2021 ABLE Financial Empowerment Virtual Series Brings Together Leaders and Experts Working to Improv

8 November 2021

TORONTO, Nov. 8, 2021 /CNW/ - National charity Prosper Canada and the Steering Committee of the national ABLE Financial Empowerment Network are proud to host the 2021 ABLE Virtual Series – Recover and Rebuild: Helping Canadians build financial security during the pandemic and beyond.

The free virtual learning series will run from 12:00-3:00 PM EST on November 10th, 18th and 23rd, and feature new research on the financial impact of the pandemic on Canadian households with low incomes and the extent to which it is expanding existing financial disparities in Canada. Participants will learn about the role each sector can play in helping to ensure an inclusive recovery, as well as emerging financial empowerment innovations and solutions, and opportunities to build financial wellbeing in Canada's Indigenous and Black communities and among Canadians living with disabilities.

Some featured speakers are listed below (see the full list here):

François Boileau, Taxpayers' Ombudsperson
Simon Brascoupé, Anishinabeg/Haudenausanee, Senior VP Education, Communications and Services at First Nations Education Administrators Association
Eloise Duncan, Founder and CEO, Seymour Management Consulting Inc. and creator of the Seymour Financial Resilience Index™
Andrew Heisz, Director, Centre for Income and Socioeconomic Well-being Statistics, Statistics Canada
Rabia Khedr, National Director, Disability Without Poverty
Dr. Kwame McKenzie, CEO, Wellesley Institute
Amanuel Melles, Executive Director, National Network for the Advancement of Black Communities
Neil Parmenter, President & CEO, Canadian Bankers Association
Judith Robertson, Commissioner, Financial Consumer Agency of Canada
Dr. Jennifer Robson, Associate Professor of Political Management, Carleton University

Session topics include:

Tackling pandemic hardship: The financial impact of COVID-19 on low-income households
Measuring the divide: Has COVID-19 widened economic disparities for Canada's BIPOC communities?
Financial wellness and healing: Can building financial wellness help Indigenous communities heal?
When money meets race: Addressing systemic racism through financial empowerment
All together now: The role of all sectors in rebuilding Canadians' financial health (bilingual)
When opportunity knocks: Poverty, disability, and Canada's proposed new disability benefit
The good, the bad and the innovation: The pandemic redesign of tax filing and benefit assistance.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in Booth chats: Big ideas for a more equitable recovery, where individuals and organizations will share research, program and policy innovations.

"An inclusive economic recovery will require the coordinated effort of all sectors to help Canadians battling longstanding systemic barriers, compounded by financial hardships brought on by the pandemic, to rebuild their financial stability, security and resilience," said Adam Fair, Chair, ABLE Steering Committee and VP, Strategy and Impact, Prosper Canada. "This series is an opportunity to hear from – and engage with – experts from all sectors who are pursuing foundational change and high impact solutions for Canadians."

The 2021 ABLE Virtual Series sponsors include TD Bank Group, Intuit Financial Freedom Foundation and The Co-operators Group (view all sponsors).

"The Intuit Financial Freedom Foundation is proud to lend its support to the ABLE Virtual Learning Series and the efforts of partners across Canada to advance solutions that will enable financially struggling individuals to rebuild their financial health and independence," said Susan Mason, Director, Intuit Financial Freedom Foundation, Intuit Financial Freedom Foundation.

"We're proud to support the ABLE Virtual Learning Series, which provides the kind of space we need to build a more inclusive economy," says Chad Park, Vice-President of Sustainability and Citizenship at The Co-operators Group. "By bringing a diversity of people and sectors together to share their knowledge and insights, we can better understand and address the barriers and inequalities standing in the way of financial resilience in our communities, and can develop more creative, collaborative, and effective solutions."

Visit the 2021 ABLE Virtual Series website to learn more about the event series and to register.

Prosper Canada
Prosper Canada is a national charity dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for Canadians living in poverty through program and policy innovation. Prosper Canada works with government, business, and community partners to develop and promote financial policies, programs and resources that remove barriers and help more Canadians to prosper. Learn more at www.prospercanada.org.

ABLE Financial Empowerment Network
The ABLE Financial Empowerment Network is a national, cross-sector, community of purpose working to reduce poverty through financial empowerment. The network comprises community service providers, financial institutions, researchers, policymakers, and funders dedicated to enabling people with low incomes in Canada to build their financial inclusion, capability and wellbeing. To view the conference agenda and list of speakers visit: www.ablefinancialempowerment.org.