Board

Cara holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree (Honours) from Queen’s University and is passionate about contributing to the profession. She is an adjunct professor at the Smith School of Business and an instructor and content reviewer with CPA Ontario and CPA Canada.

Cara lives in Kingston with her husband, their two daughters and their 14 year old Goldendoodle. As a family they love going to the lake for swimming, fishing, and kayaking. Cara has also served as both the Treasurer and Chair of Kingston Interval House (2014 – 2022) and the Treasurer of the Kingston Blue Marlins (2021-Present).

On her own Cara enjoys running (albeit slowly) and has completed three Dopey Challenges at Disney World.

As a community leader, in addition to completing his term as Chair of CFKA, Rob currently serves on the board of the Queen’s Family Health Team Advisory Board, and volunteers with Compassionate Kingston and the residential hospice fundraising cabinet. He’s a former chair of the Imagine Kingston Roundtable. In his spare time he studies Mandarin.

Denise grew up in London, Ontario and completed a BA in Sociology at the University of Waterloo (UW). She began her career as a professional fundraiser at UW and went on to spend 32 years raising funds in the healthcare and education sectors. In addition to working at UW, Denise held positions at Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation, University Hospital Foundation (now London Health Science Foundation), and Western University.

In 2004, after researching the Ontario community offering the best quality of life, Denise and her family chose to relocate from the London region to Kingston. She served as founding Executive Director and CEO of University Hospitals Kingston Foundation (UHKF). In this role, Denise guided a highly capable group of volunteers and staff in the successful achievement of two $65 million capital campaigns. The new Providence Care Hospital was funded, in part, through the first campaign, as were the expanded cancer centre, a new inpatient pediatric unit, a new medical/surgical inpatient unit and two new floors of outpatient clinics. She retired from UHKF in 2019.

Denise has been an active volunteer throughout her career, serving on the boards of the Women’s Rural Resource Centre (Strathroy), Merrymount Children’s Centre (London), Home Base Housing (Kingston) and, most recently, with Kingston Frontenac Housing Corporation, where she served as Board Chair for three years.

Peter Finnegan is a Portfolio Manager with the Kingston/Belleville office of BMO Nesbitt Burns.

BMO Nesbitt Burns is one of the largest investment advisory firms in Canada and is part of the Bank of Montreal Financial Group, Canada’s oldest bank founded in 1817.

Peter has over 25 years tenure with BMO Nesbitt Burns and co-leads a team that advises and manages investment portfolios for individuals, families, charities, and corporations.  He has a degree in Economics and holds designations as a Certified Investment Manager, Portfolio Manager and Professional Financial Planner.

Peter has held volunteer board/cabinet positions with the Business Improvement Association of Belleville (1995-1998), United Way of Quinte (1996-2004), United Way of Peterborough (2005-2007), Providence Care Corporation (2011-2014) and was an inaugural member of the Investment Advisor Advisory committee to senior management of BMO Nesbitt Burns (2014-2015).

Peter and his wife Marisa moved to Kingston in 2007.  They have two children Julia and Ethan who are both graduates of Queen’s University.

She was a senior executive with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in various roles and founding CEO with the Ontario Family Health Network. Donna retired as Executive Director with the Health Council of Canada.

Donna’s most recent volunteer experience includes the following – Vice Chair Ontario 211 (current), Past Chair South East Local Health Integration Network (SE LHIN) and former Board member of Kingston General Hospital. She also is a member of the Health Policy Forum, out of the School of Policy Studies and Queen’s University. Donna’s family is from Kingston. She has a strong commitment to the welfare of residents in the Kingston community.

Donna is also serving as the Board Champion for CFKA’s Older Adults Connecting & Belonging initiative.

Kent is an active member in the local community, having served as the Queen’s Law Student Liaison and Young Lawyer’s Group Co-Chair with the Frontenac Law Association, and serving as the Kingston Representative of the Young Advocates Standing Committee. He also pursues speaking engagements with local organizations on legal topics of interest and opportunities to volunteer his time on community-based boards.

Prior to joining Cunningham Swan, Kent practiced management-side labour and employment law at a mid-sized regional law firm.When not at work, Kent enjoys spending time with his wife and two young children, working on his latest home improvement project, or playing music in his small home recording studio.

Roger is an authentic, visionary and experienced business leader who helps organizations to improve, grow or transform. His areas of expertise include strategy development and execution, operational effectiveness, risk management, organizational governance, program management and change leadership. He is currently a Senior Strategic Advisor for Prompta Consulting Group, a Toronto-based change management consulting and executive coaching advisory firm specializing in business and cultural transformations. Most recently, he is also a successful entrepreneur, creating Inside Out Homescaping in 2018, which has quickly become a leading provider of home staging, redesign and renovations for homes and gardens in Kingston and area.

Since moving to Kingston in 2008, he has fallen in love with this incredible community and is keen to find new ways to give back. As a volunteer in Kingston’s not-for-profit sector, Roger brings a balance between “the head” (business skills and expertise) and “the heart” (social conscience and compassion). He’s been involved with CFKA since 2018, as a member of the Governance Committee, the Advisory Council on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and now the Board of Directors.

Alison Young was born and raised in downtown Kingston. Growing up she was an active participant in sports, particularly basketball, and grew up on the courts of the Knights of Columbus Basketball League and Regiopolis Notre Dame. Her love of sports transitioned into the completion of an Advanced Diploma in Fitness and Lifestyle Management from George Brown College followed by a Bachelors of Applied Science in Kinesiology from the University of Guelph.

Upon completion of her undergraduate education in the Toronto area, Alison returned home to Kingston and completed a Masters of Public Health at Queen’s University and received a Graduate Diploma in Business from the Smith School of Business. The combination of public health and business education has led Alison to forging a path in healthcare administration where she applies her skills in project management, leadership, and communication.

When Alison is not working, she can be found spending time with her husband Morgan and daughter Penelope, exercising, taking in a site or sound of Kingston, or kicking up her heels at a favourite spot downtown.

Michael Bell is a retired art history professor and art museum director. Michael has been at one time or another Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Public Archives of Canada; Director of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre (Queen’s University); Visual Arts Officer, Ontario Arts Council; Assistant Director (Public Programs) and Acting Director, National Gallery of Canada; Director and CEO, McMichael Canadian Art Collection; and Founding Director (Associate Professor), Carleton University Art Gallery. In 1973 his book, Painters in a New Land, was recognized with the Governor-General’s Literary Award for Non-fiction.

Since coming to Kingston in the early 1970s, Michael has maintained a residence in the region almost continuously even though his work took him elsewhere. He now lives in Kingston.

During the late 1980s Michael served on the Board of the National Museums of Canada and the National Gallery of Canada. Locally, Michael served on the Board of the Cataraqui Conservation Foundation in numerous capacities. He joined the Board of the Community Foundation for Kingston & Area in 2011 and retired from the Board as Past President in June 2019.

Michael operates an amateur radio station with the call signs VE3NOO and VA3MBT.

Previous board of directors’ involvement in Toronto, Ottawa and Kingston include: Queen’s Family Health Team Advisory Committee; Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health Board of Directors; Past President of the Community Foundation for Kingston & Area; Carleton University, Elmwood School, Canadian Clubs of Toronto and Ottawa (and President of the Ottawa Club), Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs, Advisory Board of the Ottawa Heart Institute, Rideau Club, Five Lakes Club, Kingston Symphony Association, Kingston General Hospital (Chair, Planning and Research Development Committees and member Governance Committee), Founding Vice-Chair of the South East Local Health Integration Network (and Chair of Governance Committee, Co-Chair Collaborative Governance Development Team); Community for Excellence in Health Governance.

In 2012 Florence received the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee medal for community engagement and in 2013 the Ontario Medical Association Community Service Award for her contribution to the health and welfare of the population of Kingston.

During his career, Greg has been involved with writing and editing KPMG tax publications that focused on current tax matters and potential tax planning strategies for clients. He has been involved in preparing and presenting a variety of firm training courses encompassing a wide range of personal, corporate, charity and not-for profit income tax issues.

Greg is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario and the Canadian Tax Foundation.

Virginia views the Foundation as a resource for future generations of Kingstonians. Planning for the future and working with other established charities is a very satisfying way to know your community. You are laying the ground work for continued good things happening. An established Community Foundation can be the safety net in good times and bad.

Virginia has worked with the Resource Development Committee and is an Honorary Life Member of the Board of Directors.

Brian is experienced in will and trust planning; incapacity planning; blended family planning; advising executors, beneficiaries and trustees in connection with the administration of estates; advising parties on contentious estates and estate litigation matters; and advising business owners on business succession planning.

Brian regularly advises high net worth individuals, professionals and private company owners on an array of complex estate planning issues to help clients achieve various goals, including tax minimization, creditor protection, support of disabled beneficiaries and family law planning. Brian’s previous experience as a business law lawyer acting on the sale of family businesses means that Brian is experienced in the complex issues relating to business succession planning, farm succession planning and ongoing wealth transfer.

In the context of his estate planning work, he uses many techniques to meet the particular needs and objectives of his clients and to minimize tax consequences. Approaches include multiple wills, testamentary and inter vivos trusts, life estates and rights of survivorship, marriage or co-habitation contracts, powers of attorney for property and for personal care, and charitable donations. Brian regularly liaises and works with tax and other financial professionals where such involvement is merited. He also routinely advises individuals with fiduciary duties (e.g. executors, trustees, guardians and attorneys) on the administration of estates, trusts and powers of attorney for property and for personal care, offering direction and assistance on the nature and scope of those duties. He also assists fiduciaries with the passing of their accounts.

Brian is a co-author of the book Drafting Wills in Canada: A Lawyer’s Practical Guide, 2nd Edition (LexisNexis, 2016) and regularly presents on estates and trusts topics in the community.

Brian was raised in the Kingston region and returned to the area to practice following his call to the bar.

Trust, honesty and hard work are values that Marc embraces passionately in his professional life. He is particularly proud of the relationship he has built with his clientele which is primarily established on providing superior and timely advice.

Within the community, Marc currently sits on the Board of Directors for Providence Care Hospital and is also the Portfolio Manager for the Community Foundation for Kingston & Area. Over the years, he has also been involved in several other local charities either in a governance capacity or as benefactor.