Queen's University Alumni Association

“To reach out and foster a lifelong association with Queen's, to engage our members in the life and work of the university, and to serve the alumni community in all its diversity."

All graduates of Queen's University, as well as students who have completed one full academic year, are automatically members of the QUAA. We work to unite our diverse alumni community and celebrate our many contributions and achievements. Together, we advance the reputation of Queen’s as an exceptional research-based institution of higher learning. 

Join the QUAA Board of Directors

Help set the direction for the future while you build connections with alumni and enhance your professional profile. The QUAA Board supports the mission of the QUAA, sets goals, and reflects the President's vision. The QUAA Board of Directors is committed to embodying the principles of Indigenization, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Anti-Racism. We encourage candidates from equity-deserving groups to apply. 

Apply now

Applications close Friday, April 19, 2024. If you require an accommodation during the application process, please contact us. A resume must be submitted as part of your application. The Selection Committee will review applications and selected candidates will be notified. 

For more information, please read the QUAA Board of Directors volunteer position description (PDF, 212 KB).

Membership

A member of the Queen’s University Alumni Association is an individual who has received a degree or diploma from the University or has registered and attended classes for at least one full session (academic year or equivalent) and whose class has graduated.

Organization

The Alumni Assembly is the voting body of the QUAA - it is comprised of:

  • All members of the Queen's University Alumni Association Board of Directors and its Executive Committee
  • The President or delegate from each branch with a Signature Award (Calgary, Kingston, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver).
  • Up to six additional Presidents or delegates from other branches.
  • Up to four Reunion Volunteers (0-10 year Reunion Volunteer, 10-25 year Reunion Volunteer, 25-50 year Reunion Volunteer, 50+ year Reunion Volunteer).
  • Up to two representatives from an official QUAA Chapter.
  • One representative from an Alumni Booster Club or Team.
  • One representative from a Giving Society or Committee.
  • When necessary, up to two additional representatives from Faculties or Alumni Groups that are not otherwise represented in other positions (when necessary).
  • The President or delegate of the Alma Mater Society (AMS).
  • The President or delegate of the Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS)
  • The President or delegate of the Queen's Student Alumni Association (QSAA).
  • The Queen's University Rector or delegate.
  • One representative from the Varsity Council.
  • The Principal of Queen's University or a delegate
  • The University Council of Queen's University may appoint two Alumni Councillors.

QUAA Board of Directors

Colin McLeod, Artsci ’10, President QUAA, Chair Board of Directors

Colin McLeod

Colin was born in Cornwall, ON and graduated from Queen's with a BAH in Political Studies. During his time at Queen's, Colin was Head Manager of the AMS Walkhome Service and President of the Queen's Student Alumni Association (QSAA).

After graduation, Colin moved to Ottawa and completed a Master's of Arts in Public Administration at Carleton University. He also got involved with the Ottawa Alumni Branch and founded the Branch's Young Alumni Committee. The Committee has held several events and has provided an avenue for the many young alumni in the region to connect.

Colin currently works at Global Affairs Canada, where he is Chief of Staff for the Assistant Deputy Minister of Strategic Policy. Colin is happiest when hanging out with his wife, Laura (Artsci’10, MPA ’11) and Portuguese water dog, Alfie.

Leigh Kalin, Artsci ’92, Ex-Officio, Associate VP (Strategic Engagement)

Leigh Kalin

Before her role as Acting Associate Vice-Principal (Strategic Engagement), Leigh was a member of Queen’s Office of Advancement executive team and played a leadership role in the university’s successful Initiative Campaign. Leigh was a key strategist and major gift fundraiser (leading the central development team) directly contributing to the $640M Queen’s Initiative Campaign.  

During her six years at the University of Toronto, Leigh was involved in the $1B Great Minds Campaign — the largest campaign in Canadian history at that time — and subsequently serving as a major gifts officer at Upper Canada College.

She holds a BAH, Political Science, Queen’s University, 1992.

Jackie Lewis, Artsci ’11, Executive Vice-President, Operations

Jackie Lewis

Jackie's first day on Queen's University campus was when she arrived for frosh week and she has been a supporter since that first day. She graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) with a major in history and a minor in art history. During her time on campus she worked as a Telefundraiser in Queen's Call Centre, volunteered as co-chair of Queen's Foreign Policy Conference, and spent a spring semester at the Bader International Study Centre.

After her time at Queen's, Jackie completed a post-graduate certificate in Fundraising and Volunteer Management at Humber College. She also completed her Masters of Business Administration while working at the University of Calgary. 

Jackie was involved with the Toronto Branch as Director of Volunteers and later in Calgary as the Director of Events and Branch President. She had the good fortune to attend many signature events including Annual Dinners hosted by Kim Sturgess (Sci’71) and Johnson Awards. She also worked alongside volunteers to launch new events such as the Disrupt YYC speakers’ panel.

She returned to Ontario in 2020 with her husband, Stephen Jackson, Sc'11, and is working as an Associate Consultant with the Offord Group in Toronto.

Lisa Hood, Artsci ’04, Executive Vice-President, Volunteer Recruitment and Recognition

Lisa Hood

Lisa graduated from Queen’s Faculty of Arts and Science in 2004 with a degree in biology and psychology. Although she loved her research experience at the Queen’s University Biological Station (QUBS) it was her work as a student caller at Queen’s Telefundraising Services and co-chair of the 2004 ThankQ program that led to her career.

Lisa worked for Queen’s Annual Giving for six years, managing Queen's Telemarketing Students and then in the Faculty of Applied Science. During this time EngSoc honoured her with the Golden Pillar Award and made her an honorary member of EngSoc. In 2009 Lisa assumed the role of Associate Director, Annual Fund for the University of Guelph where she oversees a team responsible for raising approximately $5M annually. At University of Guelph, Lisa completed her Masters in Leadership, earning the Dean’s Honour recognition for her research on employee retention in the nonprofit sector, and in 2014 was named to Guelph’s Top 40 Under 40.

During her free time, Lisa mostly chases her two young children around. She is an active volunteer within her industry, as well as her community, and, of course, for Queen’s (University Councillor and ArtSci'04 Class Giving Chair). She is a proud member of the Grant Hall Society and the Royal Legacy Society.

Tka Pinnock, Artsci ’07, Director, Alumni Constituency Groups

photo of Tka Pinnock

Tka graduated from Queen’s in 2007 with a BAH in Political Studies and History, before completing her MSc in Global Politics at the London School of Economics in 2008. During her time at Queen’s, she was active in community and student life, serving as Chair of Black History Month Kingston; Chair of the AMS’ Committee against Race & Ethnic Discrimination; Education Officer, African and Caribbean Students’ Association; and a Director of OPIRG-Kingston. She was active on other ASUS and AMS committees, and served as the undergraduate representative on a couple Senate committees. She was recognized with the Robert Sutherland Prize in 2007. 


One of her fondest memories of Queen’s is acting in ASUS’ staging of the Vagina Monologues in her first year. As an alumna, she has returned to the fold as a Queen’s Councillor.


Tka currently lives in Toronto, where she is completing her PhD at York University, after a decade-long career in the non-profit sector. In her free time, she is a pretend cook and yoga enthusiast. 

Tuba Chishti, Artsci ’15, Director, Alumni Volunteer Summit

Tuba Chishti

Tuba was born in India, grew up in Saudi Arabia and Canada. During her time at Queen’s, Tuba spent way more time broadening her out-of-classroom experiences - usually in student government, but eventually graduated in 2015 with a BAH in Economics, and a minor in Biochemistry.

After Queen’s, she stumbled into the professional side of working at a post-secondary institution and took her first job at the University of British Columbia, and then at the University of Guelph. Currently, Tuba is happily working in Toronto at Humber College with college and university residents helping them transition into post-secondary environments, build resilience, and take responsibility for their actions. She often jokes that she is slowly making her way eastward bound back to Kingston.

During her free time, Tuba is usually at a park with her many cousins’ babies, reading a book, or catching up on Netflix.

Galvin Niu, Sc ’19, Director, Young Alumni

photo of Galvin Niu

Galvin graduated from Queen's with an Electrical Engineering degree in 2019 with a specialization in the innovation stream. He was part of the inaugural class. During his time at Queen's, Galvin was involved in a number of clubs. Starting as a first-year representative at the engineering society council. And then holding roles such as the engineering external relations committee chair, and Queen's Global Innovation Conference Co-chair. 


After graduation, Galvin did a 6-week backpacking trip before moving to Toronto for his full-time job with IBM. His professional career has allowed him to fine-tune his communication, long-term strategy, event planning, and relationship management skills. Ensuring the success of the portfolio. 


With roots in Manitoba, Galvin loves the outdoors. When he's not working or helping out others, he's can be found enjoying nature. 

Lea Trotman, Artsci ’17, Director, Special Projects

Lea Trotman

Lea holds a bachelor’s degree in Global Development and Indigenous Studies, serving as the foundation to a critical equity and inclusion lens. She has stayed involved with Queen’s in hopes to create a better environment for future students and alumni, having served as a member of the Young Alumni Advisory Council, a committee member for the Marty Royce Bader Fellowships, and a Queen’s Black Alumni Chapter Representative for Alumni Assembly. Lea maintains involvement in her community, currently serving as Director, Community and Outreach of Elena’s Club and a Mentor for Monday Girl.

In her short career as a DEI strategist and consultant, Lea has developed various successful projects and programs. She recently joined Corus Entertainment as Manager on the DEI team and previously held a role at Deloitte Canada as consultant, DEI. Some of her proudest moments were creating, implementing and project managing the Black Action Council and being a writer on the published piece Black in Canada: Acknowledging our past, owning our present, and changing our future. Lea was also involved on the advisement of many successful projects that enabled change and co-lead the DEI community of practice.

Overall, Lea strives to continuously engage with social, informative, and sustainable change in hopes of creating a better future for all.
 

Theresa Wetzel, Artsci ’07, Director, Global Branch Network

photo of Theresa Wetzel

Theresa Wetzel graduated from Queen's in 2007 majoring in theatre and film. During her time on campus, she worked at the Queen's Executive Development Centre as part of their student Lifestyle staff. In her third year, she spent a semester abroad studying at Bader College in England.
 
In 2013, Theresa joined the Queen's Toronto Alumni Branch as VP, Operations and then in 2015 became the Branch President. During her time as Branch President, she led the rebranding of the Toronto Branch to focus on the new vision of fewer but more meaningful events with an emphasis on engaging with young alumni. In 2017, Theresa was recognized with the Queen’s University Alumni Association (QUAA) Rising Star Volunteer Award for her work with the Toronto Branch. The following year, she earned a post graduate certificate in Sustainability Management from Toronto Metropolitan University.
 
Theresa works and lives in Toronto leading the Events & ESG team at Moneris, Canada's largest provider of innovative solutions for mobile, online, and in-store payments. Outside of work Theresa and her dog Cheeto volunteer at the non-profit dog rescue organization, Save our Scruff.
 

 

Elaine Wu, Artsci ’98, Law ’03, MIR ’00, Director, Alumni Awards

Elaine Wu

After nearly a decade studying at Queen’s and upon graduating with her Law degree in 2003, Elaine practiced labour relations, employment, and human rights law in Vancouver for two years before returning to Toronto. Elaine is a dedicated public servant, having spent most of her career since then with the Ontario Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Environment in various specialist and managerial roles.

Elaine was Vice-President and President of the Queen’s Alumni Branch in Toronto. She has served as an elected member of University Council for many years, was part of the QUAA Gala Awards Subcommittee, represented Council at Alumni Assembly, and has fulfilled a number of other volunteer roles with Queen’s. 
Elaine has also been closely involved with QUAA Awards throughout the years, having successfully nominated many of her fellow alumni volunteers for awards. She is a proud member of the Grant Hall Society and a past recipient of the Marsha Lampman Branch Volunteer Award. Elaine endeavors to ensure these awards truly recognize and celebrate the alumni community in all its diversity.
 

Megan Divecha, Artsci ’22, Director, Marketing and Communications

Megan Divecha

As an active member of the Queen’s community since 2018, Megan is a recent graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree in Political Science. In her final year of undergrad, Megan served as President of Queen’s Student Alumni Association (QSAA) where she grew her passion for strategic communication, public speaking, and social media content creation. During which, she frequently attended meetings with the QUAA Board and is now excited to be taking on the Board’s role of Director of Marketing and Communications.

Megan brings experience in event planning, digital support, and community engagement. She has always enjoyed volunteering in the communities she has been a part of, as the former Financial Director for Queen’s Female Leadership in Politics (QFLIP), a Campus Tour Guide for the Student Experience Office (SEO) and Mentor in the Q Success First-Year Mentorship Program. One of her favourite memories from her time at Queen’s is volunteering as a dog walker with the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS), to assist members in the Kingston community amidst the pandemic.

Apart from work and volunteering, Megan enjoys running outside and researching dream apartments in Toronto and NYC.
 

Allison Williams, Artsci ’09, Director, Alumni Giving

Allison Williams

Allison graduated from Queen's with a BAH in Political Studies in 2009, before completing her MA in Political Science at the University of Toronto in 2011 and her JD at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in 2015. At Queen's, Allison held various student leadership roles, including serving as Social Issues Commissioner for the AMS, residence don at Jean Royce Hall on West Campus, and as the inaugural President of the Queen's Student Alumni Association (formerly known as the Student Team on Alumni Relations). As a result of the depth and breadth of her extracurricular involvement, Allison was honoured with the Agnes Benedickson Tricolour Award upon graduation.

After graduation, Allison worked at Summerhill for a year, as a TD Meloche Monnex Fellow in Alumni Relations. She is a former Toronto Branch volunteer, and she remains a loyal and proud annual donor to Queen's.

Allison currently remains living in Toronto where she works as a staff lawyer at Justice for Children and Youth a non-profit legal aid clinic providing direct legal representation to children under the age of 18 and homeless youth under the age of 25.

Julia Reid, Artsci ’08, Director, Reunions

Julia Reid

After graduation in 2008 Julia moved to London, England and attended Queen’s Alumni Branch events to meet people and make friends. She met a young chap named James, Artsci’04, and recently they married and now have a daughter. 

While a student at Queen’s Julia majored in English Literature and studied at the Bader International Study Centre in her first year. Back on campus in Kingston she was a member of the Women’s Empowerment Committee, Queen’s Model UN and Students Taking Responsible Initiatives for a Viable Environment. 

Julia has been part of the Queen's Alumni branch in New York City (Past President) and still works closely with the branch exec team helping to engage local alumni. She currently serves as the Artsci'08 Reunion Coordinator and is an elected member of University Council. Julia is a past recipient of the QUAA Rising Star Award. 

Julia has over nine years of marketing and communications experience working with digital and social media marketing agencies as well as with PR and management consultancies in London and New York. Julia and James have two daughters. Julia and her family love to travel, ski and enjoy meeting other Queen's alumni in NY.

Alisha Hobson, Artsci ’17, Director, Digital Media

Alisha Hobson

Alisha spent her first year of Queen’s at the Bader International Study Centre. When she returned to Kingston, she involved herself with other extra curricular activities. During her time at Queen’s Alisha was the Chief Marketing Officer of The Nyantende Foundation and Co-President of the Awareness of Sexual Assault Prevention Committee.

While in her fourth year at Queen’s, Alisha took marketing classes through the University of Toronto because she knew this was the industry she wanted to get into upon graduation. Alisha graduated in 2017 with a degree in Geography. She got her first job at HiSO, a Canadian outerwear company, where she did social media and public relations. She is now the Email Marketing Specialist at HomeStars. Alisha is also the Social Media Manager at The American Marketing Association.

In her free time, you can find Alisha curled up with a good book or trying to get the hang of tennis and golf.
 

Learn more about the QUAA

Learn more about QUAA membership, governance and it's voting body - the Assembly.

Learn more about the Annual General Meeting of the Alumni Association.

Volunteers are representatives of the university. Learn more about the QUAA standards of behaviour.