Alexander Damiano Ricci
is a German-Italian freelance journalist based in Rome. He holds a BA in International Relations and an MA in Economics and Political Science from the University of Milan. He currently works at EuVisions, where he deals with the analysis of political debates pertaining to EU integration as they unfold in EU Member States’ public spheres
Aline BURNI
Policy Advisor at Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Aline worked at FEPS as a Policy Analyst on International Relations from April 2022 until April 2023. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil) and her doctoral thesis focused on the effect of the rise of populist radical right parties on immigration policies in Europe. During her doctoral studies, she was a Fulbright visiting scholar at the New York University (NYU), and a visiting researcher at the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium). Before joining FEPS, Aline worked as a researcher for the global development think tank German Development Institute/ Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) in Bonn, where her academic and policy advice work centered on international cooperation, EUdevelopment policy, and populism. Aline has applied experience with multi-sector international partnerships and international cooperation for development, having worked in the past as a Local Consultant and Project Coordinator for the international NGO PYXERA Global, and as Head of the National and International Partnerships Advisory for the Minas Gerais State Government, in Brazil.
Alonso ESCAMILLA
Alonso Escamilla is Project and Research Manager at the Catholic University of Avila. He has developed several research projects on the field of youth for the Council of Europe, European Commission, European Youth Forum, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Population Fund and the EU-LAC Foundation. He also is member of the Pool of European Youth Researchers (PEYR) of the EU–CoE Youth Partnership and member of the Pool of Trainers of the Spanish Youth Council.
Andrea STOCCHIERO
is senior researcher at the Study Centre for International Politics (CeSPI). He is an economist with 30 years of professional experience in development, migration and international economics. He has deepened the knowledge on the migration and development nexus and on European Union policies with countries of origin and transit. He has released several publications on development cooperation and migration. In 2021 he edited the CeSPI book Italy and Europe Between Migratory Policies and Integration Processes (Donzelli Editore).
Anna Karlsdottir
Coordinator of the former Nordic Arctic Working Group, and former coordinator for the Nordic Integration Programme for refugees and immigrants, responsible administrator of the Arctic Cooperation Programme secretariat (until 2020), leader for the Nordic Thematic Group on Green and inclusive rural development.
Anton HEMERIJCK
Professor of Political Science and Sociology at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, joined the European Commission's newly formed High-Level Group on the Future of Social Protection and of the Welfare State in October 2021. Trained as an economist at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, he received his doctorate from University of Oxford. In his capacity as Dean of the Faculty of the Social Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam, together with Jonathan Zeitlin, he founded the Amsterdam Centre for Contemporary European Studies. He also directed the Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR), the principle think tank in the Netherlands. Between 2014 and 2017, he was Centennial Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Ben Scott
is Executive Director at Reset, an organisation that aims to ensure Big Tech’s business model serves the public good. Ben’s role at Reset is an evolution of his previous position as Luminate’s Director of Policy & Advocacy. Ben previously co-led the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung (SNV) in Berlin and he was also a Senior Adviser to New America in Washington DC, helping design the Public Interest Technology Initiative. Ben led the technology policy advisory group for the 2016 Clinton US presidential campaign.
Carlota PEREZ
currently an honorary professor at IIPP, at UCL and at SPRU, University of Sussex, UK. She is an adjunct professor at TalTech, Estonia and an academic in residence at Anthemis UK. She is the author of Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages and acts worldwide as a consultant and lecturer.
Dan Jorgensen
Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities from 27. June 2019, Dan Jørgensen is also the former vice-chairman of the parliamentary group of the Social Democratic Party, 2017-2019. He's Member of the Folketing - the Danish Parliament-, for the Social Democratic Party in Funen greater constituency from June 18th 2015.
Daniel Fiott
is Security and Defence Editor at the EU Institute for Security Studies. Prior to this, he worked as a researcher at the Institute for European Studies at the Free University of Brussels (VUB) (2012-2016). At the VUB he analysed and lectured on various aspects of European security, including defence industrial issues more specifically. From 2014-2016 he served as a fellow of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). Before this time he held positions in the think tank world and the private sector. Daniel was educated at the Open University, the University of Cambridge and he holds a PhD in political science from the Free University of Brussels (VUB).
Edoardo Caroli
is part of the world-wide community of young change-makers, constantly pursuing one goal: to make an impact. Since 2014, he has been involved in several initiatives aimed at empowering youth and making sure they are taken into account by decision-makers. His work background ranges from the public sector at the European, national and local levels to fieldwork experiences to end with a long series of initiatives and involvements in the nonprofit sector both in Italy and abroad. He also launched recently a podcast, Turbe Giovanili, offering young people a platform to be heard and speak out. Italy is commonly known as a country affected by brain drain, meaning a lot of highly qualified people emigrate. Edoardo was part of that phenomena but now decided to return offering his country a hand to get up off the ground.
Elena ZACHARENKO
Elena Zacharenko is a doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Tampere University, Finland. Her research focuses on the framing of care and social reproduction in EU economic, social and gender equality policy, and how this shapes the political economy of and core-periphery relations within the EU.
Eleonora POLI
Dr Eleonora Poli is Associate Researcher at the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), where she is working on democracy, institutions, and economic governance in the EU and in the Western Balkans. Eleonora hold s a PhD in International Political Economy from the Department of International Politics at City University London. She has worked as consultant for a number of prominent international organizations and public institutions, such IDS Thomson Reuters, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and OSIFE. Dr Poli is the author of "Antitrust Institutions and Policies in the Globalising Economy", as well as of several book chapters, opinion pieces, articles, and analyses on the EU political trends and economic policies.
Florian Ranft
is Head of Programme Economic and Social Transformation and focuses on inclusive growth and the future of work. In previous capacities, he was Head of Policy and International at Policy Network, and a former Senior Research Analyst at the Centre for Progressive Policy. Previously, he was a researcher and lecturer in political sociology and international relations at the Universities of Frankfurt and Greifswald.
Fortunato Musella
Phd in Political Science of the University of Florence, is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Naples Federico II and Professor of Political Concepts for the Phd course of the Scuola Normale di Pisa. He is currently member of the Editorial Board of the Italian Political Science Review, and he serves in the Executive Board of Federica WebLearning, Center for Innovation and Dissemination of Distance Learning His main research interests include the study of government, presidential politics, political parties, concept analysis and new media. Among his recent publications the volumes Governi monocratici. La svolta presidenziale nelle regioni italiane (Bologna, Il Mulino, 2009) and Il premier diviso. Italia tra presidenzialismo e parlamentarismo (Milan, Bocconi, 2012), and fifty book chapters and articles published in peer review journal such as European Political Science Review, Representation, Contemporary Italian Politics, Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica, Quaderni di Scienza Politica.
Gerry MITCHELL
is a social researcher and writer who is also experienced in political campaigning, community engagement and teaching. She has degrees from Cambridge and The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) where, based in the Centre for Social Exclusion, she completed a PhD in Social Policy. She has recently worked with Compass (London), the Edinburgh Voluntary Organisations’ Council (EVOC), Foundation for European Progressive Studies (Brussels), Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (London and Nordic countries) and the Think Tank for Action on Social Change (Ireland). She lives in Woking, Surrey where she stood as Labour’s parliamentary candidate in the 2019 general election. She currently chairs local Compass and Make Votes Matter groups and co-directs a community fridge project. Her forthcoming book, co-authored with Marcos González Hernando, ‘Uncomfortably Off: Why the Top 10% of Earners Should Care about Inequality’ is published by Policy Press in May 2023.
Gianni PITTELLA
was elected Chair of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament on 2 July 2014. As leader of the Socialists and Democrats (2014-2018), Gianni committed to fighting inequalities by shoring up growth and employment in the EU. Besides his political work, Gianni is the author of several books on the future and challenges of the European project such as a Brief History of the Future of the United States of Europe (2013). He is also a visiting professor at the University of East Anglia’s London Academy of Diplomacy.
Juan Somavía
was UN Ambassador for Chile from 1990 to 1999, and then took office as ILO’s Director-General until 2012. Michelle Bachelet appointed him Counsellor for Labour affairs in 2013. He was UN Special Adviser on Inter-regional Policy Cooperation and now is Director-General of the International Labour Organizaiton (ILO).
Lefteris ANTONOPOULOS
is a researcher on European Cohesion Policy. His research interests are related to issues of policy change in Cohesion policy, EU Enlargement, administrative capacity building and Europeanisation in Southeast Europe. He has worked as a policy researcher at the University of Strathclyde, the University of West Macedonia, and the Computer Technology Institute.
Leila ALIKARAMI
Iranian lawyer, human rights advocate, and women's rights expert, co-initiator of the One Million Signatures Campaign to pressure the Iranian government into ending legal discrimination against Iranian women. She has been honoured by the European Union as a 2016 Sakharov Fellow in human rights and received the Anna Politkovskaya Award in 2009 from Reach All Women in War. Her book, 'Women, Law and Activism in Iran' was published in 2019.
Lucia Annunziata
Former Chairwoman of Italian Public Television, Rai. She hosts “Mezz’ora in più”, a weekly Sunday show on national and international politics. She has been Editor of the Huffingtonpost Italy, between 2012 and 2020; she has been Editor of TG3, the third largest Italian newscast; Editor of Ap.Biscom, the Italian branch of the Associated Press. She was a foreign correspondent for the Italian newspapers La Repubblica, Corriere della Sera, La Stampa, covering over the years Central and Latin America, Middle East, the Balkans, and the United States. She is a member of the Executive Committee of Aspen Institute Italy. She has recently been appointed member of the Scientific Committee of the Italian Encyclopedia “Treccani”. Author of many books, Lucia Annunziata is recipient of Harvard University Nieman Fellowship.
Matjaz NAHTIGAL
is associate professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, where he teaches courses in international law. He graduated at the Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana, where he completed a doctorate in 1999. In 2001 he has completed his doctoral program (SJD) at Harvard University School of Law. His area of research: international law, legal institutions and development, EU law and comparative business law. He has published three monographs on the legal reforms and transition in Central and Eastern Europe, on EU institutional reforms and EU role in the world. His scientific articles are published in national and international reviews. He was legal adviser to the prime minister and the president of the Republic of Slovenia. He lectures as a guest lecturer abroad and he participates in international scientific conferences. He is a member of FEPS Next Left.
Mauro Calise
is a Past-President of the Società Italiana di Scienza Politica (2008-10). He is the founder and Director of federica.eu, the largest worldwide provider of open access multimedia courseware in Italian. He has published books, journal articles and newspaper columns in several areas, including state theory, political parties, executive elites, political communication and concept analysis. He is the author, with Theodore J. Lowi, of Hyperpolitics. An Interactive Dictionary of Political Science Concepts, University of Chicago Press (2010). His latest publications in Italian include: Il partito personale (Laterza, 2000 and 2010), La democrazia del leader (Laterza, 2016) and (with Fortunato Musella) Il Principe digitale (Laterza 2019).
Maya Fernandez
was local councillor in the municipality of Ñuñoa between 2008 and 2012.Between 2006 and 2012, she was part of the General Directorate of International Economic Relations (DIRECON) of Chile’s Foreign Ministry. In 2013, she was elected Member of Parliament for the period 2014 – 2018. In 2017, she was reelected for the period 2018 -2022. Since last 11th March she is the President of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile.
Pier Carlo PADOAN
is Professor at the Sapienza University of Rome, and at the College of Bruges, and ULB in Belgium. He served as Director of the International Monetary Fund for Italy (2001-2005), Deputy Secretary General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – OECD (2007-2014), and Minister of Economy and Finance for Italy (2014-2018). Padoan coordinated the ‘Lisbon Agenda’ for the Italian government in 2000. His books include 'The Structural Foundations of International Finance' (Edward Elgar 2003).
Robert SWEENEY
is head of policy at TASC. His work centres on topics related to inequality. He has completed projects on a variety of topics, including income distribution, housing, care, corporate tax, and more. Robert has a PhD in economics from the University of Leeds in which he examined the growth of the financial sector in Europe.
Susi Meret
is Associate Professor in Comparative Migration Politics and Ethnic Relations in the Social Sciences, Department of Culture and Global Studies, Aalborg University, DK. Her main expertise is within populist radical right parties in Europe, populism, political extremes and politically motivated violence. She coordinated the research network on Nordic Populism (NOPO) and participated to several Nordic and European projects.
Thorben ALBRECHT
is Policy Director of IG Metall. He is an internationally acknowledged expert on the future of work and has been a member of the ILO‘s Global Commission on the Future of Work chaired by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven. From 2014 to 2018 Thorben has been a State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
Tomáš PETŘÍČEK
is a senior non-residential fellow at the Centre of Global Political Economy at the Institute of International Relations in Prague. He is also director of Progressive Analytical Centre, the Prague based think-tank. Since 2022 he is member of the Board of Trustees of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom.
Vasco Alves CORDEIRO
President of the European Committee of the Regions. Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores since 1996 and President of the Regional Government from 2012 to 2020, Cordeiro has been the leader of the Socialist Party of the Azores since January 2013.
Victor NEGRESCU
Vice-President of the European Parliament, member of the Budgets and Legal Affairs Committees, Vice-President of the Party of European Socialists (PES), National Coordinator of PES activists Romania, part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament
