Professor Imraan Valodia, an economist, is Pro Vice-Chancellor for Climate, Sustainability and Inequality, and Director of the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits).

His research interests include inequality, competition policy, employment, the informal economy, gender and economic policy, and industrial development. Imraan has played a central role in establishing and leading the SCIS. He is recognised nationally and internationally for his research expertise in economic development.

Julia Taylor is a Researcher on Climate and Inequality at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies. Previously, she was Researcher and Climate Policy Lead at the Institute for Economic Justice where she worked with labour unions on a vision for a Just Transition. Julia has previously worked at Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator on impact and research, sustainability consulting, and eco-education. She holds a BCom from the University of Cape Town, a PGD in Sustainable Development from Stellenbosch University, and an MSc in Environment and Development from Edinburgh University. Julia recently completed a Master’s in Applied Development Economics at Wits University.

Research Assistant at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, where he works on the G20, climate change, and inequality. An Emancipatory Futures Studies scholar, he earned an MA in International Relations from Wits, producing decolonial research on the impact of war on the environment in Gaza. His research interests include decolonial thought, the entangled impacts of war on human health and the environment, and research integrating qualitative analysis with remote-sensing methods (NDVI and SAR). As an activist, he has promoted food sovereignty at Wits through the Climate Justice Charter Move. ORCID

Sonia Phalatse is an economist with experience in the private and public sectors. Previously, she worked as the Economic Justice Lead for the largest women’s rights organisation in Africa, the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET). Prior to that, she worked as a researcher concurrently in the Climate, Energy and Infrastructure and Feminist Economics programmes. She has a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Witwatersrand and received both her Bachelors and Honours degree in Economics from the University of Cape Town. Her research interests are in feminist economics, feminist political ecology, energy economics and the role of the state in development.