Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 2026 — 123Dentist has appointed Kelly Davis as Chief People Officer, strengthening its executive leadership as the organization continues expanding its network of dental practices across Canada.
In her new role, Kelly will lead 123Dentist’s enterprise-wide people strategy, partnering with executive and operational leaders to strengthen organizational capability, leadership development, talent management, employee experience, culture, total rewards, learning, diversity and inclusion, and workforce planning. She will play a key role in supporting the organization’s continued growth while helping its clinical and support teams deliver exceptional patient care.
Kelly brings more than 25 years of senior human resources and business leadership experience across healthcare, professional services, travel and hospitality, retail, restaurants, and financial services. Her career includes extensive experience in people strategy, organizational transformation, mergers and acquisitions, HR shared services, leadership development, employee engagement, talent management, communications, and business growth.
Prior to joining 123Dentist, Kelly served as Chief People Officer at Gowling WLG, where she became the firm’s first executive to hold the position. She led Human Resources, Legal Talent, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Well-being, Total Rewards, and Learning and Development across the organization.
During her tenure at Gowling WLG, Kelly was responsible for creating an integrated people strategy supporting legal professionals and business services employees. She focused on building an inclusive environment that encouraged learning, collaboration, mentoring, community building, and long-term employee development.
Earlier, Kelly served as Chief People Officer for Blue Diamond Hotels & Resorts, Sunwing Airlines, Sunwing Vacations, and Sunwing Travel Group. She led the people agenda across a complex, vertically integrated travel and hospitality organization operating across Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and several international markets.
Her responsibilities covered a diverse portfolio that included airline operations, tour operators, travel retailers, hotels and resorts, vacation clubs, destination management, and luxury charter services. Before becoming Chief People Officer, she served as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Human Resources, supporting the organization’s international workforce and business expansion.
Before joining Sunwing, Kelly spent more than five years with Designer Brands Canada, progressing through several executive leadership roles. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice President – Human Resources, Customer Service and Public Relations/Communications, leading the people, customer service, and communications functions across the company’s Canadian retail brands.
She also played an important leadership role during the company’s acquisition by DSW in the United States and supported the development of a new retail concept. Earlier, she served as Senior Vice President – Human Resources, Loss Prevention and Customer Service and Vice President – Human Resources, leading the people strategy across The Shoe Company, Town Shoes, DSW Canada, Shoe Warehouse, and Sterling.
Kelly previously served as Vice President – People Development and Human Resources at Recipe Unlimited Corporation, then operating as Cara Operations. She partnered with the corporate office and several restaurant brands on people strategy, franchise advisory, total rewards, labour relations, employee relations, and HR operations.
Earlier, she served as Vice President – Business Development at S³ HR Inc., a business supported by Hudson’s Bay Company that provided affordable HR services to small and medium-sized Canadian organizations. Kelly built and launched the venture, secured 36 clients during its first year, and exceeded its financial targets by 70%.
Kelly spent more than a decade with Hudson’s Bay Company and Lord & Taylor, progressing through several senior human resources leadership roles.
As Vice President – HR Shared Services, she led compensation, benefits, and associate relations across Hudson’s Bay Company in Canada and Lord & Taylor in the United States. She managed a team supporting large and geographically distributed workforces across both countries.
Earlier, as National Director – Human Resources, Kelly led the regional HR teams supporting The Bay and Home Outfitters stores across Canada. She partnered with operational leadership to develop and execute people strategies across the national store network.
She also served as Director – HR Core Services, overseeing benefits, HR finance, budgeting, relocation, disability management, HR reporting, HR technology, and senior employee services for approximately 70,000 associates. Her initiatives included HR process improvements, reporting transformation, benefits optimization, technology enhancements, and programmes that generated significant cost savings.
Kelly began her long association with Hudson’s Bay Company through a series of corporate and store-based human resources roles, building extensive experience across employee relations, HR operations, retail workforce management, talent development, and business partnering.
Her appointment reflects 123Dentist’s continued investment in leadership, culture, and organizational capability as it expands its community-based network while maintaining strong clinical independence and patient-focused care.
About 123Dentist
123Dentist is one of Canada’s largest and fastest-growing dental support organizations. Established in 2017 by dentists to help other dentists deliver exceptional patient care, the organization has expanded from 14 clinics in British Columbia to a nationwide network of hundreds of partner practices supported by thousands of team members.
123Dentist provides centralized non-clinical services including human resources, marketing, accounting, technology, and operations, allowing dentists and clinical teams to focus on patient care. Each practice remains locally operated and clinically independent while benefiting from the capabilities and scale of a national support organization.
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