Dr Leonora Risse is an economist who specialises in gender equality in the workforce.

She is a Research Fellow with the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia, and recently spent time in residence at Harvard University as a Research Fellow with the Women and Public Policy Program in the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Leonora is a co-founder of the Women in Economics Network (WEN) in Australia and currently serves as the WEN National Chair.

Leonora earned her PhD in Economics from the University of Queensland, and previously served as a Senior Research Economist for the Australian Government Productivity Commission. She is currently appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Economics at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia.

Leonora’s research focuses on understanding gender differences in economic opportunities and outcomes, encompassing such issues as the gender pay gap, women’s under-representation in leadership, and the influence of personality traits and societal norms. Her areas of expertise extend to labour economics, economic psychology, demographic economics, education, disadvantage and wellbeing.

She engages regularly with public audiences, government, industry and community groups on gender equality issues. This includes identifying evidence-based strategies to close gender gaps and applying a ‘gender lens’ to economic analysis and policy design.

Leonora was named among Apolitical’s 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy in 2021.