[ About ]

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Kingston NetworkBuddy (KNB) is a small, peer-led space for people in Kingston navigating big changes. That includes international students, newcomers, people living here without full citizenship, and local friends who want to help.

KNB is here, so no one has to walk into a room alone. It’s a place where you can talk about the hard parts—like paperwork, work, or feeling lonely—with others who get it.

KNB started in 2023 because people going through big changes needed a place to just be themselves and feel seen by others who understand. Over time, it’s become a way for people to figure things out together as equals and build trust by sharing real experiences.

KNB doesn’t run set programs. It works through small experiments. These can be backyard hangouts, coffee chats, pub nights, festival volunteering, attending city events together, or meeting on Zoom. Each gathering aims to make life in Kingston less isolating by helping people share what they are figuring out, trade practical support, and find steadiness together.

Belonging comes before performance here. There is no budget, no fee, and no guaranteed schedule. KNB appears when the people holding it have capacity and rests when work, health, or immigration status demand a pause. That ebb and flow is part of the design, not a sign the project has failed.

Group of nine people at outdoor gathering, standing in front of a pool and greenery, smiling and posing for the photo, some holding drinks, two women wearing striped shirts, some wearing name tags.
Four smiling people taking a selfie at a crowded indoor event with colorful graffiti art on the wall behind them. 
[ HISTORY ]

Back in 2022, I was studying International Business Management at St. Lawrence College. For a class project, my team and I set up a small online forum for international students called ON Foreign Student. It lasted only a couple of weeks, but one moment stayed with me: a Filipino student posted about feeling alone and anxious in Kingston, and someone from Brockville replied with real help. Even a tiny space to share opened the door to support.

By early 2023, I was still at St. Lawrence College, juggling classes and part-time work as a commercial cleaner. My husband and son were still in the Philippines, and I was trying to figure out what “networking” looked like for newcomers—where to find it, and how to enter without walking in alone.

For one course, I needed volunteer hours, so I signed up as a photographer with my classmate Parth D. Advani at the launch of the Black Entrepreneurship Ecosystem for Southeastern Ontario. Norman Musengimana, who coordinated the volunteer photographers, said something that stayed with me: “If you don’t make time to show up for networking, you won’t survive here in Kingston.” It didn’t feel like generic advice. It felt like a real warning.

Soon after, Sara invited me to a newcomer networking night hosted by KEYS. It was the first time I realized those spaces existed. Watching people move through the room felt new but also like a relief. With Sara promising she’d be there, I finally walked in. I brought classmates with me too, because the experience shouldn’t depend on whether you’re brave enough to enter alone.

That simple promise, “come with me, so you’ll know at least one person in the room,” became Kingston NetworkBuddy. Over time, it grew from me bringing beginners into rooms together into a peer-led space shaped by trust, repetition, and the care and limits of the people who keep showing up.

How Kingston NetworkBuddy began

[ RECOGNITION ]

Kingston NetworkBuddy has been recognized beyond the room. My work with KNB earned a 2024 CBIE North Star Award nomination for supporting newcomers and international students in Kingston. It was featured in St. Lawrence College’s Voyageur alumni magazine in 2026.

A group of seven diverse adults standing together indoors, smiling at the camera, in front of a brick wall with a neon sign that says 'Curious People Drink'.
Group of five diverse people smiling and standing together indoors at a social event or party. 
[ ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ]

People Who Held This Work

This part of the site is also for the people who saw my early website attempts and treated them like they mattered. Back in early 2023, I had many ideas — forums, service directories, and small ways to support international students and newcomers.

You listened. You asked questions. Some of you brought the work into your classrooms and projects. That care kept me going long enough to build this version of Kingston NetworkBuddy.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

  • Prof. Kathy Patterson

  • Prof. Julie Fossitt

  • Prof. Jessica Bredscheneir

  • Prof. Victoria Condlln Smallridge

  • Arjun Vasudevan Dev

  • Charity Emeh

[ COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION ]

Working with Community

KNB is one small part of a broader ecosystem working to make Kingston more livable for newcomers, students, and people in the long middle.

International Student Symposium

International Student Symposium – invited community service provider in 2024 and 2025, thanks to Sonia Verjovsky, who welcomed KNB as a partner and held online debriefs with our core team to help shape conversations on networking and building connections.

Working Group Committee

Working Group Committee on International Student Transitions – a planning table convened by the City of Kingston, KEYS, and Kingston Immigration Partnership, where Gail participates as a community voice helping shape how information, connections, and care are offered to international students and graduates in Kingston.

Three women standing behind a table at an event, smiling at the camera. The table displays a sign that says "Kingston NetworkBuddy," pamphlets, and brochures. To the right, a colorful spin wheel is set up next to a large banner that reads "Kingston Community Health Centres" and "Immigrant Services Kingston and Area." The women are wearing yellow shirts, and one is wearing a black jacket. The setting appears to be indoors, possibly at a health or community event.
Group of women smiling and holding a yellow sign that reads 'Kingston NetworkBuddy' at an indoor event.
Two smiling people standing behind a table with QR codes at an indoor event. A boat named 'Phoebe' is visible in the background, along with flags and informational displays.
People standing and discussing in a large indoor event space, with tables and booths in the background. 
[ SUPPORT ]

Team Leadership Support

In 2024, Kingston NetworkBuddy’s team leadership and facilitation practices have been strengthened through coaching support from Elizabeth Hesp Coaching & Consulting. She stepped in with team coaching when we needed it most, offering her time, energy, and wisdom, and helped us feel more grounded and supported while we figured out how to hold this work together.

Group of five women smiling indoors, with diverse appearances, two sitting and three standing. 
[ THE WRITTEN SIDE ]

Newcomer Transition Briefing (NTB)

Alongside Kingston NetworkBuddy, I write the Newcomer Transition Briefing (NTB), a plain-language field guide for the long middle between arrival and stability. It is for newcomers whose lives look functional on paper but still feel unstable underneath.

Each issue focuses on one quiet condition of this stage: cognitive strain, adaptation fatigue, repetitive work, and waiting. It draws on research, lived experience, and what I learn from rooms like KNB. The aim is not to motivate but to offer orientation as the transition unfolds. This helps people see repeated struggles as patterns shaped by prolonged transition, rather than as personal failure.

NTB lives on my main site, gailmanigsaca.com, and can be read alongside KNB as the Briefings that grow from the same questions: what newcomers carry quietly, how the long middle actually feels, and what becomes easier once we have language for it.