The Paralegal TownHall-iday Gala - December 6, 2025

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!

The inaugural The Paralegal TownHall-iday Gala is in the books and what an incredible night it was!

Thank you to everyone that showed up and showed out!

Thanks to Rochelle Ivri for coming all the way from Niagara to deliver an inspirational message for the community!

Congratulations to all of our award winners:

Phenomenal Paralegal of the Year: Grazia Condello, LL.B. LL.M.
Rising Star Paralegal of the Year: Stephanie Carvalheiro
Distinguished Paralegal Educator of the Year: Justin Bozzo
Paralegal TownHall Volunteer of the Year: Ashifa Alibhai, AccFM, C.Med., P1, Notary, WFA

Congrats to our Golden Gavel Award winners who were present to receive certificates recognizing their committment, enthusiasm, and academic excellence:

August: Erin McFayden and Frances Phan
September: Alice Nguyen
October: Hesham Elgamal and Shamsa Sajwani
November: Laura Celsie and Shane Rousseau
December: Albert Castells and Shannick Dawkins

We also welcomed new (and old) licensees into the profession! Congratulations to: Usman Ahmad, Haraagya Singh Bansal, Stephanie Carvalheiro, Theresa Elliott, Maryam Emami, Mariana Garzon, Sandra Gogolewski, Avleen Kaur, Ciara Lorenzo, Gizem Okem, Kaanchana Pradeep, Darcia Purdy, Trisha Ramnanan, Aiswarya Satkunanathan, Kayla Slater, Anthony Edward Stark (P1, Q. Med, Q. Arb, WFA, Reverend, PI), and QI Tang for becoming licensed and all the best in your years to come!

We raised $300 for Kennedy House and thank Vivian Manyara for sharing about all the wonderful things the organization does! Justin D Rochester and I will match the $300 and encourage anyone else to make personal donations, as well. Congrats to Christine Gentles for taking home $300 in the 50/50 draw!

Thanks to all of our sponsors and supporters for making this event happen and allowing us to invite many students and new licensees to attend. Centennial College Event Centre for being an amazing host – compliments to the chef! Accounting for Law, Jeramy J. Silverstein and HaveIGotaCase.ca, LPEN | Legal Professionals Education Network, Justice in Pieces, Elaine Page and the PREP Network, SC Legal Services, MGB Legal Services, Bennett Gastle Professional Corporation, the Ontario Association of Black Paralegals, Mike Masci, Jake Pint for DJ’ing (and for letting me drop my own mixes!) and to Monineath Ki, Jonathan Chin-Fook, and Fatema Tuz Zohora Nobony for volunteering with registration and the 50/50 draw! A shout-out to my wife, Anastasiia Rodrigues, who designed the programs, seating charts, and for being supportive with all of the time I spent on this and all our initiatives!

From Mandarin to this weekend’s buffet, I’m really proud of the vision we had coming to life, plus the townhalls, CPDs, moots, Oath and Commissioning Ceremonies, and much more we put on! We’re focused on making records and gettin’ bigger in 2026 and continuing to deliver just hits, no misses!

Save the Date – December 5, 2026 for the remix!

#StrongerTogether