBC Reach, its advisory group for clients and employees with disabilities. He's also a frequent media contributor and keynote speaker, where he advocates for accessibility and inclusion.
Joel was born with a spinal tumour and removing it saved his life but paralysed him. By chance, his first wheel chair at 5 years old was arranged through our very own Nancy who was his occupational therapist at the time. Through his elementary school years at Queen's Ranges in Copetown, his teacher Mrs. Williams got him involved in a variety of sports and this manoeuvring of his wheel chair on the sports floor built his confidence. At 15 he attended a variety of camps that continued to boost his confidence in what he could do and before long he became the national wheel chair tennis champion (but he really enjoyed playing against able bodied players too). One of his key messages is the importance of letting young folks explore and fail as part of growing into adulthood.