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Contributors and Volunteers are people who offer their time, energy, knowledge, skills, and connections to make each Kingston NetworkBuddy gathering possible. They step into many roles—facilitators, table hosts, guest speakers, emcees, and behind‑the‑scenes helpers for registration, setup, and teardown. For each season, people take on the roles they have capacity for, so support can grow or shrink with real‑life schedules.

2024 Fall Gathering - People Who Held The Room

2024 Fall Volunteers

2024 Summer - People Who Held The Room & Volunteers

  • Group of people posing with certificates in a living room, some kneeling in the front and others standing in the back, smiling.

    Panelists

    Shared different points along the newcomer journey—from recent arrivals to long‑settled residents—so people could see multiple ways of starting again in Kingston.

    Sipho Bebe Ibeakanma Lucía Flores Villanueva Carolina Pulido
    Jose Mari Badilla

    With special support of Norman Musengimana, our first guest speaker at the pilot Winter Gathering in March 2024.

  • Two women at an outdoor celebration, one holding a microphone and the other smiling, with yellow and black polka-dotted balloons hanging in the background.

    Lisa Macdonald

    HOST & MODERATOR

    Opened her backyard and inside her home, creating an open, refreshing space, then designed the main conversation and gently and intellectually threaded stories across the panel so everyone felt welcome and able to connect their own journey to what they were hearing

  • Group of people gathered outdoors around a small fire for a celebration, with some holding drinks, in a backyard with trees and a brick house.

    Individual Contributors

    Handled decoration, registration, and photos so the evening could run smoothly and the night’s small moments and connections were not lost.

    Deep Shikha (decoration) Andrea Ulloa (registration)
    Aliza Oli (registration)
    Parth D Advani and Lina Henriquez (capturing the night’s special moments)

2024 Winter - People Who Held The Room & Volunteers

  • A man and a woman are sitting and talking in a living room, with two onlookers in the foreground. The man is sitting on an armchair, raising one hand as he speaks. The woman is sitting on a small side table, listening. A large black TV is mounted on the dark gray wall behind them. There is a wooden console with books and a plant on it to the right. The room has hardwood floors and a side table with flowers near the doorway.

    Norman Musengimana

    GUEST SPEAKER

    Norman is Co-founder and CEO of Prosfata Inc., a Kingston‑based company that supports newcomers and professionals through guided career transitions and industry‑specific coaching. He is also  Business Development Manager for start‑ups and entrepreneurship at Kingston Economic Development, a graduate of Queen’s University’s Master of Management Innovation & Entrepreneurship program, and a board member with the Black Entrepreneur Ecosystem - South Eastern Ontario.

    In this experimental set up, Norman is the first house gathering  guest speaker, sharing how his own journey taught him to treat his background as a superpower rather than a barrier. He invited newcomers to see their fresh start as an advantage and modelled what it can look like to “overdeliver” in a new place, so people left with both encouragement and a clearer sense of their own strengths.

  • People socializing in a living room at a gathering, with three individuals visible: a woman with curly hair in a gray sweater holding a drink, a young woman with dark hair holding a cup, and a man with glasses sitting on a patterned sofa holding a drink. There is a doorway leading to a kitchen area in the background.

    KAREN

    THE GRACIOUS HOST


    Hosted by Karen, a newcomer in Kingston and the first person to open her home for a KNB gathering, whose living room and quiet care made the night feel like a warm hug and helped everyone feel briefly part of her home, not just guests.

  • A decorated dining table with various food items, a centerpiece of flowers and candles, a sign that says 'Kingston NetworkBuddy', and a large light fixture hanging above. The table is set in a bright room with a window and wall decorations.

    Individual Contributors & Sponsors


    KNB team and guests

2023 Fall Gathering - People Who Held The Room

  • Business conference or presentation taking place in an indoor venue with a stage, audience seated at tables, and a speaker speaking into a microphone. Large screens display visuals behind the speaker, and there are VIP banners and balloons.

    Hardik Patel

    KEYNOTE SPEAKER

    Hardik is the founder of Belleville International, a community platform that helps international students and newcomers navigate life in Belleville and the Bay of Quinte, and he now also co‑owns Bayleaf, an Indian restaurant in Belleville that creates another welcoming space for students and locals to connect over food.

    In this gathering, Hardik served as keynote speaker on “Building Bridges,” sharing his own journey of arriving, networking across cultures, and creating Belleville International as a practical guide for others. He spoke about expanding networks beyond familiar circles, using curiosity and service instead of hard‑selling, and taking small, concrete steps that help international students and 

  • Two women standing on stage at an event. One woman is holding a microphone and speaking, the other is smiling and listening. Behind them are a VIP banner, balloons, a red chair, and a backdrop with VIP logos. To the left, a poster with people in graduation caps and gowns and a URL for prosfata.com.

    Martha Williams

    BUSINESS OWNER - GUEST SPEAKER

    Founder of Pedal Works Café & Studios, Martha is one of only three Spinning Master Instructors in Canada and has over 30 years of experience in the fitness industry. Pedal Works is a west‑end community hub that blends café, spinning, yoga, art, and event space to support physical, mental, and creative well‑being.

    In 2023 Martha joined KNB’s Fall Gathering as one of the invited business owners, offering her space and experience as an example of how local businesses can hold welcoming, connection‑focused rooms.

  • A man holding a microphone speaking in front of an audience with a large abstract painting on an easel and two other men standing behind him, in a spacious room with large windows and a TV screen showing a sports game.

    Oliver Msenwa

    AUTHOR - GUEST SPEAKER

    Author of Still With Us: Msenwa’s Untold Story of War, Resilience and Hope and a registered social worker whose work focuses on change management and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

    At the 2023 Fall Gathering, he shared excerpts and reflections from his book and spoke about nonprofit impact and resilience, giving newcomers and locals a grounded example of how personal story can lead to community work in Kingston and beyond.

  • A man with glasses and a maroon shirt is speaking into a microphone held by a man with a beard, glasses, and a gray blazer at a social gathering. Several people are seated around a table, smiling and listening. A large screen in the background displays an illustration of a woman, and there are various drinks, snacks, and decorations on the tables.

    Norman Musengimana

    CO-FOUNDER & CEO - GUEST SPEAKER

    Norman is Co-founder and CEO of Prosfata Inc., a Kingston‑based company that supports newcomers and professionals through guided career transitions and industry‑specific coaching. He is also  Business Development Manager for start‑ups and entrepreneurship at Kingston Economic Development, a graduate of Queen’s University’s Master of Management Innovation & Entrepreneurship program, and a board member with the Black Entrepreneur Ecosystem - South Eastern Ontario.

    At the 2023 Fall Gathering, he shared practical insights on immigration, career pathways, and how services like Prosfata can help newcomers navigate the Canadian job market more confidently.

  • A man speaking into a microphone while a woman looks on, with a television showing football players in the background and an abstract painting on an easel beside her.

    Pamela Paterson & Tarek Hussein

    BOOK AUTHORS - GUEST SPEAKER

    Pamela Paterson and Tarek Hussein are a Kingston‑based “powerhouse couple” who co‑authored the cross‑cultural novel Take Me Back to Cairo, a love story that moves between Canada and Egypt and explores migration, family expectations, and belonging. 

    Pamela is an internationally recognized, bestselling non‑fiction author and senior IT consultant with a global speaking career, while Tarek is a community and clinical pharmacist, co‑founder/manager of Weller Pharmacy in Rideau Heights, and an award‑winning community builder recognized for his leadership in social responsibility and inclusion.

    At the 2023 Fall Gathering, this “powerhouse couple” shared their novel as one of the featured book promotions, offering KNB participants a story that mirrors many themes in the room: crossing cultures, navigating family pressures, and trying to build a life between places.

  • Three people standing on a stage at an event, with a VIP backdrop and balloons on the floor. The person on the right is speaking into a microphone, holding a small trophy, and wearing a beanie. The woman on the left is holding a folder, and the man in the middle is smiling with his hands in his pockets.

    Local Artist - Art Display

    Franciso Corbett is a Kingston‑based visual and performance artist and director of the art studio FORWORLD, with a practice focused on building community and empowering people—especially young people—to be creative in their own lives. In 2023 he was recognized with a Kingston Young Professionals 40 Under 40 Award, adding to residencies and public projects across the city, and he joined KNB’s 2023 Fall Gathering as an invited local artist whose work and energy model what it can look like to make art and community from right here in Kingston.

    Karan Pal, a visual designer and digital artist whose work sits at the intersection of art, technology, and culture in Web3, with NFT and crypto‑art pieces shown on global platforms. At KNB’s 2023 Fall Gathering, he joined as an invited artist‑curator, bringing in digital works from multiple Web3 artists so their pieces could be showcased alongside the networking experiments, giving newco

2023 Spring Volunteers