A 14 member Board of Directors is elected by the membership at the Annual General Meeting. The Board meets monthly to address ongoing and new issues, successes and concerns related to activities in and around Sydenham District.

Board of Directors

JUSTIN CONNIDIS 

Justin has been a resident of Sydenham District (Old Sydenham Ward) and member of the SDA since 2004.  Justin spent his childhood in Kingston, graduating from Queen’s law in 1979.  From 1979 to 2004, he lived in Toronto, although he has maintained a connection with Kingston as an adjunct professor at Queen’s since 1988.  Justin is Counsel to the Toronto office of Dickinson Wright LLP, an adjunct professor at Queen’s, and a business person.  He is involved with several not-for-profit and charitable organizations as a volunteer and board member, including Wintergreen Studios, The Kingston Prize Association, Bedford Mining Alert and MiningWatch Canada, and Student Pro Bono. 

DAN CORBETT

I have lived in Kingston for 30 years and a resident of Livingston Avenue for most of this time. I value the quality of life in my neighbourhood and in the larger community. In my career I had extensive leadership experience working collaboratively with stakeholders on strategic change strategies to advance organizational excellence. I have served as President & CEO in the public sector (St. Lawrence College) and the not-for-profit sector (National Quality Institute). My previous experience was in the private sector where I served in senior executive roles in Canada, the UK and the USA. Prior to my retirement, I was a strategic management consultant where I led executive team development workshops,facilitated strategic planning sessions for Boards and a speaker at conferences and seminars in Canada and internationally.

DONNA GILLESPIE

Donna came to Kingston in 1991 to attend Queen’s University.  She fell in love with the city and its people and has made Sydenham District her home.  She has worked for over 20 years in economic and community development and is an experienced leader who has managed a variety of enterprises in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors.

Donna has been involved with community associations and organizations in Kingston including Downtown Kingston! Business Improvement Association, Kingston Arts Council, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre and the United Way of KFL&A. Currently, she also volunteers her time as a Board Director of the Kingston Kid’s Triathlon, Thousand Island Playhouse, and Theatre Kingston.

JANE GORDON- Treasurer

Jane was born in what used to be known as Sydenham Ward at KGH, moved several times with her family to London, ON, the US and Europe, and returned in 1975 when she attended KCVI and Queen's University. After 17 years in the US where she obtained an MA in Political Science and raised a family, she decided enough was enough and came back yet again, in 2003. Since that time, she has worked at the University Hospitals Foundation Kingston and Queen's University (currently as the Curricular Coordinator for Clinical Clerkship, Undergraduate Medical Education), volunteered on a number of political campaigns and is an avid recreational runner/post-run coffee drinker (it's what makes the running fun). She has two sons, both of whom have graduated from Queen's, and her parents still live in the district as well. 

ROGER HEALEY- The Village Pump Editor

I came to Kingston 50 years ago as an undergrad at Queen’s in 1971. This, of course, makes me a relative newcomer to Kingston.

I graduated in 1975 (Biology) and continued to work as a Research Assistant with Queen’s at the Snow Goose project in Churchill, Manitoba. I completed a Master’s (Biology) part time in 1985 while working at Queen’s full time in Computing Services. I started work full-time at Queen’s in 1980 and retired in 2014. In all but about 5 years, Anna and I have made our home in Sydenham Ward.

We married in 1984, our first house was on Earl St between Victoria and Collingwood, but then moved to Beverley St in 1987 where we have lived ever since. We raised three children here and our oldest two boys, Nick and Graeme, still live close-by in Kingston. Our youngest daughter Martha lives and works in BC. All three kids went to Winston and KCVI.

For the last 12 years I have been involved with promoting Active Transportation in Kingston with KCAT. This has allowed me to see the City in a new way and made me appreciate the joys of living within a 15 minute walk of most things a family needs day-to-day. I also serve on Kingston Environmental Advisory Forum (KEAF) and I'm Treasurer for the Land Conservancy for KFL&A and for Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour. I am pretty busy but I have always been interested in City issues and what goes on in Sydenham Ward.

LAURA KNAP- Membership Secretary, Recording Secretary

I attained my Master's degree in Architecture from the University of Waterloo and landed in Kingston in 2012. My husband and I moved to Sydenham District drawn by the area's walkability, and the magnificent texture and character of its streetscapes.  We spend as much time as we can enjoying the Waterfront Trail and City Park with our two young kids. I am passionate about the physical fabric of the city: its workings as an urban system, the architecture of buildings themselves, and the health of green spaces. I also bring with me a background in co-operative, not-for-profit leadership and with that an interest in building vibrant, diverse and engaged community.

JULIAN MOLLOT-HILL- Alma Matter Society (AMS)of Queen's University Commissioner of External Affairs

The current AMS CEA is an ex-officio member of our Board. 

TARA SHARKEY

Tara moved to Kingston in 2006. With her spouse and two school age daughters, she has lived on Wellington, Earl and Hill Streets in the district. She is a former English teacher who is excited to contribute to the local association by working on the SDA Newsletter, The Village Pump. One of her favourite parts of Sydenham District is Johnson Street: when walking westward up Johnson, it is like walking through architectural time.

MARTHA VOSPER- Chair

Martha was born in the Sydenham district, raised on Earl St and lived at the Frontenac Club and the Belvedere until she left Kingston in 1994.   She attended Sydenham Public, Victoria Public, KCVI, Queen’s and St Lawrence College. Martha established the Frontenac Club Day Care in 1983, worked extensively in the Arctic establishing child care settings and teaching Early Childhood Education for Nunavut Arctic College, and recently retired from a return to the directorship of Frontenac Club Day Care in April of 2021. Martha returned to the Sydenham district in 2019; she and her partner are currently restoring an 1842 home on Johnson Street.