Valerie Ann Mah (née Lor) was a Chinese Canadian educator, community builder, and historian from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
She was a historian and prominent member of the Toronto Chinese Community, playing a lead in multiple city and provincial organizations up until her death in 2021.
[2] Her experience working in her family's restaurant as a child shaped her beliefs on the importance of childhood nutrition, which would guide her later professional initiatives in creating early hot lunch programs and salad bars in her schools.
[4][5][6] Mah's professional career began with the Toronto District School Board as a special education teacher where she worked with emotionally disturbed children in her first 17 years.
[16] Valerie Mah ran in the 2004 Canadian federal election as a NDP candidate for Toronto Don Valley East after her retirement as the Principal at Bruce Public School.