It is clear that our current economic system is not a stable one, nor a healthy one. It uses way too much material resources, causing biodiversity loss and the climate crisis. Rich people are getting richer while inequality is increasing. Even people in so-called developed countries now are struggling to feed their families.
Change is needed. And women are being at the forefront through research, activism, entrepreneurship and politics to change things. Here’s a selection of women who in different way seeks to work for an economy good for us all and future generations.
Kate Raworth
Kate Raworth is an English economist known for "doughnut economics", which she understands as an economic model that balances essential human needs and planetary boundaries. She is a Senior Associate at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute and a Professor of Practice at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Her Ted-Talk on Doughnut Economics has been watched by millions!
Winnie Byanyima
Winifred Byanyima is a Ugandan aeronautical engineer, politician, human rights activist, feminist and diplomat. She is the executive director of UNAIDS, effective November 2019. From May 2013 until November 2019, she served as the executive director of Oxfam International. She has served as the director of the Gender Team in the Bureau for Development Policy at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 2006. She serves as one of the experts at the Institute for New Economic Thinking.
Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir
Kristín Vala Ragnarsdóttir is an Icelandic Earth and sustainability scientist and activist who is a professor of Earth Sciences at the Faculty of- and Institute of Earth Sciences. Kristín Vala's research turned to issues related to trans-disciplinary sustainability science, including city carbon emission management, natural resource availability and management, soil sustainability, sustainable tourism, and achieving the UN Sustainability Goals through the wellbeing economy. She was instrumental in facilitating the participation of the Icelandic government in joining the Wellbeing Economy Governments (WEGo).
Vandana Shiva
Vandana Shiva is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, ecofeminist and anti-globalisation author. Based in Delhi, Shiva has written more than 20 books. She is often referred to as "Gandhi of grain" for her activism associated with the anti-GMO movement.
Shiva is one of the leaders and board members of the International Forum on Globalization (with Jerry Mander, Ralph Nader, and Helena Norberg-Hodge), and a figure of the anti-globalisation movement. She has argued in favour of many traditional practices, as in her interview in the book Vedic Ecology (by Ranchor Prime).
Katherine Trebeck
Katherine is a political economist, writer and advocate for economic system change. She co-founded the Wellbeing Economy Alliance and also WEAll Scotland, its Scottish hub. She is writer-in-residence at the University of Edinburgh’s Edinburgh Futures Institute and a Strategic Advisor to Australia’s Centre for Policy Development. She sits on a range of boards and advisory groups such as The Democracy Collaborative, the C40 Centre for Urban Climate Policy and Economy, and the Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity.
Melissa Vergara Fernández
Melissa Vergara Fernández obtained a PhD in Philosophy from the Erasmus Institute for Philosophy and Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2018 and currently coordinates the YSI Philosophy of Economics working group and is an elected member of YSI’s advisory committee. Her research is on economic methodology, in particular on the use and the epistemic contributions of theoretical economic models. She strives to make philosophy relevant for dealing with the socioeconomic challenges that we currently face. She serves as one of the experts at the Institute for New Economic Thinking.
Aja Baber
Aja Baber is a writer, stylist and consultant whose work deals with the intersections of sustainability and the fashion landscape. Her work builds heavily on ideas behind privilege, wealth inequality, racism, feminism, colonialism and how to fix the fashion industry with all these things in mind. One of the leading figures on the sustainable and circular fashion scene seeking a more circular and just economy.
Diane Coyle
Diane Coyle CBE FAcSS (born February 1961) is an economist and a former advisor to the UK Treasury. She was vice-chairman of the BBC Trust, the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and was a member of the UK Competition Commission from 2001 until 2019. Since March 2018, she has been the Bennett Professor of Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, co-directing the Bennett Institute. She’s the author of the book A Brief History of GDP which I highly recommend.
Nyeji Ruth Chilembo
Nyeji Ruth Chilembo is an economist and investment professional with experience covering corporate finance, institutional banking, fund management and sovereign debt management. International experience includes diplomatic service in the United Kingdom and Malaysia as an economic advisor handling international trade, foreign direct investments and private equity transactions on behalf of the Zambian Government.
She’s the Co-Founder and Managing Partner wCap Limited, a venture capital firm that works with high-growth female-led businesses in Africa seeking technical expertise and access to growth capital. wCap is the only female-owned VC firm in Zambia. wCap aims to close part of the funding gap that exists for women-led businesses by generating high returns whilst delivering a positive economic impact by investing in women-owned and led businesses in Southern Africa.
Jennifer Hinton
Dr. Jennifer Hinton is a systems researcher and ecological economist. Her work focuses on how societies relate to profit and how this relationship affects global sustainability challenges. Her relationship-to-profit theory uses systems thinking and institutional economics to explain how key aspects of business and markets drive social and ecological sustainability outcomes. She started developing this theory in the book How on Earth, which outlines a conceptual model of a not-for-profit market economy – the Not-for-Profit World model. She holds a double PhD in Economics and Sustainability Science. As an activist, she collaborates with civil society organizations, businesses, and policy makers to transform the economy so that it can work for everyone within the ecological limits of the planet. She is a researcher at Lund University and a senior research fellow at the Schumacher Institute.
Jayati Ghosh
Jayati Ghosh is an Indian development economist. She is the Chairperson of the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and her core areas of study include international economics, employment patterns in developing countries, macroeconomic policy, and issues related to gender and development.
Helena Norberg-Hodge
Helena Norberg-Hodge is founder and director of Local Futures, previously known as the International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC). Local Futures is a non-profit organization "dedicated to the revitalization of cultural and biological diversity and the strengthening of local communities and economies worldwide."
Nicola Sturgeon
Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. Scotland is one of the countries that has a Wellbeing Economy Hub and Scotland is a founding member of Wellbeing Economy Governments.
Jacinda Ardern
Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern is a New Zealand politician who served as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. New Zealand has a Wellbeing Budget and a Living Standards Framework rooted in wellbeing indicators.
Uhuru Hilton
Uhuru is an experienced convener, popular education facilitator, humanitarian program and project designer and relational organizer. Uhuru offers curriculum, facilitation and collaboration in participatory governance, supply chain development, and regenerative and cooperative enterprise. She is an active partner in Community Centric Fundraising, DEI and Trauma-informed Bioregional Regeneration, FarmerXFarmer = Coalition, Weaver Support and other Solidarity Economy forums, projects and campaigns.
Liz Zeidler
Liz is an internationally recognised leader in sustainable wellbeing with over 20 years of experience in connecting, challenging and supporting change-makers. She has been a key part of the development of all Centre for Thriving Place’s wellbeing measurement tools and approaches. She is a globally in-demand speaker and advisor on community wellbeing and place-based approaches to measuring, understanding and improving wellbeing in all sectors.
Naomi Klein
Naomi A. Klein is a Canadian author, social activist, and filmmaker known for her political analyses, support of ecofeminism, organized labour, left-wing politics and criticism of corporate globalization,[fascism, ecofascism and capitalism. As of 2021 she is an Associate Professor, and Professor of Climate Justice at the University of British Columbia, co-directing a Centre for Climate Justice. She serves as one of the experts at the Institute for New Economic Thinking.
Katrín Jakobsdóttir
Katrín Jakobsdóttir is an Icelandic politician who has been serving as the prime minister of Iceland since 2017 and a member of the Althing for the Reykjavík North constituency since 2007.
Iceland is part of the Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership. Iceland has Indicators for Wellbeing which guide government decision-making.
Disclaimer: Most summaries are derived from Wikipedia, you are more than welcome to reach out and add texts or recommend more women who should be on the list.