Keisha Blair, MAPA 2002
“I’ve served in the public service of Canada for over 20 years now,” says SPPA alumna Keisha Blair (MAPA, 2002). “It’s been quite the journey.”
“There’s no doubt that the SPPA program has impacted my journey. Serving at the very pinnacle and being part of the Prime Minister of Canada’s supporting delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the East-Asia Summit in Singapore, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, and many other international fora were some of the most significant points of my career. Working on economic files such as women’s economic empowerment, gender inequality, foreign direct investment and broader economic development, as well as my own personal experiences all contributed to me coining the term Holistic Wealth, which has now turned into a global movement that has impacted the lives of over 50 million people around the world.”
During the disruption of the pandemic, Blair updated and expanded her book, Holistic Wealth: 32 Life Lessons to Help You Find Purpose, Prosperity and Happiness.
In the book’s introduction, Blair says, “The pandemic has helped people define what they really value and what success means to them. During COVID-19 we were faced with our personal and collective mortality on a daily basis. This reality forced us to change priorities and look at what’s important in a new way.”
Blair is a trained economist, with extensive experience in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. She started her career working on economic development projects sponsored by the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. She was a senior economist working in economic development and corporate finance, working on several federal budgets. She is a graduate of the Executive Leadership Program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Keisha received an MA in Public Administration from Carleton University in 2002.