Magda Nico has a PhD in Sociology (University Institute of Lisbon), with a thesis entitled “Transitions to Adulthood in Portugal and Europe in the Life Course Perspective”. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at CIES (ISCTE-IUL) with the project “Family Portraits of Contemporary Portugal: generations, life courses and social mobility”, a researcher in the Measuring Youth Wellbeing project (European Union's Seventh Framework Programme) and a member of the Pool of European Youth Researchers (EU-CoE Youth Partnership). Her main interests include Transitions to Adulthood in Europe, Youth, Residential Autonomy, De-Standardization of the Life Course, Life Course Perspective and Methods. She is the author of the chapter “Beyond ‘Biographical’ and ‘Cultural Illusions’ in European Youth Studies: Temporality and Critical Youth Studies” (Brill, 2014); “Variability in the transitions to adulthood in Europe: a critical approach to destandardisation of the life course" (Journal of Youth Studies, 2013), among others.

Maria Pisani PhD is a Maltese academic and activist. She is the co-founder and director of Integra Foundation, a lecturer with the department of Youth and Community Studies, University of Malta, and   also coordinates the Centre for Critical Migration Studies with The Critical Institute. Maria has published in international journals and contributed to edited texts. Her research interests include forced migration with a special focus on  youth, intersectionalities, ‘race’ and colonialism, national identity and citizenship. She combines this work with her interest in critical pedagogy and engaging praxis as a project of social transformation towards social justice.

Antje Rothemund, joined the Council of Europe in 1991. Since October 2014, she is the Head of the Youth Department in the Directorate General of Democracy. From 2011 to 2014, she was the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade. Antje is an educationalist specialised in adult education and has been from 1999 – 2011 the Executive Director of the European Youth Centre of the Council of Europe in Budapest, Hungary. In the framework of the pan European training programmes for youth work and the intergovernmental co-operation with the 50 signatory parties to the European Cultural Convention, she has worked on the development and delivery of educational concepts, training modules and methodologies in non-formal educational settings and on the quality development of youth work and youth policies in Europe. Before joining the Council of Europe, Antje worked as Programme Executive for the European Region of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in London, after having been an active volunteer on local, national and European level for many years. Her professional career started in the early 80s as youth worker at the municipal youth centres of the City of Munich, Germany.

Amerah Saleh is a spoken word artist, workshop facilitator, host and project coordinator. Amerah is Head of Campaigns and Experiences at Beatfreeks where she creates events and content with young people and organisations. She won the Art Award at Youth 4 Excellence and become the Overall Youth 4 Excellence Award Winner in 2015. Amerah is currently resident artist at Birmingham REP Theatre.

A former Royal Marine (83-91), Mark serves as a Chief Inspector within the Metropolitan Police Service. He is currently seconded to work for the National Coordinator for Protect & Prepare within the National CT Policing HQ and his role involves working across Government departments. Mark has held a variety or Operational roles during his 23 years within the Police Service. He is a CBRN Gold Commander, Public Order and Firearms Incident Commander, Multi-Agency Gold Incident Commander and brings to his current role significant generic policing expertise. The little time outside his day job is taken up with being the Founder of Commando 999 (a charity set up to support young war-wounded Royal Marines and their families). He was until recently also Chair of the Board of Trustees for the National Youth Agency Academy Trust and a very keen rugby coach at Farnham RFC.

Alexandra Severino has a degree in Law, a Master Degree in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and is currently working on her Master thesis in EU Law (for her second Master degree). She combines her work as freelance consultant and legal translator (private sector and NGOs) with the academic sphere, as researcher and editorial consultant in the Centre of Studies in European Union Law of University of Minho, Portugal.

António Silva Mendes is Director for Youth and Sport at the Directorate-General Education and Culture in the European Commission. He is responsible for maximizing the potential and well-being of young people and to develop the European dimension in sport. Of Portuguese nationality, he studied mechanical engineering at the University of Lisbon and was professor at the same University for 10 years. Then he became director at the Ministry of Industry in Lisbon. He began his career at the European Commission in 1990 at the Directorate-General Enterprise, where he took part in international negotiations.

Sergio Maia Tavares Marques has a degree in Law and is currently working on his Master thesis in EU Law at University of Minho, Portugal. His published works are dedicated to the EU Law, MERCOSUL Law, Regional Integration Law and Citizenship in Latin-America. He is a lawyer who combines his work of international legal consultancy and translation with the Academia as a member of the Centre of Studies in European Union Law (CEDU) of University of Minho, where he is a researcher and Managing Editor (UNIO - EU Law Journal and The Official Blog of UNIO). In the past, he held assistant teaching and researching positions in Brazil.

Biljana Vasilevska Trajkoska, born in Bitola. February 1982, Republic of Macedonia. I am a social worker currently finishing master studies in social work at the University Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Faculty of Philosophy, Institute of Social Work and Social Policy, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. I am specialized in improvement of access to social rights of young people and have more than 10 years of experience in outreach social and youth work, programme management, organizing and conducting non-formal educational activities in the field of youth and social rights issues, and advising organisations in organizing and conducting non-formal educational activities. I am one of the founders and President of the Youth Social Rights Network – an open informal network of individuals, public and private entities interested in or working on improvement of access to social rights of young people and a member of the Pool of trainers of Council of Europe, the Youth Department. 

Dr Howard Williamson is Professor of European Youth Policy at the University of South Wales in the United Kingdom.  Previously he worked at the Universities of Oxford, Cardiff and Copenhagen and has held visiting positions in Hong Kong, Malta, Zagreb, Beijing, Rennes and Tehran. He is a qualified youth worker and ran a youth centre for 25 years in parallel with his academic research that spanned issues such as youth crime, youth unemployment, vocational training, enterprise and entrepreneurship, substance misuse, homelessness, school curricula and youth work.  He conducted the original ‘status zer0’ research that produced political attention to young people not in education, employment or training (‘NEET’) and has followed the lives of a group of men, now in their mid-50s, whom he first encountered when they were young offenders in the 1970s. He has advised many levels of governance on youth policy issues, from the Welsh and UK governments, the European Commission, the Council of Europe and the United Nations.  Currently, he co-ordinates the Council of Europe international reviews of national youth policies.  He is a Trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award for Young People. Howard Williamson writes prolifically, publishing not only academic books and journal articles but also columns for magazines and newspapers.  In his spare time he rides horses, plays the guitar and is a football coach.  He was appointed Commander of the Order of British Empire (CBE) in 2002 for services to young people.  In 2016, he was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO).