Ania SKRZYPEK, (Skrzypek-Claassens), born in Warsaw in 1979, is Director for Research and Training at the Foundations for European Progressive Studies (FEPS). She holds Ph.D. cum laude in political sciences from the University of Warsaw, which degree she obtained for her thesis “Cooperation of the socialist and social democratic parties in uniting Europe. From Liaison Bureau to PES. 1957 – 2007.” (also published in book format in 2010).

Before joining FEPS in 2009, A. Skrzypek worked as younger researcher at the Faculty of Journalism and Political Sciences at the University of Warsaw (2003 – 2009) and also served as twice consecutively elected Secretary General of Young European Socialists (ECOSY, 2005-2009).

She is an author of over 80 published papers and articles, available in English, German, French and Polish. Among her responsibilities at FEPS, she is in charge of the Next Left Research Programme, she co-coordinates FEPS Young Academics Network (FEPS YAN), as also she contributes to the FEPS projects of: Next Social Europe, European Transnational Parties and Democratic Empowerment, Ones to Watch, New Global Progressive Construct Convention and the Annual FEPS - Policy Network Oxford Debates.

Johan joins FEPS in December 2017 as Head of Office of President Maria Joao Rodrigues. Over the 11 preceding years, his career’s common theme has been three-fold: (1) related to the EU, its institutions and its policies; (2) aimed at reconciling different stakeholders’ expectations, cultures and ways to work; and (3) project driven. He first served as public relations and public affairs consultant for Porter Novelli consulting from 2006 until 2008, then as project and policy officer for the European Disability Forum from 2008 until 2010, before being hired as project manager and policy outreach officer for the Institut for European Studies of the Université libre de Bruxelles (IEE-ULB). As from 2015 onwards he was appointed executive director for research of the same IEE-ULB. Johan holds a “Diplôme de l'Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Bordeaux" (France), a "Diplom Sozialwissenschaftler” from the Universität Stuttgart (Germany) and an MA in European Studies from the Jagiellonian University Krakow (Poland). He speaks French, English, Flemish (Dutch) and German.

David supervises and coordinates FEPS' scientific quality and consultancy capacity, ensuring the policy-relevance and impact of FEPS’ activities. 
He oversees the economic and social policy portfolios.

Before joining FEPS in 2017, David worked as research fellow at CEPS and at the Jacques Delors Institute, covering EU investment policy, economic governance and welfare policy.

David teaches European Economic Governance at the ULB Institute for European Studies and held teaching positions at the Paris College of Art (visiting professor, microeconomics) and at Bocconi University (teaching assistant, macroeconomics). He was also Senior Academic Assistant at the College of Europe, Department for European Economic Studies and worked as consultant on public finance at the Council of Europe, Social Cohesion Division.

David holds a PhD in Public Economics from the DEFAP Graduate School in Public Economics (Milan) and carried out study visits at the University of Nottingham, Bocconi University and University of Zaragoza. Internships at the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations in New York and at the United Nations - Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa complement his education.

The full list of publication is available on Academia.edu and ResearchGate. His op-eds are to be found on The Progressive Post and on the Huffington Post Italia.

Ainara joined FEPS in September 2019. She has worked for 13 years as a communication specialist and multimedia journalist. In Brussels since 2012, she worked as Communications Director at the Women Political Leaders Global Forum; as Communications Coordinator at the European Parliament (Audiovisual Unit) and as Communications Advisor of the Member of the European Parliament and Vice-President of S&D Group Maria Joâo Rodrigues. As a freelance, she has also extensive experience as a radio/press/TV journalist and anchor, moderator of conferences and political debates and communication consultant, with a specialization on EU affairs and welfare, employment and gender issues.

Ainara holds a Master in Journalism from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. In the early years of her career, she worked as a Brussels-based multimedia correspondent for the Catalan News Agency and, in Spain, as a reporter and video-journalist for the different TV and radio channels.

Roberto was born in Barakaldo (Vizcaya), Spain, in 1988. He completed his studies in Administrative Management in Bilbao where he achieved outstanding scores in Accountancy and in Public Administration.

Before working at FEPS he was awarded the Schuman Traineeship at the European Parliament in October 2013. During his traineeship he worked at the Directorate General for Finances until February 2014.

His work at FEPS includes all the responsibilities related to the financial matters, among them the budget and the accountancy of the foundation. He has been working at FEPS since July 2014.

François is the Head of Office of President Maria Joao Rodrigues. He advises and supports her in all strategic, political and statutory work at FEPS.

François joined FEPS in September 2020. Previously, he worked for several years at the European Youth Forum, mainly as Policy & Advocacy Director, where he led various projects and campaigns aimed at building a more sustainable, democratic and socially just Europe, engaging with key institutions at the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations levels.

He holds a political science degree from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and a degree in European studies from the College of Europe in Bruges.

Graduated in Journalism at Complutense University (Madrid, Spain), she also holds a Master in Political and Electoral Communication Management from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.

Elena worked as a journalist at the digital edition of the Spanish newspaper El Mundo and the website of Radio Televisión Española. She also did an internship at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She moved to Brussels in September 2011, where she did a Schuman traineeship at DG Communication in the European Parliament. Later she worked during one year and a half as a Communications Assistant for a Spanish Socialdemocrat MEP.

Elena joined FEPS in January 2014 where she is in charge of online communication: website, social media, newsletter etc.

Hedwig is FEPS Senior Research Fellow and Editor-in-chief of the Progressive Post, the magazine run by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies.

She joined FEPS in May 2016 as Senior Policy Advisor, working predominantly on migration and the Western Balkans.

She holds a Ph.D. in History of International Relations from the University of Florence and an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics.

From 2006 to 2015, she worked at the Fondazione Italianieuropei, where she was in charge of international relations and activities. She was also a member of the editorial staff of ‘Italianieuropei’, the foundation’s magazine.

She taught Politics and Economics of the European Union, and Italian History and Politics in academic programmes for US students spending a semester in Italy.

Graduated in Political Sciences at Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium), Céline also holds a Master in European Studies-Transnational and Global Perspectives from Katoliek Universiteit Leuven KUL (Belgium).

She began at FEPS, as Junior Officer in March 2016 and is now in charge of the organisation of the project “New Global Progressive Construct Convention”.

Justin joined FEPS in summer 2018 to lead the digital policy portfolio. He previously worked as policy officer in the Secretariat-General of the European Commission. He started in the Directorate for Better Regulation, and then proceeded to take on the digital policy portfolio in the President’s and Vice-President’s Briefing Unit. After that, he became a policy coordinator working on digital and single market policy files.

In the past years, Justin has been among others involved in drafting the European Commission’s mid-term review of the Digital Single Market Strategy, and in policy on standards and standard-essential patents, audio-visual media, Internet governance, the collaborative economy, product liability and the internal market for goods.

During his studies, Justin gained work experience at the law firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Justin holds a Master in European Competition Law and Regulation from the University of Amsterdam, as well as Bachelor’s Degrees in Law and International Relations from the University of Groningen.

Socio-economic project officer, Euléane holds a joint Master degree in European studies from the Universities of Göttingen and Uppsala. Prior to joining FEPS, she worked on international cooperation development projects in Germany.

During her studies, she gained work experience at a French institute, the European University Institute and EACEA. She has a keen interest in higher education, social justice and diplomacy.

Susanne Pfeil is Project Officer with the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), where she coordinates various international projects and activities.

Susanne has a Master’s degree in International Relations (Diplomacy) from the University of Birmingham. Her Master thesis focused on mediation in German foreign policy and the Iran nuclear deal. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Intercultural European and American Studies from the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg.

Prior to joining FEPS, Susanne worked at the European Institute of Peace (EIP) where she gained experience in EU Affairs in Brussels, international peace and security. Susanne is a CISM (Critical Incident Stress Management) peer, trained in workplace crisis intervention strategies. She has a keen interest in conflict resolution and preventive diplomacy. She speaks German, English and Spanish, some French and is learning Dutch.

Laeticia Thissen is Policy Analyst for Gender Equality at FEPS where she is in charge of the foundation’s work related to women’s rights, equality and anti-discrimination issues. Over the years, her work focused on topics ranging from gender injustice to care work and gender-based violence. Before joining FEPS she has worked in the European Committee of the Regions and in the European Parliament. She holds a Master’s degree in European Studies from Maastricht University and undertook a specialization Master degree in Gender Studies (2020-2022). Additionally, she completed a post-academic specialisation course on “Migration, Ethnic Diversity and Intercultural Relationships”.

Sophie joined FEPS in March 2021 as Office Coordinator in order to ensure the smooth running of office tasks and event support.

She has over 12 years of experience in office management thanks to her previous role at the UK Research Office.

Sophie holds a degree in Applied Foreign Languages in English and Spanish from the Catholic University of Lille and a Master’s degree in translation from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Institut Supérieur de Traduction et Interprétation).

Before joining FEPS in April 2021, Stefano worked in the Educational Team of the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence and as freelance writer and video-maker. In 2020, he completed a Schuman Traineeship in the Media and Communication Team of the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli.

Passionate about journalism, photography and video-making, Stefano holds a master’s degree in International Relations and European Studies from the “Cesare Alfieri” Political Science School of the University of Florence.

Andreas Dimmelmeier works as a Policy Analyst on Climate and Environment at FEPS. He holds a PhD in Political Science and Political Economy from Copenhagen Business School and the University of Warwick.

His doctoral research focused on the expert networks in the emergence of sustainable finance, the role that economic ideas played in this process, and how socio-technical tools such as standards, metrics, and scenarios have made sustainable finance governable.

Andreas has published on the interactions between finance and financial regulation and the transition towards a sustainable economy in international peer-reviewed academic journals and edited volumes. In addition, he has contributed to policy reports and policy briefs on these topics.

Arthur is FEPS project officer for international relations projects.

Before joining FEPS at the end of October 2021, Arthur worked for three years at the Community Land Trust of Brussels as project coordinator of the innovative EU-funded housing project CALICO.

He was formerly a Junior Policy Analyst at social policy consultancy Eftheia and a policy assistant at Feantsa, the European network of organisations working against homelessness.

Arthur is a graduate from Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Université Lumière Lyon 2, in European governance and Political Sociology respectively, with an exchange year spent at the University of Pennsylvania as an undergraduate student.

Matteo joined FEPS in January 2022 as a policy advisor in the field of democracy and participation.

From 2015 to 2018, he worked in Berlin at the peacebuilding NGO Berghof Foundation. As a researcher, he studied inclusive peace processes, European Union support to peacebuilding centred governance reform and the role of citizen participation in transitions from autocracy to democracy. Matteo has published in international peer-reviewed academic journals and edited volumes on these topics.

From 2019 to 2021, he worked for the Flemish Peace Institute in Brussels, where he researched international firearms trafficking and firearms violence in Europe, focusing on EU policies on these issues. Several policy reports are the result of this work.

He holds an MSc from Uppsala University in Peace and Conflict Studies.

Catherine holds a bachelor's degree in management accounting.

After graduation, she worked for more than twenty years at FAWilmet as an audit assistant and accountant.

Catherine obtained the title of certified accountant and tax advisor in 2009 from the ITAA (formerly IEC), and she has completed a training in forensic expertise in 2019.

Aline joined FEPS in April 2022 as a Policy Analyst on International Relations. 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.

Thainá Leite works as Project Officer on Climate and Environment at FEPS. She holds a dual Master’s degree in European Studies from the Europa-Universität Flensburg (EUF) and the University of Southern Denmark (SDU). Her Master thesis focused on the 2015 European migration crisis.

Prior to joining FEPS in May 2022, Thainá worked for 2.5 years at the Permanent Representation of Malta to the European Union within the Cabinet of the Permanent Representative, where alongside the Antici team, she was responsible for the preparation and organization of COREPER II, Ministerial Council and European Council meetings.

Before joining the Maltese Permanent Representation, she worked in the private sector as Corporate Intelligence Analyst at S-RM, a UK-headquartered global risk and intelligence consultancy firm, where she provided subject matter proficiency on the political, regulatory and corporate risk environment in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Between 2016 and 2018, she worked as Programme Manager at Women Political Leaders (WPL), a global network of female politicians, where she managed two advocacy activities: the #Girl2Leader Campaign and the Women European Leaders Community.

Additionally, she has previous professional experiences at two Brazilian leading think tanks: the Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI) and the Igarapé Institute.

She speaks Portuguese and English. She has a good knowledge of French and some knowledge of German and Spanish.