Marguerite Mendell is an economist and Distinguished Professor Emerita, School of Community and Public Affairs, Concordia University. She is also Director, Karl Polanyi Institute of Political Economy, Concordia University. She has published on the work and influence of Karl Polanyi, the social economy in Quebec and internationally, on democratizing capital and solidarity finance in Quebec and on the evolution of “social finance” internationally.
Mendell was a member the Government of Quebec’s Advisory Policy Committee for the development of the social economy, that worked on the draft legislation on the social economy, that was adopted in 2013. She also worked on the Action Plan for the social economy (2016-2020). Mendell is a member of the Advisory Council and an honorary co-founding Member of the Global Social Economy Forum. She collaborated with the United Nations Research Institute on Social Development on developing the Sustainable Development Performance Indicators. Mendell is currently an international advisor for the International Labour Organization project on strengthening the social and solidarity economy in five countries across Asia. Margie Mendell was named Officer of the Order of Quebec in 2014 and is a Member of the Order of Canada in 2017 in recognition of her contribution to the development of the social economy.