Leonardo Dongiovanni is a programme manager in the European Commission’s DG EAC Unit B3 (Youth and Volunteer Solidarity). He is responsible for the European Solidarity Corps interim evaluation and EAC contact point with the RAY Network.

Leonardo joined the Commission in 2017 as policy officer on rail safety and interoperability, working on skills policies for transport workers and young apprentices. His interest for young generations triggered his move to DG EAC in 2022.

He has a degree in environmental economics from the University of Pescara (2005). After a traineeship at the United Nations in Vienna (2006), Leonardo took a postgraduate master’s degree in environment, marketing and quality at the Strategies Business School in Rome (2007). In 2008 Leonardo moved to Brussels to work as a political advisor at the Association of European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM). Before joining the Commission, he was Public Affairs Manager at UNIFE, the Association of the European Rail Industry and Executive Secretary of Rail Forum Europe for six years (2011-2017).

Dr. Barbara Petri is an expert in Public Policy and International Development, with over 20 years of experience in project evaluation, program implementation, and strategic consulting. She is the founder of Orisha Consulting, a firm dedicated to fostering sustainable development, social inclusion, and gender equity.

Dr. Petri has worked extensively with organizations such as the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the EU Kosovo Trade Agency (KTA), the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Her career has been defined by her efforts to build bridges between cultures, empower youth, and promote values of solidarity and inclusion through education, sports, and volunteering.

As a Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning (MERL) specialist, Dr. Petri focuses on youth engagement, sports for development, decentralization, and gender equity. She has conducted evaluations of programs supporting vulnerable populations, including displaced persons, women, and youth, and has advised on the development of public policies that foster solidarity and social justice.

Dr. Petri is deeply committed to the Olympic movement, where she promotes sport education and sport solidarity as tools for inclusion and intercultural understanding. Her continuous involvement in international initiatives reflects her dedication to creating programs that empower young people and address pressing societal challenges.

Key achievements include:

• Designing strategies to support EU-level volunteering initiatives that foster active citizenship and solidarity.
• Leading evaluations of transnational programs promoting social inclusion and cultural understanding.
• Facilitating capacity-building workshops to strengthen governance and develop inclusive policies.

Fluent in several languages, Dr. Petri combines her research expertise and practical experience to create impactful, culturally sensitive solutions. Her work embodies the values of solidarity, inclusion, and sustainability. 

Thierry Beaudet was elected President of the Economic, Social, and Environmental Council in May 2021. A trained schoolteacher and initially an activist in the associative sector, he later served as President of MGEN from 2009 to 2017. He was also President of the National Federation of French Mutual Insurance from 2016 to 2021 and founded and chaired the VYV Group from 2017 to 2021. At the head of the CESE, he has made the deepening of democracy a key focus of his term. In 2023, he published  “Repoussons les frontières de la démocratie” (“Pushing the Boundaries of Democracy”) with Éditions de l’Aube.

Born in 1975, Nadia Bellaoui has put commitment at the core of her life.
During her law studies, she took part in founding the student association network, Animafac, of which she became the General Delegate in 2001.
As member of the board of directors of the Ligue de l’enseignement since 2000, she served as National Secretary in charge of associative life and youth from 2006 to 2016, and as General Secretary from 2016 to 2020.
In 2012, she was elected President of the organization representing associations in France, the Mouvement associatif.
In her various roles, Nadia Bellaoui has regularly advocated for the Civic Service, particularly with the creation of a Committee for Associative Civic Service, aimed at promoting a high-quality Civic Service within the field.
Member of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) from 2015 to 2021, Nadia Bellaoui was the guarantor of the National Debate in 2019 and was awarded the Légion d’Honneur in 2021.
On December 9, 2022, Nadia Bellaoui was appointed President of the Civic Service Agency, succeeding Béatrice Angrand, who had held the position since March 2019.

Distinctions :
Knight of the National Order of Merit, 2015
Knight of the Légion d’Honneur, 2021

Deputy Head of Unit – Youth and Volunteer Solidarity

Since January 2021, Karen Vandeweghe has been the Deputy Head of Unit of the unit B.3 ‘Youth and Volunteer Solidarity’ within the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC). This unit is responsible for shaping EU Youth policy, and for managing two EU youth programmes, which are Erasmus+ Youth including DiscoverEU and the European Solidarity Corps. EU Youth policy and the EU Youth programmes support actions and initiatives that empower young people and youth organisations across Europe.

Previously (2018-2021), she was the DiscoverEU project manager in the same unit. She launched the DiscoverEU action in 2018, which is the action that provides rail passes to 18 years old to discover Europe, and she developed it into a fully-fledged Erasmus+ action.  She also has experience in interregional cooperation, having worked for the INTERREG programmes at the Commission (DG REGIO) and in Bratislava (Slovakia), as well as in the areas of health, ageing and migration issues, through her work for European NGOs (EuroHealthNet and AGE Platform) and the Belgian Ministry of the Interior.

Thibaut de Saint Pol is the Director of Youth, non formal Education and Voluntary Organisations (DJEPVA), Interministerial Delegate for Youth at the French Ministry of Sports, Youth, and Voluntary Organisations. A sociologist and a general inspector at the “Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques” (Insee), he specializes in studying lifestyles and social inequalities, particularly among young people.

He holds a PhD in sociology on social health inequalities and has conducted numerous surveys and studies at Insee, the Ministries of National Education, Social Affairs, and Health, as well as in collaboration as an associate researcher at Sciences Po and the “École normale supérieure” of Paris-Saclay.

From 2016 to 2021, he served as the Director of the « Institut national de la jeunesse et de l’éducation populaire » (INJEP) and was the Secretary General of the « Conseil d’évaluation de l’École » (CEE) until 2023.

Matjaž Gruden is Director for Democracy at the Council of Europe since May 2018. His responsibilities include Council of Europe activities and programmes in the area of education, including education for democratic citizenship, youth cooperation, civil society, media freedom and journalist safety, culture and cultural heritage and sport.

He has been asked by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić to lead the preparation of her annual reports on the state of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Europe. He has worked with Ms Pejčinović’s predecessor, Thorbjørn Jagland, on five similar reports on democratic security in Europe, which he has helped to conceptualize and prepare.

Matjaž Gruden previously served as Director of Policy Planning, Deputy Director of the Private Office of the Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland, political adviser and speechwriter for the Secretary General Terry Davis and President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Lord Russell-Johnston.

Prior to his career at the Council of Europe, he was a diplomat at the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posted in Brussels. As a member of the first team of Slovenian diplomats accredited in Brussels after the recognition of independence of Slovenia, he has contributed to the establishment of formal relations and the negotiations of first cooperation agreements with the European Union. He was posted in Brussels between 1993 and 1995, when he joined the staff of the Council of Europe, following his country’s accession to this organisation.

He holds a law degree from the Law Faculty of the University of Ljubljana, where he graduated in 1990 with the thesis “The European communities and its participation in multilateral international conventions”, which focused on prospects for an EC accession to the European convention on human rights. He continued his studies at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, where he obtained a post-graduate degree in EU law in 1991.

Matjaž Gruden regularly publishes articles on European, human rights and democracy related issues, notably in the Slovenian media. A book of essays “Long Live all the Nations” was published in 2018.

Caillum from Limerick, Ireland is a passionate advocate for youth participation in our democratic processes, currently serving as a Board Member of the European Youth Forum. A lifelong scout and active member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, his dedication to youth participation and environmentalism is shaped by extensive non-formal education. His passion for youth work and volunteering has been further shaped by his engagement in international learning mobility programmes, in Europe and beyond. Caillum is currently pursuing studies in Political Science, International Relations, and Sociology at University College Dublin, with specialised studies completed at Michigan State University and the University of Miami.

Manfred von Hebel, born 1966, is an Educational Scientist who works in the field of youth work and youth policies at national and European level for more than 30 years, from 2005 to 2009 he worked as Seconded National Expert at the Directorate General for Education and Culture of the European Commission, since 2009 he is engaged in JUGEND für Europa – the German National Agency for the EU-programmes Erasmus+ Youth, Erasmus+ Sports and the European Solidarity Corps, Deputy Head of the National Agency

Gianluca Spinaci is the Green Deal Advisor at the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) since 2020. With a career spanning over 30 years, he has worked at local, regional, and national government levels, as well as in the EU Institutions.

From 2013-2020, Gianluca was Head of Cabinet of the Secretary-General of the CoR, an assembly of Mayors and Regional Presidents representing over 90.000 municipalities and around 250 regions from all 27 EU Member States. Between 2010 and 2012, he served as the CoR’s Advisor to the President on climate, energy and environment, partnering with the European Commission for the launch of the Covenant of Mayors on Climate and Energy, the European Green Capital initiative, and the CoR’s early involvement in the UN Conference of Parties on Combatting Climate Change and its cooperation with the US Conference of Mayors.

Before moving to Brussels, Gianluca worked extensively on sustainability and cooperation projects. At the Austrian Federal Chancellery in Vienna and the European Commission’s DG REGIO, he was instrumental in establishing the INTERREG cross-border platform with the Member States joining the EU in 2004. Earlier, he managed EU cohesion policy programs in his native region, Regione Marche in Italy, for over four years. Gianluca also worked with a local consortium of public utilities, managing water and energy infrastructure and services in his rural community. 

Gianluca holds a PhD in Local and Regional Law, a MSc in European Law and an MBA. He authored numerous publications on EU affairs and local government, lectured at universities including Barcelona, Lund, Maastricht, and George Washington University, and has extensive experience with international projects.

Notably, Gianluca was among the first Erasmus students, an experience he credits as life-changing, moving from his rural university to London.

As a volunteer, he served as a trained firefighter with the national brigade.

Adélaïde Charlier, 24, is a leading climate justice activist and co-founder of Youth for Climate BE and The Bridge, a new organization connecting youth and politics through environmental campaigns. She is also the co-author of the book Quel monde pour demain, dialogue entre générations. A graduate of the College of Europe, she has worked as a special advisor to ex-EVP Timmermans on the Green Deal and interned at the European Parliament, focusing on EU environmental policies.

Her passion for climate justice was sparked during a 2019 trip to the Amazon, where she witnessed the deep links between climate change and human rights. Adélaïde has participated in major international climate events like Sail to the COP and COP26 and co-authored an influential open letter with activists like Greta Thunberg, leading to meetings with global leaders.

Vicky Lovelock has been the Director of CCIVS (The Coordinating Committee for International Voluntary Service) since 2013. She discovered International Voluntary Service (IVS) in 2003 when she joined a one-year EVS project deep in a French forest with La Croisée des Regards (partner of Solidarités Jeunesses). The project had a profound impact on her, and Vicky never left the world of IVS. She continued to volunteer at the National Office of Solidarités Jeunesses in Paris, participated in workcamps in Palestine with IPYL, which deepened her commitment to social justice and peacebuilding efforts, and then moved to Argentina, where she helped develop and eventually direct Subir al Sur, an organization working with youth groups in remote areas of Argentina, while also actively collaborating with local associations for the protection of animals.

In 2013, Vicky returned to France as the Director of La Croisée des Regards and later became the Director of CCIVS. She also served as an elected member of the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee, gaining valuable insights into the inner workings of the international organization. Vicky has experienced nearly every level of the volunteer sector—as a volunteer, facilitator, local host, and general coordinator—and has witnessed first-hand the transformative power of volunteering on the lives of young people.

Always seeking to connect local actions to global impacts and fostering a deep connection to the natural world, Vicky co-founded La Lisière an associative forest school in the Perigord Vert, where international Service Civique volunteers engage in activities that ensure children are connected to the world beyond their forest community.

Doctor in political philosophy, graduate of the Sorbonne University and specialist in European issues, Joséphine STARON is currently director of studies and international relations at the French think tank Synopia. She is the author of the essay “Europe. La solidarité contre le naufrage”, published in 2022 by Editions Synopia. Since 2022, Joséphine Staron has hosted a weekly podcast on Euradio on major European issues.

Her research focuses on European political solidarity: defense, energy, industry, market, foreign policy. These skills cross the disciplines of philosophy, political science and sociology.

She regularly publishes articles in the written French press (Revue Politique et Parlementaire, Atlantico, The Conversation, l’Opinion, le FigaroVox, etc.), as well as in academic journals. She intervenes in the French media (LCI, BFMTV, Public Senat, France Info, Arte) on European and international issues.

Trainer, researcher, evaluator and author, specialized in youth work recognition, youth policy, cultural diversity and community development. Over 10 years of experience in conducting research and assessments in the field of youth work, designing and delivering non-formal education activities, developing policy documents, and monitoring and evaluating programs. Founder of a youth organization and a Secretary General of the Union for Youth Work, the national umbrella organization of youth work providers in North Macedonia

President of the Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organizations

Walter Reekers serves as the President of the Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organizations, an International Non-Governmental Youth Organization, since 2023. Additionally, he is the chairman of SIW International Volunteering Projects, a Dutch organization. He started in SIW some years ago as a mentor for the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) program. From there, he transitioned to becoming a board member, overseeing Dutch summer volunteering camps.

Prior to his work in the voluntary sector, he had a distinguished 30-year career within the  international Oil Manufacturing, Supply, and Trading business. This experience allowed him to lead large and diverse teams across multiple countries, fostering a global perspective and expertise in project and program management.

He is deeply passionate about youth work, teamwork, and driving personal and professional development. His journey has always been guided by a commitment to fostering innovation, community engagement, and impactful change.

Andreas Karsten coordinates the transnational research team of the RAY Network (Research-based analysis of the European youth programmes). He works for Youth Policy Labs, a small research agency and think tank in the youth sector, where he leads an international team of participatory research, public policy and open data aficionados.

Carmen Teubl-Kiviniemi is the manager and coordinator of the European youth research network RAY (Research-based analysis of the European youth programmes), which is hosted by the Finnish National Agency for Education. She has experience in managing and leading international projects, networks as well as processes in the non-formal education sector, intercultural and youth field focusing on international cooperation, youth participation, policy and research as well as intercultural dialogue.

Stanislavs Babins is a non-formal education trainer from Latvia, committed to lifelong learning and enhancing education through diverse methods and environments. As a board member of the NGO Radi Vidi Pats, he leads training on non-formal education, volunteering, sustainability, inclusion, active participation, and project quality. His work engages youth workers, trainers, mentors, coaches, and young people, both locally and internationally. He is also passionate about graphic facilitation and recording to enhance learning.

Stanislavs is responsible for strategic coordination of volunteering activities in Radi Vidi Pats, ensuring that activities are focused on inclusion and sustainability. He works to create inclusive opportunities for volunteers, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of background, can engage meaningfully. His efforts emphasize sustainability by fostering long-term community impact, integrating eco-friendly practices, and promoting the responsible use of resources. Through his coordination, volunteering initiatives contribute to communities and build a sense of belonging and social responsibility among participants.

Grégory VAN DE PUT is a Belgian with a lovely French accent once he speaks English.
He is almost 45 years old; which means he has been involved in European volunteering for more than half of his life now. In his early twenties, he used to be a volunteer in international workcamps. Making one-step further, he did a European Voluntary Service in 2004-2005, which he describes as a key experience for his personal and professional growth.

Since 2007, Grégory works at CBB, a recognized youth organization developing a wide range of non-formal education activities and volunteering projects, with the purpose of encouraging citizen’s involvement, social justice and sustainable ways of life in our society. In line with this mission, CBB plays an important role in the deployment of the European Solidarity Corps, supporting several local organizations and hosting dozens of volunteers in south Belgium, preparing Belgian young people to volunteer abroad, enhancing a coordinated capacity-building with its partners from the ALLIANCE of European voluntary service organisations.
Even if he could easily appear as the “dinosaur in the field”, Grégory enjoys every day his luck to evolve in such a youth environment and having such a value based-job.

For a few years now, he is also keen to share his experience and knowledge with students in social work from the university college “Haute-Ecole Louvain-en-Hainaut”, intervening as professor in a lecture on social and cultural organisations, aka “the solidarity sector”.

General director of Grenzenlos – Intercultural Exchanges, Coordinator of EU programmes in the organisation. For 15 years active in the field of international volunteering. Lots of experience in the fields of project management, especially in the field of youth volunteering and in the inclusion of people with disabilities. Trainer and representative of Grenzenlos within the Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organizations, as well as the representative for Alliance in the Advisory Group of the SALTO Resource Center for European Solidarity Corps.