Donna Gillespie in

Donna Gillespie

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Chief Executive Officer at Kingston Economic Development Corporation
📍 Kingston, Ontario, Canada

As CEO of Kingston Economic Development, Donna Gillespie drives the citys growth, securing record foreign investment and multiple prestigious awards. Recognized as one of North Americas Top 50 Economic Developers in 2024, she focuses on creating robust innovation ecosystems. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Queens University.

Donna is deeply committed to her community, with over 25 years of involvement in local associations and boards, including Tourism Kingston and the Kingston Immigration Partnership. An arts graduate herself, she is a passionate advocate for programs that help retain young, creative talent within the city.

In 2024, she received the Joseph A. Montgomery Award, the highest honor in economic development from the Economic Developers Council of Ontario.

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Experience
20 Years
Current Role
Chief Executive Officer
Job Level
Leadership
Location
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Personality Overview

How Donna shows up

Communication Style
Decision Approach
Work Preference

Behavioral traits and communication patterns that shape how this person evaluates opportunities, builds trust, and makes decisions in professional settings.

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Priorities

Topics Donna cares about

Foreign Investment
Secured the highest levels of foreign direct investment in Kingston's history, attracting major international companies like Frulact from Portugal and Feihe (Canada Royal Milk) from China.
Innovation Ecosystems
Drives Kingston's strategy to build innovation clusters, focusing on life sciences and sustainable manufacturing through collaboration between academia, government, and industry.
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Career

Work history

6-2017
Chief Executive Officer
Kingston Economic Development Corporation
9-2015 - 6-2017
Interim Chief Executive Officer
Kingston Economic Development Corporation
2-2012 - 8-2015
Director of Marketing & Corporate Communications
Kingston Economic Development Corporation
2-2005 - 6-2007
Manager, Community Programs/Festivals on the St. Lawrence
St. Lawrence College
11-2000 - 2-2005
Project Manager/Consultant
8020Info Inc.
In the press

Media appearances

We caught up with Donna Gillespie, Chief Executive Officer of Kingston Economic Development Corporation. Featured in Kingston Life (Facebook)
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Education
1991 - 1995
BAH
Queen's University
Social presence
in
Behavioral profile

DISC profile (public)

DISC behavioral profile

Dominance, influence, steadiness, and calculativeness scores with guidance on how this person prefers to communicate and decide.

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