As part of its endeavor to deliver impactful and inclusive research, FutureWORKS Asia has established an Advisory Board to guide its efforts in addressing the challenges shaping the future of work in Asia. Comprising a diverse group of distinguished professionals, the Advisory Board plays a critical role in shaping the project’s strategic direction, refining research priorities, and enhancing its overall value. Esteemed colleagues, Payal Arora,  Julie Yujie Chen,  Amar Gokale, and Anja Kovacs join us as our inaugural Advisory Board.

These experts were carefully selected based on their extensive experience and specialized knowledge in areas that are key to the project’s goals. From advancing women’s economic empowerment to exploring the intersection of technology, labor, and society, the board members bring insights that will guide FutureWORKS Asia toward addressing emerging challenges in the future of work across Asia.

With their collective knowledge, the Advisory Board is not only a source of strategic direction but also a sounding board for refining research priorities and addressing critical gaps. Their guidance will ensure that the project remains responsive to evolving trends and challenges, making its findings more actionable and inclusive.

The Advisory Board will collaborate closely with the project team, supporting research subgrantees, sharing high-level feedback on proposals, and engaging in capacity-building initiatives. Their involvement ensures that the project stays aligned with its mission to promote evidence-based policy and practice.

Meet Our Advisory Board Members

Amar Gokale

Amar Gokale works at UN Women’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific on the theme of Women’s Economic Empowerment, with a specific focus on entrepreneurship, climate finance and inclusive businesses. He has close to 15 years of business consulting and research experience across South and Southeast Asia, East Africa and the USA. Amar has especially worked on multiple projects supported by IDRC on topics multiple topics such as Livelihoods, Gender Lens Investing, Private Sector Development, Gender Mainstreaming in Business and the Care Economy. Amar lives in New Delhi, India.

Anja Kovacs

Anja Kovacs (PhD) is an independent researcher and consultant, whose work has focused on understanding, developing, and realizing feminist visions of the digital society in and for the Global South for more than 15 years. Her research includes ground-breaking work on online abuse, the intersections of gender and surveillance in the digital society, and the linkages between bodies and data. Her current work also addresses democracy and digitization and the political economy of knowledge production. Anja is currently a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, Canada, a senior fellow at Research ICT Africa, South Africa, and a non-resident CyberBRICS fellow at FGV (Fundação Getulio Vargas), Brazil. Previously, she directed the Internet Democracy Project, India, which she founded in 2011, for a decade. As a consultant, she has worked for a wide range of organizations, including the Independent Commission on Multilateralism, the United Nations Development Programme Asia Pacific, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression. Prior to focusing her work on the information society, Anja researched and consulted on a wide range of development-related issues. She has lectured at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, and Ambedkar University, Delhi, India, has guest lectured in India and Brazil, and has conducted extensive fieldwork throughout South Asia, from South India to Afghanistan. Anja obtained her Ph.D. in development studies from the University of East Anglia.

Julie Yujie Chen

Julie Yujie Chen (PhD) is Assistant Professor in the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information, and Technology (ICCIT) and the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, Canada. Her research focuses on the transformation of work and worker’s subjectivity in relation to digital technology, capitalism, and globalization. She is the co-author of Media and Management (University of Minnesota Press, 2021) and Super-sticky WeChat and Chinese Society (Emerald, 2018). She is the founding co-editor of Platforms & Society.

Payal Arora

Payal Arora (PhD) is a Professor of Inclusive AI Cultures at Utrecht University and co-founder of FemLab, a feminist futures of work initiative. She is a digital anthropologist, with two decades of researching user-experiences in the Global South. She is the author of award-winning books including ‘The Next Billion Users’ with Harvard Press and ‘From Pessimism to Promise: Lessons from the Global South on Designing Inclusive Tech’ with MIT Press. Forbes called her the ‘next billion champion’ and the ‘right kind of person to reform tech.’

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