HRAI Board Profile: Andrea Gondova
Andrea Gondova has clocked many miles in her HVAC career journey. Along the way, she has combined her teaching background and global perspectives to take on leadership roles within the HVAC centre and become a well-respected voice at the HRAI table.
Born in Slovakia, Andrea set her sights on Canada in 2000 with the goal of “seeking a new opportunity across the sea.” It was daunting at first, but she was determined to put her master’s degree from Slovakia’s University of Presov – earned with a specialty in High School Education – to better use internationally after experiencing the hardships of living in her post-communist homeland. “I love my country, but I’ve made my home here in Canada,” she says, looking back. “I’ve made Canadian friends, and my journey here has been wonderful thanks to the people who helped me navigate a country so different from my own.”
Andrea obtained her Canadian teaching credentials shortly after arriving and started her professional life as a music and ESL (English as a Second Language) educator. Eventually, she met John Hurley who was working in the HVAC industry and began taking an interest in a whole new field entirely. "I remember him saying, 'If you come to HVAC, you can try new things, you can move up, and you can take on new challenges," she recalls. "So, I decided to dive in."
Andrea’s first role was as an account manager with TFI Company Inc. Here, she learned the ins and outs of an industry that has advanced beyond what she had seen back home. “In Slovakia, we mainly had hydronic heating, so I didn’t know much about HVAC when I started,” she says, noting, “It took me about three years to absorb everything about furnaces, air handlers, ventilation, and IAQ, and I learned as I went.”
Over the years, Andrea built deep relationships with distributors, contractors, and manufacturers in the HVAC community. Along the way, she developed a special interest in indoor air quality, which she carried through her career until becoming vice president of International Sales for Respicare, a TFI Company.
Andrea’s commitment to championing IAQ technologies and best practices also led her to roles with HRAI, where she currently sits as Director on the HRAI Manufacturers Board, representing the IAQ sector. Here, she says, her focus is working with HVAC colleagues to promote IAQ issues and solutions: "Air purification should not be an option; it should be the standard. Just like having a furnace, you should have a good air cleaner and purifier, especially now with all the health challenges people face."
Andrea's IAQ advocacy includes finding opportunities to dispel industry myths and raise awareness of all the factors that contribute to healthy environments and the roles HVAC professionals play in bringing them together. "That's my job today," she says, "to help people understand it's not one thing, it's a combination of things that bring ideal purification."
Outside of work, Andrea is a passionate musician, avid cyclist, and devoted mother, who also looks fondly on her past as a singer with the Mendelssohn Choir in Toronto. And after 25 years in Canada, Andrea says she’s happy she made the trip all those years ago: “I’m a proud Canadian and happy that I’ve made my home here.”
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