Penny Collenette, LLB ’91, co-chaired the Advisory Committee of the Prosperity Project which recently called for a nation-wide childcare system. The Project penned an open letter to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, six other federal ministers and Opposition Leaders, signed by public policy and business leaders from across the country.
As stated in the press release:“The Prosperity Project is calling for the introduction of a Canada-wide early learning and childcare (ELCC) system to address the needs of working families, citing multiple research studies that show women are exiting the workforce due to the pressures of the pandemic.”
The Prosperity Project is a new not-for-profit organization founded to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canadian women who are being disproportionately affected. The Project is pan-Canadian in scope and fills an important need to explicitly link women and prosperity, underscoring the economic importance of gender equality during the COVID-19 pre-recovery, recovery and post-recovery periods.
From classrooms to boardrooms, from the Prime Minister’s Office to the prestigious John F. Kennedy School of Government and now to our own University of Ottawa, Penny Collenette (www.pennycollenette.ca) has enjoyed a unique career. Her footprint spans the worlds of business, academia, politics and public policy allowing her to research, write and comment on issues of ethics, corporate responsibility, governance and leadership. She is well known as a media commentator, often writes for The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star, and is active on social media.