Guppi Bola and Nonhlanhla Makuyana are the double-trouble duo running Decolonising Economics. They are working to divest from whiteness in economic and financial systems, facilitate a solidarity economy and invest in the leadership of marginalised communities of colour who are organising towards community ownership of assets.

Guppi (she/her) is a senior consultant strategist with over 15 years experience in economics, health and climate issues. Her academic background is in public health which she uses to focus her strategic thinking on the root causes of social inequality and ill health. She is author of Reimagining Public Health, a follow up to her stint as Interim Director of Medact. She has been the Chair of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants since 2019-2022.

Nonhlanhla Makuyana (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist, organiser and educator. Their work focuses on the research and archiving of economic liberatory practices that exist within Black queer communities, seeking to shift power and resources towards these communities. Their research features in gal-dem and Africans in the Diaspora. Heavily inspired by Black Feminist tradition, they design and deliver experiential workshops to explore the felt and lived legacies of the enslavement of Black people, in partnership with groups such as Black Feminist Reading Group and Don’t Tell the Village Elders.

Guppi & Noni were in conversation with Joon-Lynn Goh, a cultural organiser and co-founding director of Migrants in Culture.