Organizing Team 2023

Meet the Team

Leuza Zaiti studied socio-economics at Kiel University. She was on the board of the plural university group there for the past two years and has since been advocating for interdisciplinarity and plural perspectives in economics and economic research. Since February 2021, she has been working at Netzwerk Plurale Ökonomik e.V. as an event planner and is responsible for the coordination of the Summer Academy 2023 as co-project leader.

Lena Gempke is a consultant at the World Bank, working for the South Asia Vice Presidency and the Global Practice Public Institutions. She holds a master’s degree in Political Economy of Development from SOAS, University of London. In her studies, she focused on heterodox institutional economics & feminist economics and explored methodological gains from incorporating anthropological approaches into economic research.

Frank Fehlberg holds two PhDs: one in history and political science, another one in economics. Both degrees dealt mainly with social and liberal intellectual, ethical, and political milieus of the 19th and 20th centuries. His economic focus lies on socioeconomic and cultural evolution, history of science, and economic theories. Restrengthening the interdisciplinary science model of Social Economics (Sozialökonomik) is the Leitmotif in most of his scientific work.

Noah Braden is a consultant at GIZ working for advisory services on the World Bank, IMF, sovereign debt and regional development banks for the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. He holds a Master's degree in Development Economics from SOAS, University of London and Master's degrees in Political Science and Economics from the University of Fribourg and Sciences Po Aix-en-Provence. His academic focus is on inequality studies, financialisation and heterodox macroeconomics.

Vera Mair is currently studying International Relations and History for her Bachelor's at the University of Erfurt. She is a member of the student association Pluralist Economics and is particularly interested in heterodox approaches in the context of socio-ecological crises. In September she will start a Master program in Socio-ecological Economy and Policy at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

Isabelle Wappelhorst is currently studying socioeconomics at the University Duisburg-Essen for her master’s, a study program with an interdisciplinary and pluralist approach on socioeconomic topics. At the University of Mannheim she was active in the Pluralist Economics university group, where she also finished her bachelor’s degree in economics. She is especially interested in inequality, public finance, and economic history.

Yara Rieper holds an M.A. in Economics, Law and Social Sciences from the University of Erfurt with a focus on Economics and Sociology. She was a board member of the Netzwerk für plurale Ökonomik e.V. from 2021 - 2023 and has been working for the Exploring Economics team since 2020.

Bawer Boran Sari is currently a Bachelor Economics student in Marburg, interested in the development of sustainable and vital communities by trying to understand the world from an economical perspective to be able to use my skills for those goals. With the specialty of Institutional Economics at his home university, he tries to integrate this perspective into his work.

Hannah Scheibe recently finished a bachelor in Liberal Arts & Sciences from the University College Maastricht and the University of California Santa Barbara.  Driven by her interest in social organisation and economic injustice, she majored in Economics and Philosophy. Being passionate about new economic approaches and debates, she joined a local group in Maastricht (PINE) already in 2019 and has since been active in the International Rethinking Network.

Timon Alexander holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and will soon expand his academic                    career with master’s studies in heterodox economics. His ideals of equality and justice motivated him towards a          broader education, particularly in the social-ecological transition. This is also reflected in his interests in international political economy, development economics and post-Keynesian economics.