Dr Rebecca Finkel graduated from Princeton University and was awarded a PhD in Cultural Geography from King's College London. Currently, she is a Reader in Events Management in the School of Arts, Social Sciences & Management at Queen Margaret University. Her main field of study focuses on identity, social justice, and critical events studies. Main research interests include the strategic analysis of government socio-economic policies for funding and development with regard to creative industries and social capital. New research is framed within conceptualisations of gender identity, resistance to globalisation through cultural events, and mapping human rights and international sporting events, recently focusing on the links between sex work, human trafficking, and Olympic Games. She is a co-editor of Research Themes in Events published in 2014 with CABI and the author of Human Rights and Global Events with Routledge due to be published next year. Rebecca has published in international peer-reviewed academic journals, such as Tourism Management and Cultural Trends. She edited a Special Issue of Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events on social justice and events-related policy. She is co-editing a Special Issue for Organization about diversity and equality in the creative industries. She has been awarded a Carnegie Trust Research Grant twice. She has delivered the keynote address at IFEA's 2006 annual conference and the 2015 International Sport Tourism Conference. Also, she consulted on an ICA and King's College London project for Hong Kong University to inform the Hong Kong Government about developing cultural industries based on the UK model as well as on a social capital research project for the LDA about investing in creative industries and creative entrepreneur programmes in South London. Additionally, she has delivered workshops in Trinidad and Tobago and Austin, Texas, on cultural events tourism.