Brenda Spotton Visano
University Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies | York University
Toronto, ON, CANADA
Spotton Visano engages a variety of research methods to examine ways to improve access to basic financial services for low income Canadians.
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Biography
Brenda Spotton Visano is a University Professor in the School of Public Policy & Administration and the Department of Economics at York University. A graduate of McGill University, Iowa State University and University of Toronto, she is a member of the National Research Sub-Committee advising the National Steering Committee on Financial Literacy.
Professor Spotton Visano was the Inaugural Director of the Transition Year Program at York University (2010-2015) and a Director of the ACCESS Community Capital Fund (2009-2015). Other previous leadership positions include the President, Canadian Women Economists Network and the Chair of Senate of York University.
Among her publications is her 2006 book “Financial Crises: Socio-economic Causes and Institutional Context” and her 2009 co-edited book “Room to Grow: Celebrating Atkinson’s Living Legacy,”a collection of reflections on the contributions of Atkinson College to advancing higher education for non-traditional students. In addition to publishing many book chapters and articles in top-tier refereed academic venues, she is the author of 16 government, professional, and technical reports for various government ministries and agencies in Canada, UNESCO and NGOs.
Professor Spotton Visano has been invited to contribute to various government consultations including those held by the Alberta Ministry of Finance, Ontario Ministry of Finance, Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, the Federal Task Force on Financial Literacy and the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Her current research project in Community Finance and Consumer Financial Services is a multi-faceted project focused on Canadian micro-financial services delivery, regulation and education.
Collaborating with community partners in the Black Creek Financial Action Network and numerous graduate and undergraduate students, Professor Spotton Visano engages a variety of research methods to examine ways to improve access to basic financial services for low income Canadians.
Industry Expertise (4)
Education/Learning
Research
Public Policy
Financial Services
Areas of Expertise (11)
Macroeconomic and Monetary Policy
Alternative Financial Institutions (Payday Lenders Microcredit)
Financial Literacy
Economic Literacy
Social Justice
Financial Education
Community Outreach
Community Development
Leadership
University Teaching
Adult Education
Accomplishments (3)
Status of Women Award of Distinction (professional)
2012 Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations
Award for Dedicated Service (professional)
2004 Canadian Association of University Teachers
Teaching Award (professional)
2000 Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations
Education (3)
McGill University: Ph.D., Economics 1993
Iowa State University: M.S., Economics 1986
University of Toronto: B.A., Economics 1983
Affiliations (1)
- Principal Investigator : York University Community Finance Project
Links (5)
Media Appearances (4)
A Vision for a Better Canada Requires Cooperation
Huffington Post online
2015-10-15
What is our vision for a better Canada? Do we even have one? As the leaders of our major political parties enter these last few days of the race to become prime minister, wouldn't it be wonderful if we were inspired by a vision offered by one of them? We could vote for the leader who captures our imagination of a Canada in which we can see our collective selves thriving now and in the future. But a vision for Canada is missing from the national debates. And in the absence of one, many Canadians are looking to see "what's in it for me?"
Ottawa’s financial literacy strategy is noble, but it’s not enough
The Globe and Mail
2015-06-23
If only it were enough. The federal government’s national financial literacy strategy – “Count Me In, Canada” – is an ambitious plan with the noble intention of empowering Canadians to meet their financial goals head-on, and banks are offering millions of dollars in support ...
Canada learns from Bangladesh about ways to tackle poverty
Thomson Reuters
2013-11-12
Brenda Spotton Visano, an economics professor at York University in Toronto, said that microcredit really began to take off in Canada after Grameen Bank and Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi economist who developed the concept, jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 ...
Encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit
The Globe and Mail
2010-02-20
No conventional bank in its right mind would give Cleoni Crawford a loan ...
Event Appearances (5)
The Pedagogical Consequences of the Crisis: Is Economics Changing?
Progressive Economics Forum Summer School Ottawa ON
2016-06-02
Gender Budgeting and Analysis
Presentation to Delegation from the Ministry of Gender Equality & Family of the Republic of Korea Toronto, ON
2014-01-01
Financial Crises: Socioeconomic Causes and Institutional Context
Progressive Economics Forum’s School for Union Activists and Public Policy Makers Vancouver, BC
2014-01-01
The Global Economic Crisis: Can Canada Escape a Lost Decade?
Alternative Federal Budget Roundtable 2012 Ottawa, ON
2012-01-01
Knowing where you stand before knowing where to go...
Presentation to the Federal Task Force on Financial Literacy Ottawa, ON
2010-01-01
Articles (7)
From Challenging the Text to Constructing it in a Large Economics Classroom: Revealing the Not-so-Common Sense of the Capitalist Mode of Production
Social Science Research Network2016 Multiple challenges confront the instructor seeking to introduce pluralist content and more engaged modes of delivery in today’s large economics classroom. This paper recounts one in-class, small group exercise of negotiating ownership claims on a capital good and its output.
Gendering Social Location in a Post-Keynesian Theory of Financial Crises
Studies in Political Economy 97:1, 95-1032016 This paper speculates about the meaningful integration of gender into a post-Keynesian macroeconomic theory of economic crises. It links main themes in feminist and other works with key elements of a post-Keynesian theory of crisis and highlights an important methodological sticking point. It argues that if the post-Keynesian approach is understood to be consistent with a non-positivist philosophical approach to economics, gendering post-Keynesian macroeconomics will readily enrich this theory.
Building and Sustaining Community-University Partnerships in Marginalized Urban Areas
Journal of Geography2013 This symposium explores and examines the challenges and opportunities of building community-university collaborations in marginalized urban areas. The selection of short essays highlights different experiences of building and sustaining community-university partnerships in a variety of cities as vehicles for enhancing experiential learning in geography, urban studies, and cognate disciplines.
Is There a Best Fit? Assessing Alternative Entrance Pathways into an Undergraduate Degree for Non-Traditional Students at York University
Higher Education Quality Council of OntarioMedovarski, Andrea, Leslie Sanders, and Brenda Spotton Visano. 2015 This pilot study examines alternative entrance pathways into York University undergraduate degree programs for students who apply from outside the formal education system. These alternative pathways are designed to facilitate university access for students from under-represented populations (for example, low-income, first-generation, Aboriginal, racialized minorities, differently abled, newcomers to Canada, sole-support caregivers, students with incomplete high school education, or some combination of the preceding).
Advancing Critical Financial Literacy with Marginalized Youth
YorkSpace2013 Thinking critically about finance and financial literacy helps people to make genuine financial choices. To be effective, FL teaching methods need to engage youth and value their knowledge. Creative teaching tools that build on a person’s lived experience help to empower marginalized youth.
Quantitative Results for a Qualitative Investor Model – A Hybrid Multi-Agent Model with Social Investors
Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 20102010 A standard means of testing an economic/financial model is to see if its simulation can reproduce quantitatively observed phenomena. It is generally easier to produce quantitative results from quantitative models, so qualitative models are often less highly regarded – they are more difficult to test and verify.
A Hybrid Multi-agent Model for Financial Markets
New Frontiers in Applied Artificial Intelligence2008 Economic models attempt to represent the aggregate behaviour of individual actors engaged in an economic activity. To ensure tractability in the subsequent mathematics, restrictive assumptions on the modelled phenomena are often required. Economic features that cannot be modelled mathematically can be difficult to verify experimentally.
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