Meet The Team

Vinayakan Sajeev-Beena is an economist and public policy researcher specialising in LGBTQIA+ economics, market systems, institutional analysis, and queer digital platforms. He has worked as an Open Innovation and Ecosystem Analyst at CRIF’s headquarters in Bologna and is completing an MSc in Economics and Public Policy at the University of Bologna, where his research examines queer-specific platforms beyond dating.

​

He founded the Institute for Queer Economics to build a global platform for queer market intelligence, entrepreneurship research, policy analysis, and LGBTQIA+ business ecosystem studies. His work connects economic freedom, platform economies, civil society, public policy, and minority enterprise.

​

Vinayakan has been awarded the Frédéric Bastiat Fellowship and Don Lavoie Fellowship at the Mercatus Center, the Youth Leadership Fellowship from the Centre for Public Policy Research, the Public Policy New Voices Europe Fellowship by Salzburg Global Seminar and the Walt Disney Company, and the Prometheus Fellowship.

​

He has served on the Members’ Council of Rethinking Economics International, the Board of Directors of Certi Diritti, and the European subcommittee for LGBTQ+ economists. He is also Managing Editor of Libertas by LYMEC, and  contributes to the policy team of NOVA in Italy.

Dennis is pursuing a Master's degree by research, with expected completion in 2025. His research focuses on improving agent-based modelling by developing analogies grounded in political economy and evolutionary-institutional economics. Beyond his academic pursuits, Dennis actively contributes to Rethinking Economics Australia, where he leads the curriculum reform project and collaborates on educational material that promotes pluralism and a deeper understanding of the economy as a complex dynamic system.

Connor Sutton is a graduate student from the University of British Columbia, holding a bachelor's degree in Political Science.

Connor has contributed significantly to his community through volunteer roles such as student ambassador for the Fraser Institute and regional coordinator for Students for Liberty. His professional journey includes roles as a research assistant, the Don Lavoie fellowship with the Mercatus Center and North America Events Intern at Students for Liberty, where he honed his event planning skills and advocacy for multi-perspective dialogue.

Currently, Connor looks forward to his upcoming internship at the American Institute for Economic Research. His research interests are centered around Indigenous Self-Determination in Canada, and bringing political economy concepts to Queer subjects, reflecting his commitment to exploring complex societal issues.

Ylva is a researcher at the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI) at Stockholm University, Sweden, with a focus on studying gener affirming care in Sweden, same sex couples' transition to parenthood, gender norms in diverse families, and gender equality at work. Ylva's dissertation, "Gender, Incentives, and the Division of Labor" as duly defended at Uppsala University, used data from the Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education.

​

M. V. Lee Badgett, PhD, is a pioneering researcher of the global cost of homophobia and transphobia, economic empowerment of LGBTI+ people, and LGBTI+ economic inequality. She’s the Chief Economist and co-founder of Koppa: The LGBTI+ Economic Power Lab. In addition Badgett is also Professor Emeritx of Economics and former director of the School of Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is a Williams Distinguished Scholar at UCLA’s Williams Institute, where she was a co-founder and the first research director. Her latest book is The Economic Case for LGBT Equality: Why Fair and Equal Treatment Benefits Us All (Beacon Press, 2020).