Richard M. Bird Post-Doctoral Fellowship
2025-26 Award Winner
Collin Bernard is the 2025–2026 Richard M. Bird Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG). He recently completed his Ph.D. in History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he taught courses on European cities and wrote a dissertation on housing politics in 1970s France and Italy. At IMFG, his research examines how social housing finance has evolved in Canada and internationally over the past three decades, with a particular focus on the challenges municipalities face in balancing social goals with fiscal constraints. His work connects historical perspectives to contemporary debates in municipal finance and housing policy.
IMFG Fellowship in Municipal Finance and Governance
2025-26 Award Winner
Maria Francisca Granda Benitez is the recipient of the 2024–25 Graduate Fellowship in Municipal Finance and Governance. She is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at UofT. She has a broad interest in the political economy of inequality and development, particularly in Latin American contexts. Francisca's doctoral research is driven by a desire to understand the relationships between grassroots organizations and local governments in fomenting the welfare of rural communities in the Highlands of Bolivia and Ecuador. She wants to use her research to inform development projects in Latin America. Francisca is fluent in Spanish and English, understands French, and is learning Kichwa.
The Blanche and Sandy Van Ginkel Graduate Fellowship in Municipal Finance and Governance
2025-26 Award Winner
Eun Ji (Lindsay) Lee is the recipient of the 2025–2026 IMFG Blanche and Sandy Van Ginkel Graduate Fellowship from the Institute of Municipal Finance and Governance at the School of Cities. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Economics at the University of Toronto. Her research examines the effect of the vacant housing tax on housing affordability and investigates whether it influences foreign residential investment. Her broader research interests include labour, public, and urban economics.