Andrea Zackary
Founder & CEO, Creative Director, Mentor, Speaker, Advocate
Andrea Zackary is a loving mother to five beautiful girls and a precious 12-month-old son, and has been the devoted wife to a wonderful husband for 14 years.
Raised in a blended and athletic family, Andrea is a former Deaf Olympian and World Championship qualifier in track and field. She is proud to be identified as Oral Deaf and serves as a mentor within her community.
Andrea’s journey with hearing loss began at the age of 6, yet she persevered in her studies, successfully completing high school and college.
She initially pursued a career in the hospitality industry as a front desk agent, leveraging her diploma in Hotel & Restaurant Management to build a ten-year career. However, at the age of 25, Andrea became completely deaf and lost her job as a result. Undeterred, she retrained as a Personal Support Worker, specializing in assisting the Deaf community.
The Vision
Driven by a desire to give back to her community, Andrea took a leap of faith ten years ago and founded DEF EVENTS & BEYOND. Her venture aims to create an inclusive social atmosphere by hosting events that bring together Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and hearing individuals in an ASL-friendly environment.
Fun things abouT andrea
Cocktail Order
Bailey / Sex on the beach
never without my
Personal calender
self care is
Massage / alone time
Guilty Pleasure
Tyler Perry movies
take my money
Hair and Nails done
put me on a plane to
Dominica
DEF EVENTS & BEYOND has garnered numerous accolades in its relatively short existence, including the Young Professional of the Year Award from Small & Mighty, Brampton Board of Trade’s Top 40 Under 40, and the City of Brampton Accessibility Award in Business. Andrea has also been recognized among Canada’s Top 100 Black Women to Watch and has received several other awards and nominations. Her work has been featured on CTV, Breakfast Television, and in the Deaf What series.
Outside of her professional achievements, Andrea enjoys reading, fashion, long nature walks, and is a devoted lover of coffee, sweets, wine, and food.