Board of Directors

Gillian Watters, Chair
Program Director,
KEYS Job Centre

Gillian Watters has lived and worked in Kingston for most of her life and is a graduate of both Queen’s University (1983) and St. Lawrence College (1988). Currently the Program Director at KEYS Job Centre, Gillian has spent over 30 years in the field of workforce development and career counselling and is completing a MBA in Community Economic Development. She lives in an old, always-under-renovation farmhouse and loves long walks with her three dogs.

Dr. Yafan Huang, Vice Chair
President & Chief Scientific Officer,
Performance Plants Inc.

A proud Queen’s PhD graduate in Biology (1995), Yafan began serving on the board in January 2019. Yafan established the badminton club at Winston Churchill Public School and coached there from 2007 to 2014; he currently coaches badminton at KCVI. His son is a national top-ranked chess player and a provincial top-ranked badminton player, while his daughter recently won silver medals at the 2019 OFSAA Open Singles Tennis Championships and the Singles Badminton Championships.

Anne Vivian-Scott, Treasurer
President & CEO,
Kinarm

Anne is the President and CEO of Kinarm, a spin-off of Queen’s University some 17 years ago. She and the co-founders have bootstrapped the company into an highly specialized manufacturer of interactive robotics for neuroscientists and clinician scientists studying brain injury or disease. They are on a journey to change the clinical assessment of brain function to enable better outcomes from brain injury or disease. Their unique product, called Kinarm, provides exquisite measurements of human behaviour that reveals how the brain is functioning. 

Cathy Wilson, Secretary
Senior Vice President,
Parsons Corporation

Cathy graduated from Queen's University with a degree in Political Science and Economics in 1993. She has been working as a consultant to public agencies/government and the private sector in the design and construction of transportation infrastructure internationally and in Canada. Cathy is passionate advocate for education, the transportation industry and supporting young professionals. As such, she sits on the Women's Transportation Seminar Canada/Toronto Chapter Board and is also one of the founding members of the WTS Canadian Education Foundation, established in 2016, granting scholarships to young women in STEM and transportation-related fields. 

Peng-Seng Cau
Vice President,
ATS Automation

Peng is a dynamic, charismatic and innovative executive who co-founded Transformix Engineering Inc. and was its president and CEO for 21 years. ATS acquired Transformix’s IP in 2018. After spinning off a new company called Nuformex, where Peng is board chair, she joined ATS as VP Emerging Markets and Symphoni™ in March 2020. She is an entrepreneur coach with L-Spark, an accelerator in Ottawa, and We-Can with Queen’s University, and is a regular speaker at conferences. She has been featured in local and national TV, radio and print media.

Shan Jhamandas
Founding Partner,
Daft Brewing

Shan founded Daft Brewing with two other partners with the hope of creating something great – a West-coast style tap room that would make people put away their phones, grab a beer and start talking. Shan also works as a Vice President, Sales & Product Management at ESG Solutions, which is a Business Services company.

Patrick Egbunonu
Associate Dean,
St. Lawerence College, School of Business

Patrick has extensive experience as a business leader and entrepreneur across several industries. His academic accomplishments include a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering, a Master of Arts Degree in Economics, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. Patrick has served on several committees and boards including Sustainable Kingston, the Data Analytics Working Group, City of Kingston Workforce and In-Migration Strategy Board and the Afro-Caribe Community Foundation, Kingston. He has volunteered with the United Way KFL&A and in his spare time, he enjoys watching movies with his three children.

Dr. Wanda Costen
Dean,
Smith School of Business

Dr. Wanda Costen is an academic leader who champions inclusive excellence. Leading with integrity, Dr. Costen eliminates barriers to sustainable change by reimagining how to prepare students for the 21st-century life of work and purpose. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Costen held leadership and management roles in sales, operations and human resources for several global organizations and Fortune 500 companies. She has consulted on equity, diversity, inclusion and Indigenization issues in both the public and private sectors, and partnered with organizations to help them develop diversity initiatives and training programs. 

Bryan Paterson
Mayor,
City of Kingston

Paterson was elected as the 96th Mayor of the City of Kingston in 2014 and, on Oct. 22, 2018, he was re-elected for a second term. Paterson first ran for City Council in 2010 in Trillium District. As a City Councillor, he used his background as an economist to push forward a progressive agenda centred on growth and quality-of-life initiatives.

Gary Oosterhof
Councillor,
Countryside District

Born and raised on the family farm near Athens, Ontario, Gary continues to have a strong connection to the country. Gary and his wife, Corina, raised their family of four children in Glenburnie and continue to live in this community. In 1991, they started their own Licensed Electrical Contracting business, and have enjoyed over 25 years of successful relationships with the families and businesses in the Countryside region. Gary serves on the Ontario Board of Directors of the Electrical Safety Authority of Ontario and is a long time member and current President of the Kingston Electrical Association, and previously represented local Licensed Electrical Contractors with the Ontario Electrical League for over 20 years.

Wayne Hill
Councillor,
Lakeside District

Wayne Hill has lived in Kingston's Lakeside District for more than 30 years. He graduated from Frontenac and attended Queen's University graduating with a degree in Education in 1982. He considers himself privileged to have been principal of both Holy Cross and Regiopolis-Notre Dame High Schools. His career in education administration provided him with the opportunity to become President of the Catholic Principals Council of Ontario.

Jeff McLaren
Councillor,
Meadowbrook-Strathcona

Jeff McLaren was born in Regina, Saskatchewan and raised in Victoria B.C. He has a wide-ranging post-secondary education including; Economics, Political Science, Philosophy, and Engineering. Jeff also has an entrepreneurial streak. He has run several businesses since he was 22. First, in Victoria, he started in the trades with a residential painting business. Then, in Ottawa, after he moved on from the Dominican Order but before furthering his education, he got into the property management business; owning and managing two residential rental buildings. In addition to his City commitments, Jeff is the founder and moderator of the Philosophy Hammer, a local philosophy discussion club, and he volunteers at the Seniors Centre where he teaches philosophy.

Lanie Hurdle, Ex-officio
Chief Administrative Officer,
City of Kingston

Megan Knott, Ex-officio
Executive Director,
Tourism Kingston

FORMER BOARD MEMBERS

BOARD MEETINGS