Dr Lory Barile, Associate Professor of Economics (Chair)

Dr Lory Barile is an Associate Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics, University of Warwick. Lory is also Widening Participation Coordinator, Director of Postgraduate Taught Studies and Member of the Athena Swan Department Committee in the Department.

Lory is also the Discover Economics Champion at Warwick which is a national campaign led by the Royal Economics Society to increase diversity amongst economic students.

Professor Sonia Bhalotra, Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics, University of Warwick

Sonia is an applied economist with research interests in the areas of skill creation, early childhood development and health (including mental health) and her work seeks to understand the role of the family and of the legal and political environment. A large fraction of her work has an emphasis on gender.

Sonia has previously worked at the universities of Bristol, Cambridge and Essex and she is a Fellow of the International Economics Association, the UK Academy of Social Sciences, CEPR London, IZA Bonn, IEPS Brazil and SFI Copenhagen.

She obtained a BSc (Hons) in Economics from the University of Dehli and an MPhil and DPhil from the University of Oxford.

Aabia Afzal, Assistant Economist at the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport (BSc Economics, 2021)

Aabia is an economist in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) working within Data Policy Analysis. The team aims to deliver the government’s National Data Strategy to unlock the power of data for the UK. In particular, she is focusing on analysis for the UK securing a pro-growth and trusted data regime as data becomes a central driving force of the modern economy. She has also previously worked in the regulation of legislative proposals to monitor the impacts of regulatory burdens and ensure that they are less costly to businesses.

Aabia graduated from the University of Warwick in 2021 and holds a BSc in Economics. She is passionate about the empowerment of women and diversity, having focused on gender and education in her dissertation and being an active member of the Ethnic Diversity Network within DCMS.

Isabel Higginson, Senior eCommerce Channel Development Manager at the Kraft Heinz Company (BSc Economics, 2019)

Izzy is an eCommerce Channel Development Manager at Kraft Heinz. Her role focuses on using insights and analysis to grow the online channels across the Heinz business. An important part of Izzy’s role is incorporating shopper behaviour in her work to drive growth; for example tailoring media towards specific shoppers, and improving how products are mapped on websites such as Tesco.com.

After graduating with a BSc in Economics from Warwick in 2019, Izzy joined Kraft Heinz on their graduate scheme, then worked across the revenue management, sales and eCommerce teams. At Warwick, Izzy was an Economics Mentor and Student Blogger. Her favourite module was Behavioural Economics, which influenced her decision to start her career in shopper behaviour-oriented roles.

Victoria Tode, Senior Associate at Deloitte (BSc Economics, 2021)

Victoria graduated with a 1st Class (Hons) BSc in Economics from Warwick in 2021. After graduating, she joined Deloitte where she currently works as a Senior Associate in audit. Alongside work, she is also studying towards her Chartered Accountancy qualification.

Her day-to-day involves working with her audit team and the client to investigate and test the client’s financial statements for fraud and error, in order to ensure they are releasing true and accurate financial statements to the public.

During her time at Warwick, Victoria was Vice President of Warwick Women in Economics Society, which was founded that year to champion women in Economics. It was the first and only Women in Economics Society in the UK and is still going strong today.

Victoria’s passion for fighting for gender equality continued into the workplace where she is currently part of the newly founded Women of Private Capital committee, which aims to empower women and inspire positive changes in the workplace with regards to gender equality and inclusion.

Milena Ermolenko (Economics, Politics and International Studies, Year 3)

Milena is a third-year Economics, Politics and International Studies student and she is the Vice President of the Warwick Women in Economics (WWIE) society, which aims to promote diversity and inclusivity within economics-related fields. Recently WWIE received an Excellence in Gender Equality Award for organising a flagship event – the International Women’s Day Conference. Being an active member of the Warwick community enables Milena to broaden her horizons and meet people from all over the world.