Prof. Elena Vacchelli
Trustee
Her Story
Elena studied Political Science at the University of Milan, Italy, and obtained her PhD at the prestigious Open University's Geography Department, working at the interface between Critical Geography and Sociology.
Before her PhD she held academic assignments at the Humboldt University in Berlin and at the University of Milan-Bicocca in Milan.
Elena's teaching and research interests include migration, diversity and social inequality; gender and space; embodiment; art-based and digital research methodologies.
She has substantial experience in researching diversity and gender in the UK and Europe, acquired through work at local, national and European level while based at the Social Policy Research Centre at Middlesex University (2010-2016).
Elena's research has been published in several leading peer-reviewed international journals such as: Gender, Place and Culture; Hagar; Cahiers du Cedref; Research in Urban Sociology; International Migration; Sociological Research Online; Religion and Gender; and Feminist Review.
Her research on gender, social and spatial justice draws on extensive collaboration with local communities to understand migrants' lived experiences through co-creative, digital and participatory methodologies.
She has worked with international institutions including the European Commission and the Fundamental Rights Agency and, additionally, with UK bodies such as UKRI, National Lottery and Public Health England.
In her research capacity, Elena has been collaborating with MEWSo since 2018 and produced two research reports based on this work, (see Polygamy Matters, a report into the lived experiences of women in polygamous families in North London), before becoming a trustee of the organisation in 2025.