Gender & the Economy

Panel Speakers

Jim Stanford is Economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work. He divides his time between Vancouver, B.C., and Sydney, Australia. Jim is one of Canada’s best-known economists. He served for over 20 years as Economist and Director of Policy with Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector trade union (formerly the Canadian Auto Workers). He is quoted frequently in the print and broadcast media, and contributes regular commentaries to the Toronto Star, Global National news, and CKNW Radio. He is also the Harold Innis Industry Professor in Economics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and an Honorary Professor in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney.

Dr. Eva Jewell (she/her) is Anishinaabekwe from Deshkan Ziibiing (Chippewas of the Thames First Nation) in southwestern Ontario, with paternal Haudenosaunee lineage from Oneida Nation of the Thames. Her scholarship supports community-led inquiry on topics of language, governance, and cultural resurgence amongst Anishinaabeg people, as well as urban Indigenous perspectives on gender, work and care. Dr. Jewell is the research director at Yellowhead Institute, a First Nation-led policy think tank; and is an Assistant Professor in the Sociology Department at X University.

Claudia Dessanti is the Senior Manager of Policy at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC), where she leads a broad range of policy initiatives to support Ontario’s business community. Claudia founded and co-chairs the OCC’s Energy Policy Council, oversees the Ontario Economic Report, and leads work around environment, energy, regional economic development, data policy, housing, diversity and inclusion, and more. She also serves on the Advisory Board for Innovate Cities, where she provides input on evolving privacy issues. In previous roles, Claudia researched mortgage markets for National Bank Financial and measured social impact for Charity Intelligence. She has a Master’s degree from the University of Oxford and a BA from the University of Toronto.