Board of Directors

Passionate about the interconnection between food, agriculture, tourism, arts, and culture, Rebecca has been instrumental in developing tourism experience including Prince Edward County’s award-winning Taste Trail and the Culinary Tourism Alliance’s Feast On® certification program.

In her role as President & CEO at the Culinary Tourism Alliance (CTA), she manages highly participatory and asset-based community development projects at the regional, provincial, and national levels. Rebecca oversees programming, partnership development, and comprehensive marketing partnerships that aim to increase awareness of Canada’s food tourism offerings.

Rebecca contributes her expertise to a variety of industry boards as Vice-Chair of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) and the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) Gastronomic Tourism Network. She has written curriculum for the Centennial College Food Tourism Post Graduate Program, contributed chapters to the 2nd UNWTO Global Report on Gastronomic Tourism, and produced a chapter “Transforming the Terroir into a Tourist Destination” in the 2019 Routledge Handbook of Gastronomic Tourism.

She completed a Master of Arts in Global Leadership at Royal Roads University in 2021 with a specific interest in the Sustainable Development Goals. She is a part-time professor at George Brown College in their post-graduate Food Tourism Entrepreneurship Program.

Rebecca grew up splitting her time between Toronto and PEC. She spent her grade 12 year taking part in Class Afloat sailing on a 156 tall ship to 20 countries in 4 months – an experience that contributed to her passion for taste of place. She shares her adventures with her husband Andrew, their two sons Jack and Liam and their silver Labrador, Blueberry. Andrew and Rebecca established the Terroir Run in PEC in 2011 – a fun run that gives back to the community.

Want to reach Rebecca? Send her an email at rebecca@visitthecounty.com
 

His love of Prince Edward County began a decade ago during his travels as a senior leader for the Canadian Tourism Commission marketing Canada around the globe. Now a resident of the County, Charlie lives on a farm near Consecon.

His time at the Canadian Tourism Commission provided lots of opportunities to work with destination marketing organizations across the country. He is excited to bring this experience to the benefit of the County.

As a recognized leader in the international tourism industry, Charlie is now an executive at Sabre, Inc. the world-leading IT and distribution services provider to airlines and hotel companies. Previously, in addition to the Canadian Tourism Commission, he was chief marketing officer of Air Canada and Delta Hotels & Resorts and chief commercial officer at Radisson Hotels Group Americas.

Charlie has served on multiple corporate and not for profit boards, including the Star Alliance and OneWorld. He is currently on the national advisory board of HopeAir.

Charlie has a degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard University and has lived in Asia and Europe during his three decades working in travel. He is married to Joseph Hamilton and they have two children, two large brown poodles and lots of Freiberger horses that will soon be making their home in the County.
Want to reach Charles? Send him an email at charles@visitthecounty.com
 

Sarah Fox (formerly Doiron) grew up “County adjacent”, just on the other side of the Bay Bridge. After a decade in Event Management in Ottawa, she chose to move to Picton in 2017 and shortly thereafter became the Executive Director of the Picton Business Improvement Association.

Sarah has developed a strong network of businesses and community organizations in Prince Edward County and has collaborated on several strategic planning and marketing initiatives focused on the shoulder seasons and summer tourism management.

In February of 2022, she took the exciting role of Manager of Programs and Partnerships at Base31. Sarah is motivated to continue engaging with the Prince Edward County community and to employ strategies that are beneficial to both residents and visitors alike.

Want to reach Sarah? Send her an email at sarah@visitthecounty.com
 

Specializing in hospitality and travel, Christal has spent her marketing career in brand, content and partnership strategy for iconic global luxury & travel brands such as Fairmont Hotels, Air Canada’s enRoute and Loews Hotels. With an MBA degree from Queen’s University, Christal also specialized her Masters degree in Paris, France with a focus on International Luxury Brand Management at renowned luxury-focused university, ESSEC.

Most recently, Christal has been consulting on brand strategy for clients such as Omni Hotels & Resorts via the Lotus Marketing Agency. Prior to that, as Executive Vice President of Air Canada Media at Spafax, Christal led multi-disciplinary teams and spearheaded the complete brand update and redesign of the enRoute Media brand as well as the launch of its new digital platform and social channels for their client, Air Canada.

Christal has also spent much of her career on the corporate-side in hospitality. At Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI) on the Brand Development & Global Lifestyle Partnerships team, Christal led global brand relationships and managed programs such as: Fairmont’s global wellness pillar “Fairmont Fit” with the Adidas Group, a Global Cocktail Program with Diageo and the LVMH group, and money-can’t-buy guest experiences and packages with brands such as BMW, TaylorMade Golf, Universal Music Group, Canada goose and Napa Valley Vintners.

During her time with Loews Hotels, Christal was hired to lead the brand development for Loews’ first luxury & lifestyle boutique hotel brand, BISHA—managing the complete process from brand identity to digital content strategy and guest experience.

Want to reach Christal? Send her an email at christal@visitthecounty.com
 

Passionate about supporting all things local and giving back to the community, Mikki Arends lives on a quaint road in the heart of wine country.

She is driven by the challenge to create not only a world-class travel destination for visitors but a sustainable community for those of us that live and work here. Fostering a healthy balance between residents’ quality of life and visitors’ respectful enjoyment of our community while protecting the environment, history and culture of Prince Edward County is her priority.

As a Privacy Program Manager at North America’s premier energy infrastructure company, her experience and wealth of knowledge in stakeholder engagement, strategic planning and ethics and compliance give her the foundational skills and expertise to help establish the Visit the County Board from the ground up.

With her past contributions to not-for-profit boards and committees, she brings a fresh perspective and diversity of thought in this concerted effort to strengthen our shared sense of community.

Mikki has a degree in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario and is currently working on her Privacy Program Management professional designation. She enjoys exploring with her husband (preferably on bicycles) all the County has to offer year-round.

Want to reach Mikki? Send her an email at mikki@visitthecounty.com
 

Rachel’s extensive hospitality career began in her early teens as a server at Bloomfield’s renowned Angeline’s. That experience initiated a commerce degree in hotel and restaurant management from Guelph University, followed by fourteen years of progressive responsibilities with Starwood Properties and Resorts – owner of numerous international brands, including Sheraton and Westin hotels. This took her from Toronto’s Sheraton Centre and Westin Harbour Castle across the globe on assignments such as management of sales for all Sheraton and Westin resorts in the Fiji Islands. In Australia, Rachel was a member of Executive Committees for new hotel openings, oversaw property rebranding – including transition of Australia’s largest hotel from Sheraton to Hyatt Regency, and ensured the success of major international sport, entertainment and political events. Starwood was acquired by Marriott in 2016, adding a range of hotel brands which provided further insight into hospitality strategies and operating systems.

More specifically, Rachel has worked on the floor and in management within a range of departments, including food and beverage, events and festivals, hotel revenue optimization, conference sales and execution, and travel trade. This facilitated a range of hands-on experience encompassing the drafting of major detailed budgets, monthly revenue and expense forecasting, the writing of strategic sales and marketing plans, development of training manuals, and creation of sales incentive programmes. With Starwood, she developed policies and procedures for events, sales, and revenue which were rolled out globally. Membership on committees and boards of external organizations provides Rachel with extensive contacts.

Although her global experience has been exciting and fulfilling, Rachel is very pleased to be back to raise her young family. Having grown up in The County enjoying the many benefits of our beautiful landscape and environment, her favourite memories are of spending time at her grandparents’ home and riding her bike around visiting cousins who lived on a County farm (and still do). She has lived all over the world, but The County is her home; and she will use her expertise to help shape policies that reflect our values, and to promote and protect all that is wonderful about living in and visiting The County.

Want to reach Rachel? Send her an email at rachel@visitthecounty.com

Sherry founded Karlo Estates, just outside of Wellington in Prince Edward County with her late husband, winemaker and Wine Judge, Richard Karlo. Together they built an award-winning winery in a charming County barn. The winery quickly earned international accolades and widespread recognition. After the death of her CEO, winemaker and husband in 2014, Sherry assembled a talented team to bring the winery back from the brink of disaster, including Saxe Brickenden for his business expertise, and the renowned Derek Barnett as winemaker.

In 2021, Karlo earned 23 gold medal scores, and in a single vintage was twice named on the, “Best of the Best of Ontario” list by WineAlign, listed as one of the “Top Ten Wines in Ontario” and was named as one of VineRoute’s “Top 20 wineries in Ontario”.

As the Vintner, Sherry curates the portfolio, applying her expertise to package and market the wine. She is a multi-award winning entrepreneur with 30 years experience as a business owner. Before starting Karlo Estates, Sherry owned her own ad agency in Toronto, taught Advertising and Design at OCAD and enjoyed a career as an Art Director in mass advertising at some of the top ad agencies in the country, earning international recognition for her work. In 2012, Sherry & Richard together were named as Finalists in the 2012 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards and more recently, Sherry was named on Ottawa Business Journal’s “Eastern Ontario’s 49 power people” list. Sherry also served as Vice Chair for the Prince Edward County Wine Growers Association (PECWA), was a founding member of Slow Food the County and served on the board of the Prince Edward County Studio Tour.

As a classically-trained portrait painter, Sherry enjoys drawing and oil painting and is soon re-launching a life drawing program at Karlo Estates. As a small-town girl from Byng Inlet, Ontario, the County makes Sherry feel right at home.

Want to reach Sherry? Send her an email at sherry@visitthecounty.com
 

Sam Grosso is an entrepreneur driven by a fierce work ethic and determination to succeed in any business endeavour. He strives to balance his drive to bring happiness, entertainment and service to his community. Recognized for his naturally caring and supportive values, Sam has earned the reputation of going the extra mile for people.

Sam has been a resident of Prince Edward County for 14 years and lives in Ameliasburgh (Ward 4) with his wife, Lia and their four children. The County has always felt like home to the Grosso’s, and after a 25-year career in the hospitality industry, Lia and Sam decided to move here to raise our family. Today, he is the owner of Vintage Car Wine Tours, a seasonal touring business where he connects folks to the County’s local wineries, breweries, and cider houses in his fleet of vintage cars.

Sam serves as Councillor for Ward 4 -Ameliasburgh and is nominated to serve as the Council Representative on the DMMO Board throughout the duration of his term of Council.

Want to reach Sam? Send him an email at sgrosso@pecounty.on.ca
 

Bio coming soon