[email protected]
705-949-2301, ext. 4375

Credentials: BA Hons (University of Guelph), MES (York University), PhD (OISE – University of Toronto)

Assistant Professor
[email protected]
705-949-2301 ext. 4811

I was born in Sudbury and largely raised in Sault Ste. Marie, so I have spent summers on Goulais River, Goulais Bay, and Lake Superior kayaking, canoeing, and swimming. I’ve also spent a good deal of my time walking local hiking trails, camping at local provincial parks, and sitting on the Robertson Lake cliff tops while working a student summer job in my early twenties. This has given me a love for this land, an understanding of indigenous sovereignty, and a consciousness of my place in this history as someone of settler ancestry who sees reconciliation as our way forward.

I spent more than a decade away from the area related to my studies and my work as I have a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Midwifery from Laurentian University, a Bachelor of Education from Trent University, a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Community Development from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, and a PhD in Adult Education and Community Development with a specialization in Comparative, International and Development Education from OISE, at the University of Toronto.

I have worked in community development for more than twenty years in women’s health care, informal community-based adult education settings, and formally within adult education for the Algoma District School Board (ADSB) at Northland Adult Learning Centre as a Literacy and Basic Skills Instructor and then a Program Coordinator for three of their adult education programs. From 2012 – 2017 I worked for both ADSB and at Algoma University (AU) in the Community Economic and Social Development (CESD) Department. My CESD work has included both part-time and full-time faculty positions with a complete move over to Algoma University in January of 2018 for a full-time contract position.

Because of my background I have a commitment to Northern Ontario in relation to place-based development and I love working at Algoma University in what I consider my ‘home’ community. Outside of my university work I put into ‘praxis’ some of the activism I teach in courses like: Environment and Community Resilience, Sustainable Community Development, and Community Advocacy and Social Justice, for CESD.

As most of my degrees, besides my Bachelor of Health Science degree, were acquired while raising my daughter and working fulltime, I have an appreciation and understanding of adult learners who often have full plates, and a respect for the work I see from students in the classroom. I love meeting, working with, and learning from students and other faculty, and I look forward to meeting all new students!

[email protected]

Dr. Sean Meades is an Associate Professor in the Department of Community Economic and Social Development. Meades was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland and raised in the small community of Flatrock before relocating to Sault Ste. Marie with his family in 1995.

He completed his B.A. (Hons.) with a double major in in Gender and Women’s Studies and Linguistics at Dalhousie University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at York University. His research focuses on political economy of language policy, Indigenous social policy; migration and socio-economic inclusion; cultural and heritage policy; community engagement and local governance; and community economic development in northern, rural and Indigenous communities, and their interface with global/local relations and processes of globalization.

After returning to Sault Ste. Marie from Nova Scotia, Meades worked in popular education as an anti-homophobia and safe-sex educator with the Access AIDS Network. He later joined the team at NORDIK first as an intern in 2008 assisting with research in Northern Ontario’s cultural sector and social economy. He served as Director of Research from 2017 to 2022, and oversaw the implementation of a Research Associate affiliation policy that welcomed nearly a dozen new scholars, and spearheaded research in the tourism and cultural sectors, income assistance and social policy in First Nation communities, social enterprise, the social return on investment of public libraries, and numerous community strategic planning initiatives.

Meades’ community involvement has included work with the LGBT2SQ community, anti-racism and Anishinaabe solidarity causes, cultural policy, and urban sustainability. He is currently a member of the Cultural Vitality Committee for the City of Sault Ste. Marie, and has served on the Municipal Heritage Committee and the Committee of Adjustment.

Ushnish Sengupta is an Assistant Professor in Community Economic and Social Development at Algoma University. He has a PhD from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, an MBA from the Rotman School of Management, and a degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto. Ushnish Sengupta’s PhD focused on data governance theory for social economy organizations. Dr. Sengupta is an award winning teacher and has taught courses at post-secondary institutions and at community based organizations. In addition to his academic
experience, he has worked in various private sector, public sector, and social sector organizations including Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Cedara Software Corp, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, OntarioMD, Ontario Telemedicine Network, and eHealth Ontario. Dr. Sengupta’s research interests include Nonprofits, Cooperatives, Entrepreneurship, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Open Data, Diversity, and the Social and Environmental impact of technology projects. He is currently researching the social and environmental impacts of the adoption of technology in Smart City projects, and underrepresented groups in social economy organizations.

Phone: 705-949-2301 ext. 4631

Algoma University, Room SH211E

[email protected]

Tamanna Rimi holds a Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Iowa State University, specializing in family finance and financial literacy. She also has a Masters degree in Economics from Tufts University. Her professional experience encompasses the fields of consumer economics, family finance, and community economic development. She currently serves as a part-time faculty member at Algoma University. Dr. Rimi has worked in various capacities, including as a researcher at NORDIK Institute, a research associate at the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), and a lecturer at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Dr. Rimi has participated in various community-based research initiatives in Northern Ontario, including the Sault Ste. Marie Poverty Reduction Indicators project, the Sault Ste. Marie Living Wage calculation, the Northern Ontario Tourism Recovery and Development project, the Valuing Ontario Libraries Toolkit project, the Northern Ontario Childcare Services, and the Homelessness Enumeration project. She has also worked on several research projects in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research (USDA ERS), the Department for International Development (DFID), the World Bank, and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). Dr. Rimi is a passionate advocate for equitable rural community development. Her passion for building meaningful connections with people and bringing an equitable, anti-racist, and grassroots lens to rural community development and social innovation spaces is evident in her work.

In addition to her professional role, Dr. Rimi is a member of the board of directors at the Algoma Community Foundation, where she actively contributes to the betterment of the community. Having lived and travelled in various parts of the world, she possesses a unique perspective on different cultures and ways of life. Dr. Rimi finds the most rewarding aspect of her academic career in working towards social progress and positively impacting people’s lives. Her long-term goal is to foster more inclusive and dynamic communities that enable everyone to thrive.

Research Interests: Family finance and wellbeing, community economic development, financial literacy, consumer economics.