Meseret Haileyesus is a thought leader, serial social entrepreneur, change maker, and multi-award-winning advocate for economic justice. She is the first Canadian to champion national economic harm policy reforms in Parliament, shaping the financial and legal landscape to protect women in Canada. Over two decades, Mesi has led transformative initiatives in global health, maternal and new born health, financial inclusion, health technology innovation, and sustainability towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goals at national and international level.
As CEO of the Canadian Center for Women’s Empowerment, she works with the Canadian government, financial institutions, consumer lawyers, and digital innovators to integrate technology into safer financial systems for women. She was an advocate for Bill 41 (Protection from Coerced Debts in Human Trafficking) and in shaping Canada’s financial inclusion frameworks and national policy.
She advocated global policy for women economic safety at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68/69), the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She is a trailblazer in advancing tech-driven models of financial inclusion and has expanded Economic Abuse Awareness Day to the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Jordan, South Africa, and Israel.
Meseret is a leading advocate for linking financial inclusion with climate resilience, with a focus on empowering women through sustainable energy transitions. Her policy recommendations at UN-Habitat, the Urban Economy Forum (UEF5), and the World Planning Congress (WPC59)—one of the world’s largest gatherings of urban policymakers—have ignited global dialogue on integrating economic abuse into climate strategies.
Most recently, she was appointed as a Strategic Advisor to the Harvard Research Group, where she contributes to equity-centered policy development focused on economic justice and clean energy access in Africa.
Repeatedly called to testify before Canadian Federal Parliament and the Ontario Legislative Assembly. She is also the founder of Maternity Today, co-founder of Tenawo Health Ethiopia’s first multiuser health service and tele medicine mobile app and a founding member of the Canadian Institute for Research on Economic Justice and the World Executive Council for Economic and Financial Inclusion (WECEFI). Meseret serves as Board Advisor for the Black Canadians Advocacy, which national initiative that supports the establishment of a permanent legislative policy to ensure Black Canadians have a permanent seat at the table in the Parliament. She also serves on the Board of Directors at the YMCA National Capital Region, End FGM Canada, the Canadian Centre for Accreditation, the Centretown Community Health Centre, Governance Committee Member, City of Ottawa Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan (2022–present), Public Advisory Board Member, Economic Justice, Network for the Advancement of Black Communities.
Meseret’s impact has been widely recognized by leading media outlets, including Forbes, CBC, CTV, Globe and Mail, Yahoo Finance, Global News, Policy Options, Toronto Sun, and the National Post. Additionally, her project was selected as one of Top 100 initiatives contributing to Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery.
She is a recipient of 17 award including Google Canada 2023, One of 150 Black Women Make Canada Better, 2017, National L’Oréal Paris National Woman’s Worth Award (Top 10) – 2020, Forty Under 40, Top 3 National Entrepreneur Award from the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development at Parliament 2022, Top 25 Women of Influence in Canada, Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award by – Google Canada (2023), Bikila Professional Excellence Award (2024), the Women Changing the World Award, in UK, Women Business of the year (2025) and more . Meseret serves on several boards, advising on governance and strategy, including NTEN, FORA, the National Housing Strategy. She is also a Meaningful Business Ambassador advancing the UN SDGs.
