Prof. Dr. h.c. Jutta Allmendinger, Ph.D. is President of the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) and Professor of Sociology at Humboldt Universität Berlin. She was appointed to both positions in 2007. In addition, she has served as Honorary Professor of Sociology at Freie Universität Berlin since 2012. Jutta Allmendinger studied sociology and social psychology in Mannheim and Madison, Wisconsin, earned her Ph.D. at Harvard University and her habilitation degree at Freie Universität Berlin. From 1992 to 2007, she was a professor at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität in Munich; from 2003 to 2007, she served as head of the Federal Employment Agency’s Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg. Her multiple honors and awards include the German Federal Cross of Merit First Class and an honorary doctorate of the University of Tampere, Finland. Jutta Allmendinger serves on several advisory boards in Germany and abroad. Furthermore, she is a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. She has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Berlin’s public cleaning services (BSR) since 2016. In 2021, she has been appointed as a member of the Pontificial Academy of Social Sciences by the Holy Father and as a member of the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council by the UK Government.

Lisa Basten is head of the "Arts and Culture" department at ver.di since November 2021. She studied sociology and comparative literature at HFF Babelsberg. In 2016, she published her book "Wir Kreative! The Self-Image of an Industry." From 2016 to 2020, she worked as a research assistant at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB). She is also a member of the "Labor and Social Affairs" expert committee of the German Cultural Council. She has two children and lives in Berlin.

Prof. Dr. Skadi Loist is Assistant Professor for Production Cultures in Audiovisual Media Industries at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF in Potsdam, Germany. Skadi’s research and publications focus on film festivals, global cinema & film circulation, queer film culture, sustainability and equity, diversity and inclusion in screen industries. Skadi is Principle Investigator of the research project “Film Circulation on the International Film Festival Network and the Impact on Global Film Culture” (BMBF 2017–2022) as well as Lead PI of international research project “GEP Analysis: Assessing, Understanding, and Modeling the Impact of Gender Equity Policies (GEP) in the Film Industry” (DFG/ESRC/SSHRC 2021–2024), and has co-founded the Film Festival Research Network (FFRN) in 2008, has worked with queer film festivals and is Editorial Board member of NECSUS: European Journal of Media Studies.