Experts
Meet our Industry Experts, the forefront leaders who play an important role in ensuring our Digital Consultants are well trained, educated, and gain the skillset required to help you. Their experience, knowledge, and expert opinions are valuable assets our Digital Consultants leverage throughout their engagement with you.
Meet them below!
Allison Watson
Associate Vice President / Leger
Allison is an Associate Vice President with Leger. In her more than a decade of market research experience, she has developed a passion for qualitative research, including in-depth interviewing, focus groups, and public engagement. On the quantitative side of things, she has a special interest in brand image and positioning, market and public opinion analysis, and campaign and advertising evaluation.
Allison is looking forward to lending her support and expertise to the Centre for Cities and Communities, and is excited for the future possibilities and work that this group will create together.
Anand Pye
Executive Director / NAIOP Edmonton
Anand Pye is the Executive Director of NAIOP, Edmonton’s commercial real estate development association. There, he leads the organization’s advocacy agenda, connecting developers with political leaders from around Canada. Working with developers of office, retail, mixed-use and industrial buildings, Anand leads the creation of education programs in commercial real estate, mentorship programs for the industry, and over 20 large networking and other events a year.
Anand is also actively involved in the arts. He is the President of Grindstone Theatre, an Edmonton based independent theatre which now includes education, venue rentals, a bistro and original musical productions. As the founding president of the company, he helped lead the company in creating its first venue in 2018, an innovative concept integrating elements of food, drink and theatre into a single venue and experience on 81 St avenue. He is immensely proud of the work the theatre has done to connect new artists to new audiences.
Anand is also part of the team that brought Nuit Blanche back to Edmonton in 2018. He is the past vice-chair of the Edmonton Transit Service Advisory board, and continues to be an advocate for density and transit options to connect Edmontonians.
During COVID, Anand has focused on integrating real estate and cultural industries to advance business recovery efforts. He sat on the Old Strathcona Recovery Task force, and currently sits on Edmonton’s Downtown Recovery Task Force. As the Chair of Programming for the Downtown Community League, Anand helped create “A Taste of Al Fresco”, a recovery effort profiling the businesses on 104th Street in Downtown Edmonton.
Through these roles Anand has gained connections to thought leaders in Edmonton and a deep understanding of the connection between our community, the arts and city building.
Alexandra Hryciw
Director of Strategy and External Affairs /
Edmonton Chamber of Commerce
A born and raised Edmontonian, Alex has a great love for her city and community, and has held roles throughout her career that have allowed her to make a big impact. She is renowned for her extensive experience in leading astute communications, governance, and external relations strategies for elected officials, c-suite executives, and corporations, and her work has a proven track record for delivering positive outcomes and impacting public sentiment and approval.
Alex works with leaders who are passionate and set clear mandates for how their organizations can benefit the broader communities they work in. Currently, she is Director of Strategy and External Affairs at the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, and her previous positions have included: Communications Advisor to Mayor Don Iveson; Director of Strategy at Innovate Edmonton; and Chief of Staff to the Founding CEO of Invest Alberta. Alex is also the current Chair of Edmonton’s Downtown Recovery Coalition, is actively engaged in politics, and formerly sat on the Board for the Edmonton chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators.
Eric Slatter
Partner / Omada Commercial
Eric Slatter is a founding Partner of Omada Commercial. After graduating with a BCOM from the U of A, Eric began his career as a sales and marketing representative for Burton Snowboards. He then transitioned to the Commercial Real Estate industry, where he has now worked for 15 years. After working for a major national brokerage firm, Eric and his partner started Omada Commercial in 2016. Their young and ambitious team now works on a variety of commercial real estate requirements across Western Canada. Through listing and mandate work he collaborates with organizations spanning the private, public, education and non-profit sectors.
Laura Kinghorn-Smythe
Regional Director / Chatters
Laura has been in retail for the entirety of her 21-year career. She spent 9 years as the Director for Tiffany & Co. overseeing all business operations for the luxury jeweler in Edmonton. Prior to this, Laura held roles as a Regional Trainer and District Manager and has since taken on a Regional Director role with Chatters Limited Partnership, where she oversees the beauty business for British Columbia and Alberta. Laura actively volunteers her time sitting on the Board of Advisors for the Centre for Cities and Communities as well as Co-Chairing the Silver Bell Soiree as part of the University Hospital Foundation’s annual Festival of Trees. In 2019, Laura was a recipient of Edify Magazine's Top 40 Under 40 Award recognizing her for her professional achievements and dedication to giving back to the community and alma mater.
Mark Anderson
Associate Vice President / Edmonton CBRE Office
Mark Anderson is an Associate Vice President in the Edmonton CBRE office. After graduating from the University of Alberta, Mark joined CBRE in 2010 and now leads the Edmonton Office Advisors team. The Edmonton Office Advisors team has over two million square feet of office space under assignment and facilitates lease and sale transactions on behalf of local, national, and international clients. Since co-founding the team, Mark has conducted hundreds of real estate transactions and negotiated many of the most significant office deals in the Edmonton market. Mark is a steadfast advocate for Edmonton and takes great pride in his personal and professional work to make the city a better place for everyone.
Mark is a current board member of the Downtown Business Association and Chair of the Business Recruitment Committee. Within CBRE, Mark is the Edmonton-lead for CBRE’s national High-Tech and Life Sciences teams.
Puneeta McBryan
Executive Director / Edmonton Downtown Business Association
Puneeta McBryan is Executive Director of the Edmonton Downtown Business Association, where she is working hard to secure the ongoing and renewed vibrancy of Downtown Edmonton, having taken on the role in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic as downtowns across North America grappled with the new realities and challenges ahead. Prior to joining the EDBA, she served public and private sector clients across Alberta as a business strategist and consultant specializing in marketing, communications, and stakeholder & community engagement. A transformational leader and a connector by nature, Puneeta is working to support Edmonton’s economic recovery and transformation through innovative new initiatives & community collaborations with downtown stakeholders the business community, and all three levels of government.
Shawn Kanungo
Keynote Speaker | Disruptive Innovation | General Partner
Shawn Kanungo is a globally recognized innovation strategist. He previously spent 12 years at Deloitte working closely with leaders to better plan for the opportunities associated with disruptive innovation. Shawn is a Partner with Queen & Rook, where he advises leading organizations and executives on disruptive trends, and actively invests in early-stage ventures.
His work and interviews have been featured in The Globe & Mail, The Guardian, CBC and CTV. He has been recognized as Avenue Magazine's Top 40 Under 40. In 2021, he was named in Forbes as the “Best Virtual Keynote Speaker I’ve Ever Seen”. Shawn’s content on innovation has garnered millions of views, respectively across LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube & Facebook. His book, The Bold Ones published by McGraw Hill, releases late 2022.
