Board of Directors

Quintin Fox is the Director of Training Development and Capacity Resourcing at Gay Lea Foods Co-operative. Gay Lea Foods Co-operative is a leading dairy processor with 35% of Ontario dairy farmers as member-owners and over $700 million in sales with over 900 employees working out of 12 sites across Ontario. Quintin works with the Human Resources and Member Relations departments to develop training and development programs to meet the needs of members, delegates, directors and employees.

Emma Rogers is the Executive Director of the Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington. Emma’s strong passion for supporting the community is elevated through her role at the Children’s Foundation, ultimately promoting positive priorities that engage community stakeholders to create brighter futures for children and youth.

As a philanthropy enthusiast and seasoned social entrepreneur, Emma’s love for helping others doesn’t end at work; finding great purpose in helping the non-profit sector with various strategic initiatives and fund development opportunities. For upwards of fifteen years, she has spent time volunteering for various NPOs. From chairing GuelphGives, co-chairing Guelph’s Women Leaders Learning, or sitting on various committees, such as the Chamber of Commerce Advocacy Committee, Emma’s motivation is always a positive impact.

Emma was a recipient of the Guelph Mayoral Award in 2017, Guelph’s 40 under 40 award as well as the Paul Harris Award.

Nassim specializes in Real Estate, Corporate Law, and Wills and Estates. Prior to opening her own practice, she was a corporate and commercial real estate lawyer practicing in-house, where she was able to expand her knowledge and expertise.

From the inception of Nassim’s career, she was appointed managing lawyer, as she is known for providing legal services with integrity and care. Her innate entrepreneurial skills eventually led her to begin her own practice.

Outside of practicing law, Nassim is a mentor to many undergraduate, law students, and graduates, supporting them with achieving their goals.

Shikha is the CEO of Green Energy Trading Corporation (GET Corp.), a green tech start-up that supports the dairy industry in leading the sustainability journey through the conversion of on-farm organic wastes to renewable natural gas (RNG). She has expertise in strategy, organizational design, strategic communications and government relations, and operations through her previous roles as CEO of Career Colleges Ontario and Chief Strategy and Administrative Officer with the Dairy Farmers of Ontario. Shikha brings governance experience through her work with boards and currently serves on the Family and Children’s Services Guelph Wellington Board of Directors. She believes in the power of people and is passionate about building engagement and partnerships toward common goals.

Rishan is Team Lead of People & Operations at Elinesky Schuett Private Wealth Management of RBC DS, helping cross-functionally lead and scale one of the largest and fastest growing advisor teams in the country, with ~$3B in AUM. Previously, he was Director of Operations at Marshall Zehr Group, where he helped lead and build a proprietary mortgage brokerage and administration platform that helped successfully process over 300 transactions and advance over $2B in private and institutional capital to projects in southern Ontario. Rishan has a history of building wide professional and social networks and experience in event marketing and production. He specializes in leading large-scale projects in real estate, technology, and wealth management.

Tova Davidson helps develop strategic direction for SWR, manages the team, and builds key relationships throughout Waterloo region. She brings her experience in public relations and communications to creatively approach sustainability opportunities. Paired with her business background as the former Vice President of The Letter M Marketing, she is primed to collaborate with top organizations in Waterloo Region and beyond to drive change locally and provincially. Having been selected by The Guelph Mercury for Top 40 Under 40, and the recipient of the Mayor’s Award of Excellence, Tova has demonstrated leadership in the community, and continues to lead by example while inspiring others to do the same.

Sonia is an innovative and results-oriented professional with 15+ years of marketing management and sales enablement experience offering a wide comprehension of market strategy and tactics from brand management, strategic relationships with channel partners, event management, and inbound and outbound marketing. She has driven multi-millions of dollars worth of value in business turnaround, team performance, brand fortification, and revenue generation.

Able to work with both a B2B and B2C focus, from startups to large organizations, and within different sectors including CPG, SaaS, and Professional Services, Sonia combines her BSc and MBA, with a mix of both science and creativity to collaborate with teams to execute on vision.

Paul Larmer is the Chief Executive Officer of Semex in Guelph. Mr. Larmer has experience working with boards of directors and was key to the formation of the Semex Alliance in 1997. He has led sales and business development, strategic planning and organizational change globally. A strong promoter of youth, Mr. Larmer has served on the Board of Trustees of the Ontario Youth Trust Fund and has been involved with 4-H Ontario Foundation, OAC Alumni Association and the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair.

Felix Arndt is currently the John F Wood Chair in Entrepreneurship at the University of Guelph. Before that, he held scholarly positions in China, the UK, the USA, and was a management consultant, executive, and lobbyist. He has built and contributed to a range of entrepreneurial ecosystems, held patents, and advisory roles in start-ups and for governments. Felix is passionate about novelty by enabling people, companies, and new technologies.