Belinda Zakrzewska was born in Lima, Peru, to a Polish father and a Peruvian mestiza mother. Her work is shaped by the complex interplay of her Latina and Polish identities, as well as the enduring colonial legacies she witnessed growing up in Peru that continue to impact the lives of Indigenous Peoples and other marginalized communities.

Today, she is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Strategy & Marketing at the University of Sussex Business School. In her research, she uses qualitative research methods to explore questions around authenticity, craft, Indigenous organizing, and ongoing colonialism within cultural industries.

During her PhD in Management at the University of Sussex Business School, she examined the relationship between authenticity and coloniality in new Peruvian cuisine. Her doctoral dissertation earned her the prestigious 2023 Best Critical Dissertation award from the Critical Management Studies division of the Academy of Management.

Additionally, one of her dissertation papers, titled “Cultural Appreciation and Appropriation in the Crafting of the New Peruvian Cuisine” was published in Organization Studies in 2024, and she contributed a related column on the topic to the Peruvian investigative news platform Ojo Público.

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