Board of Directors
Nancy Cardinal - Chair
Co-owner, Sr. Project Manager, DigiGraphics
Nancy is proud to have spent her entire career in Kingston, having been with DigiGraphics for more than 20 years. She has been a key part of the local business community and recently she became one of DigiGraphics' owners and managing partners.
Nancy brings with her a wealth of valuable experience and a new perspective to the board. She has long been a Chamber supporter and values its impact in Kingston, confident that her contribution can help to grow and strengthen its efforts in the community.
A firm believer in the 'local first' approach, Nancy not only supports local businesses but has, for many years, supported and volunteered for a variety of local causes. She is the founder and managing director of Connect Fit, a unique not-for-profit club focused on women's health and fitness. In her spare time, as a certified group fitness instructor, you can find her leading several fitness and wellness classes per week. She is a proud hockey and football mom who also enjoys all sports, cooking, family and friends.
Sunita Gupta - First Vice Chair
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Consultant, Co-Founder, I2C Immigration Consulting
An active member in the Kingston community for the past twenty-five years, Sunita has lived experience across four continents. She has strived towards making Kingston a more diverse and inclusive community both personally and professionally. The recent pandemic, social movements and globalization have led to a shift that necessitates a more innovative, inclusive and nimble workplace culture. There is an inherent value to diversity and inclusivity in the work environment and leaders must ensure they tap into the potential of diverse talent to remain competitive presently and in the future. As an Inclusion Practitioner Sunita identifies barriers to inclusion in the workplace and helps organizations move forward with a planful approach to drive measurable change in employee engagement, performance and retention.
Sunita is extensively involved as a volunteer in the Kingston community. She is a sub-committee member for the Mayor’s Kingston Economic Recovery Team and the City of Kingston’s EDI committee. She is the past President of the India-Canada Association of Kingston and past Board Director for the Tett Centre. Sunita has a certificate in Leadership and Inclusion from Centennial College and a certificate in Ethics & Contemporary Social Issue: Immigration and Integration from St. Paul’s and Ottawa Universities.
Through I2C Immigration Consulting, the founders aim to address the workforce shortage via immigration and build the community’s capacity to integrate the newcomers into the workforce.
Kent Williams - Second Vice Chair
Lawyer, Cunningham Swan, Carty, Little & Bonham LLP
Kent is a business lawyer at Cunningham, Swan, Carty, Little & Bonham LLP where he supports local businesses of all sizes in the private, not-for-profit, and charitable sectors. He also works with businesses across Ontario on projects including mergers and acquisitions, corporate structuring, and contract drafting and review. Before joining Cunningham Swan, Kent practiced management-side labour and employment law in Kingston and in the Thousand Islands region. This breadth of experience has afforded Kent the opportunity to work closely with many businesses and entrepreneurs on a wide variety of the challenges that they encounter, and to collaborate on effective solutions.
Originally from the Grey-Bruce County region of the Province, Kent moved to Kingston in 2010 to complete an undergraduate degree in Music at Queen’s University, where he studied guitar performance and composition. Kent has called the Kingston area home ever since, attending law school at Queen’s in 2015 and working in the Kingston region since completing his J.D. While in law school, Kent engaged with the community through involvement with the Queen’s Business Law and Prison Law Clinics, and as the Queen’s liaison to the Frontenac Law Association. Kent has continued his passion for community involvement through positions with the Frontenac Law Association, The Advocates’ Society, and as a board member of the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning. He has also participated in presentations and programs for Kingston-based businesses through, among others, the Kingston Homebuilders’ Association, the Human Resources Professionals Association, and the Kingston Economic Development Corporation. Recently, he participated as a speaker and mentor for the Toronto Board of Trade’s “Trade Accelerator Program” which was presented in conjunction with KEDCO for Eastern Ontario businesses for the first time earlier in 2021.
Having observed the remarkable growth of the Kingston business community in recent years, Kent is enthusiastic for the ongoing success of this exceptional community.
Connor Holway - Past Chair
Commercial Account Manager - RBC Royal Bank of Canada
Born and raised in Kingston, Connor has always been proud to call this his hometown even when living across province while studying at the University of Waterloo. After graduating in 2009, he spent time in sales and hospitality before he chose a career that would allow him to support the business community at Scotiabank as a Small Business Advisor.
Since joining the RBC Commercial Financial Services team in Kingston, he now specializes in relationship management for Real Estate and Construction as well as Business Services clients. Outside of RBC, Connor has also been involved with Kingston Young Professionals and United Way.
Giving back to Kingston has become a passion for Connor in order to ensure a vibrant community for his family of four to grow in.
Rob Adams - Board Member
Chief Executive Officer, YMCA of Eastern Ontario
Rob Adams is the CEO of the YMCA of Eastern Ontario and has served in leadership roles for more than 17 years. He is a forward-thinking strategist with broad operational expertise in areas that include human resources, fund development, marketing and communications, partnership development and change management. Rob has deep knowledge of board operations. He has experience in board recruitment, development of board terms and references, and board strategy, and understands how to obtain board approval of new directions and policies.
Recently Rob lead two independent YMCA associations in a review process that resulted in a full merger creating a single regional charitable focus while ensuring local appeal and systemic issues still get addressed.
Landon Arndt - Board Member
Account Executive, McDougall Insurance & Financial
Landon grew up in Guelph and completed his undergraduate schooling in 2010 at Wilfrid Laurier University, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a focus on finance. He then went on to work for RBC Capital Markets in Toronto and gained tremendous experience working on a number of different equity and bond operations desks, excelling in a very fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
While working at RBC, Landon also completed his Master of Business Administration degree from the Schulich School of Business at York University. Upon graduating and moving to Kingston in 2015, he decided to make the switch to commercial insurance, where his passion for learning about business and appetite for building relationships has served him well in his role as a commercial broker at McDougall Insurance.
In his spare time, Landon likes to workout, play sports, invest, and read…and he is also a ‘Big Brother’ through the Boys & Girls Club of Kingston. He has been a director on the Chamber Board since 2018, as well as an active member of the advocacy committee.
Christi Cowell - Board Member
Vice President, Group Operations, Empire Life
As a lifelong resident of Kingston, Christi is proud to have spent more than 15 years of her career at Empire Life. She is a graduate of the Business Administration program at St. Lawrence College and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Ryerson University. As the Vice President of Group Operations at Empire Life, Christi works with small to mid-size companies to understand the trends and pressures affecting their business and to support the financial health of their employees. Christi is hopeful to offer these unique insights and other positive contributions if re-elected to the Chamber Board of Directors for another term.
Christi is an active volunteer and her family is involved with many local organizations in our community. Christi and her family share a love of hockey, travelling and spending time with family and friends.
Brian Hope - Board Member
Regional Director of Sales, Diamond Hotels Management Inc.
An industry veteran with 22 years of considerable experience in the hospitality and tourism industry, Brian Hope began his hospitality journey at the Fairmont Château Laurier and has held Sales positions at the Fairmont Royal York, Marriott Canadian Sales Office and JW Marriott, The Rosseau Muskoka Resort & Spa.
Hope joined Diamond Hotels Management Inc. in 2016 as the Sales Manager for the Delta Hotels by Marriott Kingston Waterfront, bringing high levels of motivation and professionalism to the group. In April of 2021, after continually exceeding sales targets, Hope was promoted to the Director of Sales where his primary focus was growing the corporate, association and education markets for the business. In August 2022, Hope was promoted to the Regional Director of Sales position and now oversees the Sales efforts for all Diamond Hotels Management properties in Kingston and Sault Ste. Marie.
Hope has obtained tremendous experience in hotel sales and leadership roles, which has shaped who he is today and helped him build and maintain a large local and national network. He is known for his high levels of energy, amiability, and his ability to come up with innovative and creative ways to assist the company achieve their long-term goals and objectives. He believes these skills will be valuable as a member of the Kingston Chamber of Commerce Board.
Hope and his family moved to Kingston in 2010 and quickly fell in love with the city and community. They are all regulars at Queen’s Gaels basketball games, football games and Kingston Frontenacs games. Both son and daughter play basketball competitively and Hope is currently the head coach of the Kingston Impact U12 Girls competitive basketball team.
As for activities/interests, Hope is an avid runner and has participated in seven marathons over the past five years. And on a unique note, Hope is a professional comedian and has performed all across Canada. He was selected to be a part of “Team Canada” (along with Guy Lafleur and Paul Gross) to travel to Afghanistan and perform for the Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan in 2010.’
Gray Hughes - Board Member
Technical Business Advisor, Weehooey Inc.
Gray is our Technical Business Advisor and joined Weehooey in 2018. Gray has worked in many industries, from wind turbines to sales to internet solutions.
Gray has a variety of experience and expertise in all aspects of business and technology. He has been leading Weehooey’s Customer Relations for the past three years, forging strong relationships, meeting with customers, and reviewing client business goals to guide their technology. He enjoys the team aspect of working at Weehooey and stresses the importance of doing what's in the customer's best interest.
Andy Larin - Board Member
CEO and CTO, allCare I.T.
Andy Larin is the CEO and CTO of allCare IT. A true entrepreneur at heart, Andy created and successfully ran multiple businesses from his childhood on. Before graduating as a Certified Novell Engineer, Andy started his own IT company in 1996, which rebranded as allCare IT in 2014 when he and his business partner joined together to create Kingston’s premier IT services company.
Andy is notorious for his deep understanding and passion for all things IT related. His work ethic, honesty and demand for excellence are deeply appreciated by his loyal clients. With his inquisitive spirit and love of learning, Andy has risen as a leader in the field of Cybersecurity. This has led him to create a company focused on providing top of the line IT services that specializes in Cybersecurity
Michelle McElhinney - Board Member
Owner, The Carson House
Michelle McElhinney is an entrepreneur and small business owner of The Carson House, an Upscale Consignment Furniture and Home Decor retail store in Kingston's west end.
Prior to her family making Kingston their home, Michelle spent a good part of her career in Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto in Sales and Corporate Leadership Development & Training. Michelle has developed teams across companies like Tim Hortons, Ontario Power Generation, and Nestlé, to name a few.
Supporting and giving back to her community has been part of her life for many years. Michelle has been an active volunteer and/or executive member for organizations like Ronald McDonald House, Dress for Success, Loving Spoonful, and Kingston’s Senior Women’s Hockey.
Michelle is extremely excited about the opportunity to be a voice for small business and contribute to the initiatives that make our business community in Kingston flourish. It would be an honor and a privilege to be a member of the Board of Directors for this coming year's Chamber of Commerce, Kingston.