UK WEN is an initiative within the remit of the RES Women’s Committee. This work is led by our Steering Group, chaired by Dr Misa Tanaka.
Bank of England
Misa is Senior Resident Fellow of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, and Associate of the Centre for Macroeconomics, London School of Economics. She was Head of Research at the Bank of England for 2018-2026, where she led a significant upgrade of the Bank’s research capability. She has also held multiple positions across monetary policy, financial stability, international and prudential policy areas of the Bank. Misa holds a D.Phil in Economics from Nuffield College, University of Oxford, and has published research on a range of topics on central bank policies, including financial regulation, climate change, and international policy coordination.
Misa is chair of the UK WEN.
McKinsey & Co
Tera is a senior advisor to McKinsey & Company, having led their UK economic research for 10 years. She chairs Pro Bono Economics, The Productivity Institute’s Advisory Committee, and The Health Foundation’s NHS Productivity Commission. She is a trustee of Be the Business and a governor of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research and contributes to several expert advisory bodies, including the Office for Budget Responsibility. She holds an Honorary Professorship at the Alliance Manchester Business School and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and the RSA.
Over a period of 10 years, she held chief economist roles at the UK’s energy, transport, and business departments. At the Department for Business, she was Director General for Strategy, Analysis, and Better Regulation and Deputy Head of the UK Government Economic Service. Earlier in her career, she spent over a decade as a management consultant at McKinsey.
Tera holds an MSc in Technology (Industrial Economics) with distinction from Helsinki University of Technology and an MBA with distinction from INSEAD.
J.P. Morgan Asset Management
Karen is a Managing Director and the EMEA Chief Market Strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.
Karen brings extensive experience in economic and financial analysis, as well as public policymaking. Before joining J.P. Morgan in 2017, Karen served as the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers for the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer. Prior to that, she spent a decade at HSBC’s investment bank. Her career began at the Bank of England, where she supported the Monetary Policy Committee with analytical work.
In 2023, Karen was a member of the UK Government’s Economic Advisory Council and has been recognised as one of Financial News’s ‘100 Most Influential Women in European Finance’ every year since 2019. She is currently a member of the UK Office for Budget Responsibility’s Advisory Council.
Karen holds a Master’s degree with Distinction in Economics from University College London.
London School of Economics
Almudena is a Professor of Economics and Public Policy at LSE and a recipient of an ERC grant. She was awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours List 2025, for services to Economics and Women in Economics. She was the Founding Chair and now Ambassador of the UK WEN, and she leads the LSE Women in Social and Public Policy Research Hub. Her research focuses on the areas of gender economics and human capital and is published in top economics journals. She has held positions at leading institutions such as University College London, the University of Oxford, and the US Congress. She received her Ph.D. from Brown University in 2004. Almudena is a Council member of the Royal Economic Society and President-Elect of the Society of the Economics of the Household.
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
Kate is Chief Economist at the Financial Conduct Authority, where she heads a division responsible for providing rigorous economic thinking, research, analysis, and advice to help the FCA deliver on its strategic objective of making financial services markets work well. Kate has nearly 20 years’ experience as an economist in roles spanning the public and private sector. Kate has undertaken several senior roles in government and has published in The Economic Journal.
Kate co-leads the UK WEN ‘Action’ initiative.
University of Birmingham
Wanyu is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Birmingham. She is affiliated with the UK’s Office for National Statistics as ONS Fellow and Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) as Research Affiliate. She has also held positions at the University of Sheffield and the University of Nottingham. She received her PhD from University of Warwick in 2014. Her areas of expertise are international trade and international macroeconomics.
Wanyu is co-lead of the ‘Best Practice Forums’ initiative for UK WEN.
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
Kiran is an Economic Technical Specialist at the FCA. She has worked across regulation, with roles including Principal Economist at the Information Commissioner’s Office and Senior Economist at Ofgem.
She sits on the RES Women’s Committee and has a Master’s in International Economics.
Kiran is lead of the ‘Communications’ initiative for UK WEN.
Institute of Directors
Anna is an experienced macroeconomics and policy professional, with a wealth of experience in business survey and policy analysis. She is Chief Economist at the Institute of Directors (IoD) and prior to this, she was Deputy Chief Economist at the CBI, where she worked for 16 years. Before that, Anna worked in the Government Economic Service in various roles at the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Treasury.
Anna leads the UK WEN ‘Partnership’ initiative.
Imperial College London
Maria is a Senior Teaching Fellow of Economics and Public Policy at Imperial College London. She has previously held positions at the University of Birmingham and Queen Mary University of London. She received her PhD from the University of Leicester in 2018. Her research mainly focuses on the economics of education. She is passionate about increasing diversity and empowering women in economics. Maria is a Discover Economics Academic Champion, and she is leading numerous school outreach initiatives, targeting female students from disadvantaged backgrounds, aiming to reduce the gender imbalance in economics studies.
Maria leads the ‘Inspire’ initiative.
University of Exeter
Helena Fornwagner is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Exeter. She holds a PhD from the University of Innsbruck (Austria) and previously held academic positions in Austria and Germany before moving to the UK. Her research focuses on behavioral and experimental economics, with a particular interest in how gender shapes economic decision-making. Helena is committed to fostering inclusive academic environments and is passionate about translating research into real-world policy and practice to drive meaningful change.
Helena co-leads the ‘Support’ initiative.
University of Manchester
Sofia is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Manchester, where she also serves as the School of Social Sciences (SoSS) Business Engagement Lead. Prior to this role, she held positions at the University of East Anglia, the Centre for Competition Policy, and the University of Huddersfield. She completed her PhD in Economics at Lancaster University in 2014. Her research interests include applied microeconomics, social and cultural economics, and economic education. Sofia also holds several external roles. She is an Executive Associate of the Economics Network, Mentoring Programme Manager for The Women in Economics initiative, and a member of the Editorial Board of The Economic Review.
Sofia co-leads the ‘Support’ initiative.
Member Operations Director | Royal Economic Society
Marie-Luiza oversees the development and delivery of the Society’s key programmes for its members and potential members. She is staff strategic lead on Diversity and on the Education & Training, Women’s and Conference Committees. She has overall responsibility for the events, finance, elections, grants and CRM/CMS functions. Marie-Luiza has an extensive background as a senior manager within the charity sector specialising in new projects around organisational change and workforce development.
Bank of England
Donald is a Manager in the Prudential Regulation Authority’s Strategy, Risk Operations Directorate. He joined the Bank in 2022 from the Financial Conduct Authority where he held several policy roles in relation to pensions and other retail investments. His earlier career was spent in the private sector, mainly with Barclays. He is one of the Bank volunteers supporting the UK WEN initiative.
Donald supports the ‘Network’ and ‘Action’ initiative.
Masters Student | LSE
Evie is an economist currently undertaking a Masters in Gender (Research) at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Before this, she worked for seven years as an economic consultant at Deloitte Access Economics in Australia, most recently as a Manager in the Health and Social Policy team. In Australia she was also the Chair of the NSW Women in Economics Network.
Evie supports UK WEN events.
Masters Student | LSE
Aneesha is currently pursuing a Masters in Environmental Economics and Climate Change at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She will soon be joining the UN Principles for Responsible Investment as a Specialist on the Climate Action 100+ initiative. Prior to this, Aneesha was a Senior Economist at Deloitte Access Economics, where she spent four years advising clients on the net zero transition and the economics of climate change. She also served as Head of Women in Economics at the LSESU Economics Society in 2024.
Aneesha supports UK WEN events.
Migration Advisory Committee
Meryem is an Economic Advisor at the Migration Advisory Committee where she works on developing recommendations to government on migration policy through evidence. Before this, she has worked in several roles across government. She has recently completed her Masters in Economics and has worked on several Diversity and Inclusion initiatives throughout her career.
Meryem supports the ‘Communications’ initiative.
UK WEN Champions
Event hosts:
