Peter Nares

Peter Nares is a Canadian social entrepreneur. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1950, Nares founded the not-for-profit organization Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI)] in 1986. The organization is dedicated to helping low-income people gain financial independence through financial literacy, asset building and entrepreneurship. Nares is the current executive director of SEDI.

Biography

A graduate in English and social work from Carleton University and York University respectively, Nares' contribution to social services started in 1974 as a child care worker. In 1979, he began his career in social policy with the Ontario Social Development Council (OSDC), where he worked for 16 years. Nares first started SEDI as a division of the OSDC with the organization later evolving into an independent national nonprofit in 1995. Under his leadership, SEDI has helped shape important social policies in Canada.

In 2009, the Canadian government announced its plan to establish a financial literacy task force, a measure recommended by Nares and SEDI. The independent, multi-sectoral task force will make recommendations to the minister of finance on a national strategy for financial literacy. With this initiative, Canada will join a growing list of countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and New Zealand that have developed national strategies to improve the financial literacy of their citizens.