AV俱乐部

Dr. Maria Pacurar has never shied away from change, and neither do the students in her Financial Technology (Fintech) courses. She says, 鈥渢hey are keen to learn all they can and to be on the cutting edge of this fast-moving field.鈥� Pacurar, the first to teach fintech at the university level in Atlantic Canada, and the co-founder of聽, is no stranger to rapidly evolving landscapes.聽

Navigating a secret system

Born in Romania, she came of age during the Romanian Revolution. In 1989, when she was just entering high school, the communist government fell, expanding the possibilities for the聽students of her generation.

After an聽undergrad聽in economics, she received a scholarship to study at the Francophone Institute for Administration and Management in Bulgaria. There, she proved herself an exceptional student and was mentored by the Director,聽M. Jean B茅n茅teau, who encouraged her to apply to the doctoral program of one of the top business schools in the world,聽HEC聽Montr茅al in Quebec.聽

It was 1999, and despite arriving in Canada to study advanced financial theory, she had never seen a debit card, a credit聽card聽or a cheque. 鈥淭he whole system felt like a secret to me; something that everyone around me understood, but I didn鈥檛 even know how to pay for my groceries.鈥� Her learning curve was聽steep聽and she went on to earn a PhD in Finance and win the Mercure Award for best doctoral thesis in 2006.聽

Working with fintech鈥檚 superstars

It聽wasn鈥檛聽until 2017, more than ten years after arriving at AV俱乐部 to teach, that she started to explore fintech,聽the use of modern technology to improve and automate financial services like banking, payments, lending and investing.聽Pacurar took a course on her own dime. 聽The more she learned, the more convinced she was that AV俱乐部鈥檚 Faculty of Management students needed to learn how technology was changing the world of finance.

Her inaugural Fintech class, in the fall of聽2019,聽had 33 students.聽The first of its kind in Atlantic Canada, there was no textbook; all she had to work with were case studies and guest speakers. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an incredibly fast-moving industry so I invited聽prominent fintech industry experts聽to my class.鈥� She calls these guest speakers the 鈥渟ecret sauce鈥� and is quick to credit them for much of the course鈥檚 impact.聽

Two of the ingredients in that 鈥榮ecret聽sauce,鈥櫬爈ocal fintech superstars, Carrie Forbes and Michele Poole, came together with Pacurar to create a not-for-profit enterprise called聽Finclusiv聽Edge. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all passionate about making fintech accessible for everyone,鈥� says Pacurar. Their organization welcomes newcomers, underrepresented voices, and students to educational and networking events.聽

鈥淚 first met Maria in 2020 when I joined her class as an online guest speaker,鈥� says Carrie Forbes, the founder and CEO of Rockstar Advisory. 鈥淲hat聽I鈥檝e聽found most remarkable over the years is her profound passion for her students. She delivers more than a syllabus; she builds lifelong connections, and gives students deep, real-world lessons on how the financial system works and how it can innovate and address society's challenges.鈥�

An inclusive financial system

Michele Poole,聽founder of聽DeepPoole聽Advisory and聽a seasoned fintech and payments leader, adds that Pacurar has a rare ability to make fintech feel more open, less聽intimidating聽and more human.鈥�鈥淢aria聽doesn鈥檛聽just teach聽it,聽she builds the conditions for it to work better for more people. She connects students, founders,聽and decision-makers in a way that turns learning into real momentum.鈥�

With fintech evolving at breakneck speed, Canada is set to usher in Open Banking this year.聽It鈥檚聽a聽transformative shift in how financial data is accessed,聽shared聽and protected,聽and聽Pacurar wants to ensure that everyone, regardless of education or status, understands these changes.

Meanwhile, Pacurar鈥檚 class鈥攁nd her reputation鈥攋ust keep growing. The recipient of prestigious teaching awards and consistently glowing student reviews, she has expanded fintech offerings to include both an undergraduate course鈥攏ow running two sections to meet demand鈥攁nd an MBA course, drawing students from faculties across the university.

The appetite for what聽she鈥檚聽teaching聽couldn鈥檛聽please Pacurar more. 鈥淭he existence of silos in any field鈥攊ndustry,聽academia,聽culture鈥攈as always bothered me. I came from a system of oppression where liberty and freedom of speech were not allowed,鈥� she says.聽鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I value and advocate for an inclusive financial system for everyone鈥攁nd why I feel a responsibility to pay forward the opportunities others gave me.鈥�