Dr. Ashleigh Molloy
Dr. Ashleigh Molloy AKA “Dr. Ash” promotes the importance of inclusion for ALL, building strong relationships and collaboration with others in everything he does. He demonstrates this not only through his teaching position at Niagara University Ontario, but also in his service to his community and through his extensive work in other countries training teachers about special education.
Dr. Molloy has presented and consulted in over 20 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Central America, Mexico and many of the United States. His recent training experiences have been in Finland at Turku University and with San Carlos University in Guatemala working with special education teacher candidates. He has conducted extensive school improvement reviews in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. He has taken students considering becoming teachers on a service- learning experience to several African nations. He felt fortunate to be part of a DISES team that travelled to Kuwait to conduct professional development sessions celebrating the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. These are just some of his many global contributions.
As an accomplished musician he permeates his sessions with his musical compositions to engage participants. His philosophy of teaching is: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”. The importance of embedding acceptance, accessibility and inclusiveness for all is not only what he teaches but for him a sacred mission.
He advocates for the disability community in roles that include being on the Board of Community Living Toronto (provides support and opportunities for persons with disabilities) and the Board of the City of Toronto’s Accessibility Committee and with the Mentorship Committee of his alma mater, the University of Toronto. He provides numerous pro bono workshops for families including recent Afghani and Sudanese refugees. Dr. Molloy continues as a past Board member and mentor for Smile ,a disability organization serving the Muslim community that he helped in establishing with Sukaina Dada 12 years ago. He has served as President of both the Down Syndrome Association and the Ontario CEC. His many awards and honors, from international, national and provincial sources attest to his dedication to improving the lives of others.
Dr. Ash says his passion for this work was ignited with the birth of his daughter Lindsey whom he describes as being gifted with Down Syndrome. He has been a long time DISES member and continues to participate in DISES virtual events. For him DISES facilitates research sharing with international colleagues who work collaboratively to improve the outcomes for those persons we are privileged to serve.