Biographies Joëlle Milquet With a law degree behind her, Joëlle Milquet was admitted to the Brussels bar while working as a teaching assistant at the Catholic University of Louvain. Following a period as a law clerk at the Court of Justice of the European Communities, she rejoined the parliamentary group in the Senate as parliamentary attaché, later becoming councillor, then principle private secretary at the Ministry for Higher Education and political secretary of the party. Joëlle Milquet has been Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Employment and Equal Opportunities since 20 March 2008 She took charge of immigration and asylum policy on 17 July 2009. László Andor László Andor has been Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion since February 2010. Between 2005 and 2010 he was a member of the board of directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, where he represented Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic and Croatia. Previously he taught at the Corvinus University of Budapest and at the King Sigismund College as an associate professor, edited journals, and was an advisor in the Hungarian Prime Minister s Office. Hungarian national, Mr Andor is holder of a Ph.D in economics. He graduated from the University of Economic Sciences (today s Corvinus University) in Budapest in 1989. Following his studies in the George Washington University, Washington, D.C., he earned an M.A. in Development Economics at the University of Manchester, UK in 1993 as a British Council Fellow. Viviane Reding Viviane Reding is a politician from Luxembourg. In 1989, Ms Reding was elected Member of the European Parliament, for two terms. In 1999, Ms Reding was appointed European Commissioner for Luxembourg under President Romano Prodi. For five years, she was in charge of Education, Culture, Media and Sports. In 2004, Ms Reding was re-appointed for a second term to the European Commission under President José Manuel Barroso. Her new and enhanced responsibility included Information Society and Media. In 2010, Ms Reding was nominated for a third mandate in the European Commission. She became Vice-President responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. Viviane Reding has a doctorate in human sciences from the Sorbonne University, is holder of the Prince of Asturias International Cooperation Prize 2004 and is an Officer of the National Order of the French Legion of Honour since 2005. In 2007, the newspaper European Voice named her «Commissioner of the Year». She received the German «Mittelstandspreis» in 2007 and the BeNeLux Europa Prize 2010.
Conny Reuter Conny Reuter a effectué des études aux universités de Bonn et de Cologne. En 1982-83 Conny Reuter est objecteur de conscience et rejoint le service des relations internationales de l Arbeiterwohlfahrt. Il débute sa carrière professionnelle dans le travail social international de la jeunesse et devient en 1985 chef du bureau de liaison de La Ligue de l Enseignement en Allemagne. En 1990, il s installe à Paris où il devient Chargé de mission Europe au Centre Confédéral de La Ligue de l Enseignement. Pendant cette période, il travaille sur des projets européens et internationaux dans les domaines de la formation professionnelle et de l insertion sociale. Il participe à la création de la Fédération Européenne des Associations au Service de la Jeunesse. En 1998 il rejoint l Office Franco-Allemand pour la Jeunesse (OFAJ) à Paris. Conny Reuter a aussi représenté le Conseil de la jeunesse française (CNAJEP) lors du Forum européen de la Jeunesse (FEJ) et participé aux travaux de Solidar tels que la préparation du Forum social européen en 1998. En 2000, il est nommé Chef du bureau des échanges scolaires et extra-scolaires de l OFAJ à Berlin. Conny a été secrétaire général de Solidar depuis octobre 2006. Il a été nommé à l Assemblée générale de l European Policy Centre et il est actuellement membre du Comité exécutif de la Fédération internationale des travailleurs de l éducation Associations (FIAET). Il a été élu président de la Plateforme Sociale en avril 2008. Bernadette Ségol Née à Luzech (France), Bernadette Ségol est titulaire d une maîtrise en philosophie de l Université de Toulouse. Elle a travaillé dans le mouvement syndical international et européen depuis 1974. En 1985 elle devient la Directrice du bureau de la Fédération internationale des employés, techniciens et cadres (FIET), à Bruxelles. En 2000, elle passe d un poste administratif à une fonction élective. En effet, elle est nommée secrétaire générale de Uni-Europa qui est une fédération syndicale européenne qui regroupe des syndicats des services et des compétences de 50 pays. Avec ses 320 organisations syndicales affiliées, Uni-Europa représente 7 millions de travailleurs et travailleuses. Elle a pris ses fonctions en cours lorsque UNI a été créé à partir de la fusion de trois confédérations sectorielles en 2000. Sous sa direction, UNI-Europa a joué un rôle de premier plan dans la campagne pour assurer la directive sur les services ne portent pas atteinte aux droits des travailleurs, fait campagne pour la directive sur les travailleurs intérimaires, et a établi plus de 200 comités d entreprise européens en offrant aux travailleurs une voix dans l Europe des grandes multinationales. L ETUC a désigné Bernadette Ségol pour être le prochain secrétaire général de la Confédération européenne des syndicats (CES). Le Comité exécutif de la CES se prononcera en Décembre. Elle devrait succéder à Jean-Moines, qui prend sa retraite au Congrès de la CES à Athènes en mai prochain. Si elle est élue, Bernadette Ségol sera la première femme secrétaire général de la CES, qui a été fondée en 1973 et a maintenant 60 millions de membres à travers l UE, l AELE et les pays candidats à l UE. Elle deviendrait également le Secrétaire général du Conseil régional paneuropéen de la CSI, qui s étend de l Atlantique au Pacifique. Thérèse de Liedekerke Thérèse de Liedekerke est née en Belgique. Elle étudie les relations économiques internationales à l Université Libre de Bruxelles puis à la London School of Economics. Lorsque la fédération du patronat européen, l Unice, la recrute en 1990, elle entre au département «relations extérieures» et ensuite elle est appelée au département des affaires sociales en 1993. En 1996, à 32 ans, elle devient directeur de ce département. L UNICE devient Business Europe en 2005. Sa tâche principale est de s assurer que les intérêts des entreprises soient représentés et défendus vis-à-vis des institutions européennes dans le but principal de préserver et de renforcer la compétitivité des entreprises. Business Europe est également actif dans le dialogue social européen pour promouvoir le bon fonctionnement des marchés du travail. Thérèse de Liedekerke est actuellement Directrice des Affaires sociales de Businesse Europe
Kyung-wha Kang Kyung-wha Kang prit ses fonctions en tant que Haut-Commissaire adjoint aux droits de l homme le 15 janvier 2007. Sa nomination est au rang de Sous-Secrétaire général des Nations Unies. Mme Kang est diplômée de l Université de Yonsei où elle a obtenu une licence en sciences politiques et diplomatie. Elle obtint par la suite une maîtrise en communication de masse et un doctorat en communication interculturelle de l université du Massachusetts Amherst aux Etats-Unis. Mme Kang est née le 7 avril 1955 à Séoul en Corée. Avant de rejoindre les Nations Unies, Mme Kang, ressortissante de République de Corée, fut Ambassadrice des affaires multilatérales et Directrice Générale chargée des Organisations internationales au Ministère des affaires étrangères et du commerce de la République de Corée. Son portefeuille couvrait de nombreuses questions relatives aux Nations Unies, y compris les droits de l homme. Mme Kang a également servi à la Mission de la République de Corée auprès des Nations Unies à New-York. Dans le cadre de ces fonctions, Mme Kang présida les 48ème et 49ème sessions de la Commission sur le statut de la femme en 2004 et 2005. Avant de rejoindre le service diplomatique en 1998, Mme Kang a travaillé pour le Parlement National de la République de Corée, assistant le speaker de l Assemblée Nationale sur les questions des droits de l homme, l avancement des questions relatives aux femmes et la diplomatie parlementaire. Durant cette période elle a aussi travaillé avec un certain nombre d organisations féminines en Corée, dont le Conseil National des femmes et fut porte-parole du Comité des ONG féminines de Corée à la Conférence mondiale sur les femmes à Beijing en 1995. Plus tôt dans sa carrière, elle travailla pour le Système de radiodiffusion coréen et fut professeure et chercheuse dans des universités en Corée et aux Etats-Unis. Belinda Pyke is Director of Equality between Men and Women, Action against Discrimination, and Civil Society at the European Commission s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. She has a drgree in International Relations with African and Asian Studies and an MBA from the Open Universiry. She joined the European Commission in 1986 and has held her current position since 2007. She was a member of the cabinets of Commissioners Clinton-Davis, Millan and Kinnock and held middle-management posts in DG Enterprise and Industry, in the Common Service for External Relations, and in DG Budget. Belinda Pyke Mandana Zarrehparvar Mandana Zarrehparvar (1962) holds a BA in political science and social work and a Master in Globalization and Integration. She has over 25 years of experience working in the field of integration, migration and anti-discrimination. Mandana has held various positions within local governments, NGOs and national institutions. She is currently Chief Adviser at the Danish Institute for Human Rights. In 2009 she was elected as Chair of Equinet European Network of Equality Bodies where she has also been a board member since 2007. Since May 2004, Jozef De Witte is the Executive Director of the Belgian Centre for Equal Opportunities and Opposition to Racism. The Centre is an independent public service, established by law in 1993, and is the Belgian Equality Body for discrimination based on racism, sexual orientation, handicap, age, with the exception of gender. The Centre also has legal missions in the field of migration: monitoring the fundamental rights of foreigners; stimulating the fight against human trafficking; and informing the authorities on migration flows. Jozef de Witte was member of the MB of the EUMC/FRA (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Vienna) from May 2004 to June 2010; and is member of the Executive Board of EQUINET, the European network of Equality Bodies since November 2009. Before May 2004, he was Secretary-General of 11.11.11, a coalition of NGOs, trade unions, movements and solidarity groups in Belgium to promote development cooperation. Jozef De Witte has Master s degrees in Psychology and in Management. Jozef De Witte
Katri Linna Katri Linna was born and raised in Finland, where she completed upper secondary school in 1978. In 1980 she began studying law at Uppsala University and continued her studies at the University of Leicester in the UK. Early in her career, she worked in a law firm, and subsequently became a legal adviser and then a chief legal officer within the union sector as well as holding various high positions in the public sector. She was appointed as Ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination in 2005. When the four existing equality bodies were merged into a single agency on 1 January 2009, Katri Linna was appointed as the new Swedish Equality Ombudsman. Katri Linna has had a number of expert assignments in the anti-discrimination field and has served as a national rapporteur in various European contexts: International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC), European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), European Network of Equality Bodies (Equinet). She was also a specially invited speaker at international, regional and national conferences in Serbia, Turkey and Russia etc. Mari-Liis Sepper Mari-Liis Sepper is the Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner since October 2010. She holds a MA in law from the University of Montpellier (France). She has previously worked as legal adviser at the Gender Equality Department in the Ministry of Social Affaires, as lawyer-linguist at the European Court of Justice and as adviser at the Commissioner s office. Ms Sepper has teached human rights courses at the University of Tartu and Tallinn and is author and editor of number of publications on gender equality, among them the commented edition of Estonian Gender Equality Act. Vassilis Karydis Vassilis Karydis is Professor at the Department of Social and Educational Policy of the University of Peloponnese and Visiting Professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Athens. He has worked extensively in the fields of immigrant integration and crime, youth cultures and violence, hidden criminality, prison system, justice system and delivery of criminal justice. His latest book is Visions of Social Control in Greece. Moral Panics, Criminal Justice (Sakkoulas Publ., 2010). Member of ad hoc Law-Making Committees at the Ministry of Public Order and Ministry of Justice. He is also Staff member of the Academic Network Critical Criminology and Criminal Justice Systems in Europe, and member of the Steering Committee of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control. Jean-Pierre Garson M. Jean-Pierre Garson est né en 1946 à El-Biar (Alger), il est marié et père de deux enfants. Economiste, il est actuellement Chef de la Division des migrations internationales au sein de la Direction de l Emploi, du Travail et des Affaires sociales de l OCDE. M. Garson possède un diplôme d études approfondies en sciences économiques de l Université de Paris I. Il est diplômé du Centre d études des communautés européeennes (option économie) de cette même université et de l Institut d Etudes du Développement économique et Social (IEDES). M. Garson possède aussi un diplôme en sciences de gestion (IAE). Avant son entrée à l OCDE en octobre 1988, Jean-Pierre Garson a d abord travaillé à l INSEE (1971) puis dans le secteur privé (Société SVP, 1972-1973) avant d enseigner l économie générale et internationale à l Université de Paris XI (1973-1988). M. Garson est responsable depuis 1989 de la publication du rapport annuel de l OCDE Perspectives des Migrations internationales, ainsi que d autres publications sur ce sujet. M. Garson a été aussi responsable jusqu en 2008 des questions relevant de l emploi et des politiques sociales dans les économies non membres de l OCDE.
Maria Gallotti Ms. Maria Gallotti has first worked for the ILO in 2000 as part of the Gender Promotion Programme (GENPROM) of the Employment Sector where she was in charge technical cooperation project in the area of gender, employment and migration, focussing in particular on migrant domestic workers. She was affiliated with the International Migration Programme in 2006 to work as a Migration Officer with planning and monitoring responsibilities on technical cooperation projects in particular in the field of integration, non discrimination and gender. From 2007 she collaborated with the ILO Office in Bangkok on a number of activities in the area of migration and trafficking. Since April 2010 she is serving as a Migration Policy Specialist of the International Migration Programme. She is currently based in Brussels, to act as one of MIGRANT s focal points on European related issues, among others. She holds a European Master degree in Human Rights and Democratisation (European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation) and she has a political science background (University of Pavia, Italy). Helen Hoffmann Helen Hoffmann is an Adviser at UEAPME, the European employers organisation and European Social Partner representing the interests of crafts and SMEs. Her areas of responsibility include equal opportunities, employment and social policies and social dialogue. Helen is a member of various committees at EU level, such as the Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for women and men. She previously worked at the British Embassy, Berlin. She studied at the University of Sussex, Brighton and Institut d Etudes Politiques, Lyon. Kasia Jurczak Kasia Jurczak is a Programme Manager at the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) in Vienna. Kasia is working on the FRA s project on the impact of Racial Equality Directive, as well as issues related to fundamental rights of persons with disabilities. Before joining the FRA in April 2009, Kasia was working as a Research Officer for the Eurofound, an EU agency in charge of research on living and working conditions. Kasia is a social policy analyst by training and holds a degree from London School of Economics and University of Leuven. Adam Rogalewski graduated from Jagiellonian University in Cracow with degree in law. During the studies he was active in Campaign Against Homophobia. In 2004 organised the first gay pride in Cracow. He initiated a conference of Polish and German LGBT community groups in Cracow town hall in the following year. He worked for Polish Government in the Fair Trade Office. Since August 2008 he has been seconded from National Alliance of Trade Unions (OPZZ) to British trade union (UNISON) to work on the project for migrant and vulnerable workers. He also represented OPZZ in the Advisory Committee for Social Security of Migrant Workers in European Commission. In August 2009 he was appointed LGBT officer by OPZZ and in July this year he organised the first conference in the Central and Eastern Europe on LGBT equality at workplace. Adam Rogalewski
Krzysztof Smiszek Krzysztof _Smiszek received his law degree in 2003 from the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw in Poland. In 2006 obtained his degree in European Law. From 2003 until 2005 he worked as a lawyer at the Office of the Polish Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Status of Women and Men - national equality body responsible for combating discrimination. Krzysztof _miszek is the current Deputy President of the Polish Society of Anti-discrimination Law which brings together a range of Polish law practitioners, policy experts, lawyers and academics interested in promotion and improving anti-discrimination legislation. He also cooperates with the Polish nationwide LGBT organization Campaign Against Homophobia where he heads the Legal Team. Krzysztof Smiszek is an author of a number of articles and papers on EU anti-discrimination legislation. From 2008 until 2010 he worked as a Policy Officer in Equinet - the European Network of Equality Bodies (Brussels). He is also a Co-coordinator of the European Commission of Sexual Orientation Law non-political and non-governmental network of legal experts. Fabrizio Marrazzo is president of Arcigay Roma since 2003 and Responsible of Gay Help Line since 2006. In this capacity, he coordinated several campaigns against discrimination and in favour of the extension of civil rights to same-sex couples in Italy. He set up and coordinated several projects, among which: SOS Homophobia (2005 to present), aimed at training helpdesk operators to deal with homophobia and transphobia; Gay Help Line (2006 to present), the first Italian toll-free number against homophobia and transphobia; Calliope (2008-2009) fostering gender equality and fighting discrimination against lesbians and bisexuals in the workplace; and Euryalys (2009-2011), a project aimed at fighting homophobic bullism in schools with Belgian, Spanish and Latvian partners. At present, he is coordinating the Rome Gay Street project, the most popular area in the lesbian, gay and transexual community. Fabrizio Marrazzo Anne-Sophie Parent Anne-Sophie Parent is Director of AGE Platform Europe, a EU network representing 28 million older people across the EU-27. AGE aims to voice and promote the interests of the 150 million inhabitants aged 50+ in the European Union. Ms Parent sits on various advisory committees set up by the European Commission (European Pensions Forum, e-inclusion programme, European Health Policy Forum, Advisory Group on Science in Society, Ad Hoc Expert Group on Desinstitutionalisation). She is also a member of the Advisory Group of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Generations and Gender Programme and sits on the Steering Committee of the Social Justice Programme of the King Baudouin Foundation (B). Ms Brignone holds MA in literature, further studies in social sciences with focus on development issues. She has been working at the European Parliament since 1984, in different departments. From 1998 to 2003: she was administrator in the Women s Rights Committee, responsible for such dossiers as violence against women and the Beijing Platform for Action. She assisted the rapporteur on Gender mainstreaming in the European Parliament, a report leading to the setting up of the EP s High-Level Group on Gender Equality and Diversity. In her current function as Head of the Equality and Diversity Unit (since 2003), she has focused on broadening the scope of equality policies in the administration. This led to the adoption by the Bureau of a Statement of principles and of the Action plan 2009-2013 for the promotion of Gender Equality and Diversity in the EP Secretariat. Her unit has been playing a key role in the development and implementation of positive action measures, e.g. to achieve gender balance in management and to promote the employment and inclusion of persons with disabilities. Rosa Brignone
Ilie Dinca Mr. Dinca graduated the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration of Bucharest, Faculty of Public Administration. Mr. Ilie Dinca has been President of the National Agency for Roma since 2009 and is also national coordinator of Decade of Roma Inclusion. Well known militant of Roma people in Romania, he has more than 15 years experience in working on Roma issues, and public administration at highest level. Among other important positions, he was expert delegated to the Working Group of Roma Associations (2001-2003), national expert for Roma issues at Council of Europe (2003-2005) and Undersecretary of State in the National Office for Roma (2003-2004). From 2002 to 2003 and from 2005 to 2009, he also served as general secretary of Roma Party Pro-Europa, serving currently as vice-president. In November 2004, he set up the National Agency for Roma and served as its President, assimilated to the position of secretary of state. He coordinated the activity of this governmental agency until July 2005. After that, from 2007-2009, he served as President of the Human Rights and International Relations Commission within the National Council for Minorities. Before working for the Government he occupied different positions in private and public companies such as County Counselor and Member in the Permanent Delegation of Ilfov County Council and as President of the Commission Trade, Privatization and European Integration G. Mills is the national secretary for equalities at UNISON, the largest public service trade union in the UK, she has 20 years experience in the trade union movement and held the Presidency of the UK Trade Union Confederation. Gloria is also currently the chair of the EPSU Women s and Gender Equality Committee,. EPSU is the European Federation of Public Service Unions, representing 8 million public service workers in Europe. EPSU is a member of the ETUC. Gloria Mills Silvia Akif Silvia AKIF, psychologue de formation avec un DES en gestion du personnel (ULB) est responsable de la gestion de la diversité au Selor (bureau de sélection de l administration fédérale belge) et de son centre d expertise Diversité. Après une expérience en sélection et recrutement, elle s est spécialisée dans la gestion de la diversité cherchant à garantir l égalité des chances, de traitement et d accès à tous les emplois et carrières publics. La diversité et l égalité des chances constituent également ces domaines de recherche qu elle a démarrée en travaillant comme assistante chercheuse à l Université Libre de Bruxelles dont elle est actuellement collaboratrice scientifique. Depuis le screening diversité visant à garantir la neutralité et l objectivité des tests et procédures de sélection, en passant par une grande expertise en aménagements raisonnables des tests aux candidats avec handicap (plus de 3000 procédures de sélection adaptées selon des handicaps divers) et d adaptation des fonctions à leurs handicaps, en développant et donnant des formations à la diversité jusqu à la gestion de projets créatifs orientés vers les groupes cibles diversité (personnes avec handicap, personnes d origine étrangère, femmes pour fonctions managériales, personnes en risque de pauvreté et exclusion sociale, ), elle fait de la diversité inclusive et d un emploi pour tous sa mission principale. Son Centre d Expertise Diversité est consulté quotidiennement à la fois par des instances nationales (publiques et privées), européennes qu internationales pour divers conseils et missions. Plus d informations via diversity@selor.be. Vasco Malta, born in 1981 in Portugal, has a degree law from Lisbon University and has a postgraduate degree in Commercial Law in the same University. He started being a Lawyer, primarily related to Corporate Law (Real Estate Law, Commercial Law, Intellectual Property, Mergers and Acquisitions), and he was professor of Economics. Now is currently legal advisor to the High Commissioner for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue in Portugal with responsibilities in the Equality Commission for Combating Racial Discrimination. Is role is to elaborate reports regarding the implementation of the legislation of anti-discrimination in Portugal and to open processes of administrative offences, regarding the violation of any law of anti-discrimination. He was also speaker in several conferences and summits in Portugal, regarding the global framework of the legislation anti-discrimination in Portugal. Vasco Malta
Stig Langvad Mr. Stig Langvad holds an MSc in political science (University of Aarhus, Denmark) and has considerable experience as an independent political adviser, analyst and planner in the field of social affairs. As chairman of the Disabled Peoples Organisations Denmark since 2000, Mr. Stig Langvad has a strong record on promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. Furthermore, at the Danish level, Mr Langvad is Deputy Chairman of the Danish Disability Council (since 2002) and Chairman of the Board of the Impartial Consultative Service for People with Disabilities. He is also member of the Executive Committee of the Danish Association of the Disabled (since 1991), of i.a. the Employment Council, Luftfartens Handicapråd (Danish council regarding carriage of disabled persons),of the Equal Opportunities Centre for Disabled Persons, the Reference Group on ICT (information and communication technologies) and of VISO (national knowledge and special advice organisation set up to advise the Government on societal developments with disability as a mainstream perspective). Mr. Stig Langvad has significant international experience in working with disability issues. Among other important positions, Mr. Langvad has been a member of the European Disability Forum (EDF) Board of Directors since 2001 and a member of EDF\ s Executive Committee since 2009. Johannes Gutmann is graduated from Secondary school for commerce in Zwettl/Lower Austria. He had previous work experiences with the private brewery in Zwettl as well as the Waldviertel Management organisation in Zwettl. He also worked 2 years with the federal state of Lower Austria (foundation of sales- and marketing organisation for agricultural specialised crop). In 1988, he found the company SONNENTOR which will become a limited liability corporation SONNENTOR Kräuterhandels GmbH in 1995. Later, he also set up 3 daughter-companies with others partners in South-Moravia, Romania and Albania. Johannes Gutmann Uduak Archibong Uduak Archibong PhD is Professor of Diversity at the University of Bradford, UK, where she directs the Centre for Inclusion and Diversity and provides strategic oversight for equality and diversity across the institution. She is aslo a Visiting Professor at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal South Africa and a Fellow of the West African College of Nursing. Her research, teaching and knowledge transfer activities broadly cover the areas of workforce diversity, diversity competent leadership development, family-centred health care and cross-cultural negotiation of community / family access to, and engagement in health and social services. Her research interests have been influenced by many years experience of working closely with leaders and senior managers within the healthcare and higher education arenas both in the UK and internationally. Professor Archibong leads a global team of researchers to undertake numerous large-scale research projects on representational diversity and inclusive workplaces including a recently completed European Commission funded collaborative research study on Positive Action Measures in the European Union, Canada, United States and South Africa (PAMECUS). Professor Archibong has published extensively on inclusion and diversity; she is lead author of the article which won the IJD International Award for Excellence in the area of diversity in organisations, communities and nations in 2009. Mrs. Polena Benic graduated in human resources and education manager at the University of Maribor. Her professional career has been dedicated almost entirely to the integration of people with disabilities in companies. She has designed, managed and realized many internal projects on the adaptation of the workplace for disabled workers in production units. She has also been involved in the creation and realization of EU projects concerning vocational training on how to deal with disability in the workplace. Polona Benic is now human resource manager of Mercator, where she is also head of Group for reasonable accommodation of people with a disability. Polena Benic
Anita Celarec Anita Celarec was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia. She graduated in psychology studies at the University of Ljubljana in 2007 and is a postgraduate student in Human resource management at the same university. She is currently attending the American Chamber s Young Professional Programme. Her interests, both in research and practice, are focused on the psychology of work and organization, especially concerning age and diversity management. She has been working her whole career in human resource management selecting and developing talent as well as improving selection processes. Her research concerning age management has been recognized and rewarded by an important Slovenian association of elderly people. In August 2007 she came to Mercator, where is responsible for recruitment and selection of key employees. In 2007 Kay was appointed as Commissioner to the new Equality and Human Rights Commission having previously been a Commissioner on the Disability Rights Commission. Also in 2007 she was also appointed as a member of the Prime Minister Council on Social Action. Currently Kay is Group Head of Social Action and Inclusion at Royal Mail Group. In January 2010 she was appointed as a Non Executive Directive to Pension, Disability and Careers Service in DWP. With over 20 years in HR, Kay previously worked in the Public Affairs team at BSkyB looking at a range of issues including portrayal of disability in the media and access to digital technology. Prior to this Kay headed up the diversity team within B&Q where she had responsibility for developing and implementing the award winning diversity strategy on age and disability for the UK s largest DIY retail company. As HR Director for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Kay became aware of the need to understand diversity in relation to customer profile and business development and introduced one of the first diversity programmes in the Arts. Kay is accredited to the European Mentoring and Coaching Council. Kay Allen Jos Wouters Jos Wouters, is a staff officer on a platform of user organizations about the combination of disability, chronic illness and work or labour (Grip vzw). In the platform there are 12 organisations and other associations that are members. Jos Wouters is a delegate in the Commission on Diversity of the advisory council SERV (SERV, the strategic council in Flanders about socio-economic themes, together with employers organisations and trade unions). He also participates to the stakeholders forum of the VDAB (Flemish service for job placement and vocational training). Jos Wouters has worked 15 years in housing for persons with intellectual disabilities. Then he has worked 4 years as an accountant, and the next 6 years as the responsible for financial and administrative affairs of a sheltered workshop. Since the last 2 years, he has been staff officer on the platform GRIP vzw Lia Kallidou was born in Nicosia, Cyprus and studied law at the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She also completed a master in political sociology at the London school of economics and political science. As a volunteer in DEOK she is an activist Trade Unionist. She is also involved in gender equality issues as she is the president of the Cyprus Gender Equality Observatory (CGEO), an initiative of DEOK. She is also the managing director of a Communications/ Marketing firm and she used to be a successful journalist in the Cyprus TV and Press. Lia Kallidou is the Publicity - Promotion and Press Secretary, as well as a member of the Executive Secretariat of DEOK (Democratic Labour Federation of Cyprus). Lia Kallidou
Patricia Prendiville Patricia Prendiville is Director of Equality Works an organisational development consultancy specialising in supporting strategic development for equality outcomes. Patricia has degrees in Psychology, Women s Studies and Organisational Development, and an advanced diploma in group analysis. She has authored resource books in facilitation skills, youth work with young women and lesbian inclusion. From 2004-2009 she was Executive Director of ILGA-Europe, and from 1994-2004 she co-founded and worked with Meitheal Development, a support and training organisation working with civil society organisations. Patricia s voluntary work over the past 25 years has included in the areas of reproductive rights, women s equality, physical and mental health, lesbian organising and local community organising. She was recently appointed Irish Representative to the Board of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency. Carsten Tams Carsten Tams is the Ethics & Compliance Executive for Bertelsmann AG. Bertelsmann is an international media company encompassing television (RTL Group), book publishing (Random House), magazine publishing (Gruner + Jahr), media services (Arvato), and media clubs (Direct Group) in more than 50 countries, employing more than 100.000 people. In his current role, Carsten Tams has implemented and currently oversees Bertelsmann s global Ethics & Compliance program, including amongst its key resources the Bertelsmann Code of Conduct, training and communication initiatives, and reporting mechanisms allowing employees and other stakeholders to confidentially and safely seek advice or report compliance violations. Previous responsibilities at Bertelsmann included various organizational development and Human Resources initiatives (e.g. company mission statement, management competency model, knowledge management system, human capital research, initiatives on workplace health & safety, corporate social responsibility, employee surveys). Prior to joining Bertelsmann, Carsten gained professional experience working for the Berlin office of McKinsey & Company as well as the German Embassy in Paris. He studied Political Science and Public Administration with a focus on European Integration. He holds a Master in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, a B.A. in Political Science from the Institut d Etudes Politiques de Paris, as well as an M.A. in Political Science from the Freie Universität Berlin. Chibo Onyeji Chibo Onyeji has been active on the anti-discrimination scene for a long time, and is the ENAR Board Member from Austria. A poet with several poetry collections, his short stories, essays, and poems have appeared in journals, anthologies, and online; in 2007 he won the Olaudah Equiano First Prize for fiction. He holds a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, was a Research Associate at the Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems (CADSWES), the University of Colorado at Boulder, and subsequently a Research Scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria. He teaches at the University of Vienna, undertakes development programming services for UN specialized agencies, and continues to be active in anti-discrimination work. He was elected Vice President of ENAR in 2007. Ilze Brands-Kehris Ilze Brands Kehris is the Chairperson of the Management Board of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, where she has been a member of the management board and the executive board since 2007. She was the Vice-Chairperson of the Management Board of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia between 2004 and 2007. From 2006 to 2010 she was Vice President of the Council of Europe Advisory Committee of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. She is also the director of the Latvian Centre for Human Rights. Niall Crowley Niall Crowley is an independent equality and diversity expert. He was chief executive officer of the Equality Authority in Ireland from its establishment in 1999 until 2009. The Equality Authority was established to promote equality and combat discrimination in the areas covered by Irish equality legislation. Prior to this Niall Crowley worked in the community and voluntary sector with the Travellers rights organisation Pavee Point for twelve years. During this period he was an active member of the Community Workers Cooperative, a national network of groups and individuals involved in community development. Niall Crowley was a member of the National Economic and Social Forum and the National Economic and Social Council. He is the author of An Ambition for Equality which was published by Irish Academic Press in 2006.
Evelyne Paradis Evelyne Paradis is the Vice-Chair of the Social Platform s Working Group on Fundamental Rights and Non-Discrimination and Executive Director ILGA-Europe. Evelyne completed studies in history, political science and European affairs in Canada and in France. She holds a Master s degree in political science. Evelyne Paradis is originally from Canada. She has extensive experience and has been working in the field of human rights for over 10 years. She has worked for the UN High Commission for Human Rights, for the Council of Europe and for human rights NGOs in Canada. Evelyne Paradis has been working with ILGA-Europe s office in Brussels since September 2005, and was previously the policy director. Veronica Nilsson obtained a Master of Science degree specializing in Political Economy from Stockholm University in 1994. She has a background in the Swedish trade union movement. She was a researcher at the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (TCO) from 1996 to 2001. She also acted as Deputy Director of the Brussels Office of the Swedish Trade Unions between 1997 and 1998.In 2001 she took up the post of Senior Policy Advisor at the Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the OECD in Paris. In 2008 she moved to Brussels and was once again Deputy Director of the Brussels Office of the Swedish Trade Unions. She then joined the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) and from 2009 to 2010 was their Policy Officer responsible for health and social services, in particular the negotiations which resulted in the Directive on prevention from sharp injuries adopted in the beginning of 2010. Since 2010 she has been Special Advisor to the European Trade Union Confederation, with responsibility for better regulation, gender equality, worker participation issues, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. Veronica Nilsson Heidi Lougheed Heidi Lougheed is the Head of IBEC Europe; the Brussels office of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation. As such she is involved in explaining the European Union to employers based in Ireland and in representing their interests at EU level. She co-ordinates IBEC s overall work as a member of BUSINESSEUROPE and is Chairperson of BUSINESSEUROPE s Equal Opportunities Network. She previously worked in IBEC s Dublin office as a Senior Social Policy Executive, working on the development of IBEC s social policy, with particular responsibility for European Social Policy and immigration policy. Ms Lougheed has represented Irish employers at both national and European levels including as a member of the Social Dialogue Committee, the Advisory Committee on the Free Movement of Workers to the European Commission and more recently as a member of the European Economic and Social Committee. Ms Lupkovics graduated in Law from ELTE University. Since 1980, she has worked for the Hungarian Trade Union of Commercial Employees in Budapest as legal adviser. She is also Deputy of the Women s Board of the National Confederation of Hungarian Trade Unions (MSZOSZ), Representative of the MSZOSZ in the Committee of Equal Opportunities of the National Council for the Reconciliation of Interests (OÉT), Representative of Hungary in the Social Dialog Committee on Gender Equality of the European Commission (on the trade union side), Representative of Hungary in the Social Dialog Committee on Gender Equality of the European Commission (on the trade union side), Member of the Women Committee in the ETUC (European Trade Union Confederation) and Member of the Women Committee in the ITUC/PERC (International Trade Union Confederation/Pan European Regional Council. Ms Lupkovics holds a great experience in the field of Equality. In particular, she took part in the preparation of the Hungarian Act ob equal treatment and promotion of equal opportunities in the in the Committee of Equal Opportunities of the National Council for the Reconciliation of Interests (OÉT) and she worked in the SD Committee on European level on Gender Equality, which ended with an agreement about an action plan ( Framework on actions on gender equality ) Marianne Lupkovics
Geoff Ross Geoff Ross, national board member and leader of the international affairs group of l Autre Cercle France Born in London, Geoff Ross has lived in Paris for over 30 years where he is an international corporate strategy consultant. Educated first at Imperial College, University of London from which he holds a B.Sc. Honours degree in Physics, Geoff went on to study business administration at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In his professional career as a corporate strategy consultant he has lived and worked in London, Amsterdam, Paris, New York, Sao Paolo and Tokyo. He is currently a board member of l Autre Cercle, a French NGO consisting of socially-responsible professionals, combatting sexual-orientation-based discrimination in the workplace and also serves on the board of the International Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the IGLCC. As a board member of l Autre Cercle he interacts with businesses on their management of corporate diversity and also leads a group that is concerned with international issues. At IGLCC he is a member of the Board s International Business Equality Index (IBEI) Committee. Saïd DARWANE s est engagé dans le mouvement syndical en France depuis une vingtaine d année. Il est : - Membre du groupe «Migration, Inclusion» de la Confédération européenne des Syndicats (CES); - Conseiller National à l Union National des Syndicats Autonomes (UNSA-France), Chargé du Secteur Discriminations- Immigration-Accès aux Droits; - Membre du Conseil d Administration de l Agence nationale pour la cohésion sociale et l égalité des chances - France; - Membre de la Commission National Consultatif des Droits de l Homme France; - Membre de la Commission «Image de la Diversité» - France. Il a piloté plusieurs projets syndicaux nationaux et européens (Equal et Transnationaux) sur la question des discriminations et l intégration dans le monde du travail. Saïd Darwane Paloma López Bermejo Nombre: Paloma López Bermejo Fecha de nacimiento: Madrid, 1962 Domicilio: C/ Fernández de la Hoz, 12 Teléfono: 91 7028028 Nº DNI: 00.805.900-A DATOS ACADÉMICOS: - Educadora de Discapacitados Psíquicos. - Profesora de E.G.B. DATOS PROFESIONALES: - Responsable de la Secretaría Confederal de Empleo y Migraciones de CC.OO. desde 2009. - Miembro de la Comisión Ejecutiva Confederal de CC.OO. desde 2000. - Responsable de diferentes actividades sindicales desde el año 1996.