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Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen is the Director-General of the Directorate-General for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport at the European Commission. She took up this position on 16 September 2023, after holding the same position for four and a half years in the Commission’ Directorate General for Communication.

From March 2018, she served as Deputy Secretary General and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, she was also Director in the Directorate-General for Communication, in charge of the Commission’s Representations in the Member States. Between 2009 and 2014 she was Chief Spokeswoman of the European Commission; and Deputy Spokeswoman of the European Commission from 2004 until 2009 under former Commission President Barroso, also in charge of Planning and Coordination of the Spokespersons’ Service (SPP).

She began her career in political communication as Environment Spokeswoman in 1999 (Commissioner Margot Wallström), having previously held positions in the Commission’s departments for Industry (1995-97) and Information, Communication and Culture (1997-99). Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen was a Schuman Scholar at the European Parliament (1989-90). She studied Business Administration and Modern Languages at the Copenhagen Business School and Political Science at the Institut d’études Politiques de Paris, specialising in intercultural communication and European identity.

Oana Felecan is Policy officer in charge of equity and well-being within Directorate General Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European Commission. She is part of the team following the implementation of the Pathways to School Success Council Recommendation. Part of this work, she coordinated the work of the European Commission’s informal exert group on supporting learning environments and addressing well-being at school. Prior to this, Oana had worked in Erasmus+ programme team in the field of school education.

Dr. Anna van Duijvenvoorde is a developmental psychologist and currently serves as Chair of the Developmental and Educational Psychology unit at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Her research focuses on youth well-being and learning, integrating insights from behavioral science and the neurocognition of the developing brain. She collaborates with various research and educational institutes to better understand how children and adolescents can feel connected and supported within school environments. Anna is a member of the Taskforce Education of the Dutch Research Agenda (NWA), a researcher within the EUniWell alliance on well-being, and has contributed as an expert to the European Commission’s expert group on supporting learning environments and promoting well-being at school. She is passionate about using science to inform education and to support diverse learners and the educators who guide them.

Cosmin Nada is an education expert based at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, at ISCTE (University Institute of Lisbon). With over a decade of experience in educational research, Cosmin focuses on migration and education, diversity and inclusion, early school leaving, social justice, educational policies, and wellbeing in education. Cosmin’s work is interdisciplinary and intersectoral, bridging the gap between research, policy, and practice through his collaborations with relevant national and international organisations working on education, through roles such as Senior Consultant for the European Commission Working Groups on Schools, Pathways to School Success, and Editorial Board member of the European Toolkit for School Success.

Eli Pijaca Plavšić graduated sociology in 2004 at the University in Zagreb, Croatia. For the last 20 years her major interest is in the field of education policy analyses and development, educational reform, educational management, inclusive policy and promoting equity at all level of education – from ECEC to higher education. From 2010 to 2021 she worked as an Executive Director of Forum for Freedom in Education, from 2021 – 2023 and since 2023 she is an owner of the consultancy company Edukateka working as an independent educational consultant with many national and international organisations and companies (DG EAC, UNICEF, UNESCO, PPMI, EUN, Ecorys Ltd, Tehnopolis, City of Zagreb, City of Rijeka and many more). As a practitioner she has a fruitful experience in the school-based work (as a teacher trainer and project leader) by directly working with more than 350 educational institutions in Croatia. She has extensive experience as independent educational expert and education policy analyst including assessment and evaluation of education policies in the country, policy work by participating in many national and local strategic bodies for education policy development, curriculum development etc. Since 2018 she is a member of the (E)NESET Network, an advisory network of experts working on the social dimension of education and training and since 2024 she is a member of the Editorial board for the Toolkit for Schools (European Commission, DG EAC).