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Sofia Athayde is Lisbon’s City Councillor for Human and Social Rights, Health, Youth and Education. With a degree and master’s degree in psychology from ISPA-University Institute of Psychology, Social and Life Sciences, she is a specialist in clinical psychology from the Order of Psychologists and has a specialisation in Bioethics from Oporto’s University Faculty of Medicine.

She completed her internship at the Portuguese Victim Support Association (APAV) and has practiced Clinical Psychology in an hospital for the last 20 years. She was born in Coimbra and soon became prominent in politics, currently being vice-president of Lisbon’s CDP-PP political commission. She began her municipal career in 2002 and was a member of the Estrela parish council until assuming her current role as City Councillor. She is married and mother of two children.

Filipe Ganhão is a partner at Deloitte Portugal in the Technology Consulting practice. With a degree in Computer Science from the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Lisbon, he has over 26 years of experience in technology consulting, on domains like AI & Data, Technology Strategy & Architecture, and Digital Transformation, having led and collaborated on multiple projects across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas. He is currently responsible at Deloitte Portugal for technology in the Life Sciences & Healthcare sector in Portugal, Health & Human Services in Europe and leads Deloitte’s European Health Tech Center based in Lisbon.

With over 25 years of experience in transformation projects, leveraging technology, optimizing processes always with people at the center. He began his career at EY, which was complemented by an international journey across more than eight countries, gaining experience in sectors such as Retail and Consumer Products, Telecommunications, Health, and the Public Sector. Notable projects include the transformation of Unilever’s Europe Foods Business and Portugal Telecom.

Since returning to EY in 2010, Niguel has been dedicated to large transformation programs in the public sector. He is passionate about digital transformation in public administration and Health, seeing innovation as the driving force behind these changes. Aligned with EY’s purpose of building a better working world, Miguel strongly believes that diversity and inclusion are critical foundations for meaningful innovation within the community.

Miguel holds a degree in Management from the Catholic University of Portugal and a postgraduate degree in Information Systems from Instituto Superior Técnico (POSI). He currently leads the Business Consulting Sub Service Line and oversees the Government and Public Sector, Health, Science, and Wellness sectors within EY’s Consulting practice.

Maria Conceição Zagalo, born in Portugal in October 1952, has had a distinguished career spanning over three decades at IBM. Joining the company in June 1973, she held various leadership roles in Customer Engineering, Marketing, Sales, and Communications. Notably, she managed Marketing, Communications, and Citizenship and served on the IBM Portugal Board before retiring in April 2011 following an executive assignment in Vietnam. In 2004, she founded the IBM Portugal Women Leadership Council.

Currently, Conceição is deeply engaged in volunteer and pro bono work. She serves as the President of the General Assembly for several NGOs, acts as a counsellor for various associations, and teaches MBA courses at a business school. Additionally, she was a City Council Member for Lisbon during the 2017 mandate.

Conceição is committed to advancing gender equality and is involved in various communication, corporate social responsibility, and business forums. Her personal interests include family, jogging, travelling, reading, cooking, and gardening. Throughout her career, she has earned numerous accolades from diverse organisations.

María Ángeles Rodriguez Saldaña (Seville, 1975) holds a degree in Psychology from the University of Seville, a Master’s degree in Human Resources Management from the International Business School and a Master’s in Early Intervention in the area of Psychology and Education from the Technical Institute of Applied Studies.

She has been professionally involved in the public social services system for more than 24 years, particularly in the Telecare Service of the Andalusian Regional Government. Throughout her professional career she has held various positions of responsibility in this service, being responsible for the care of users between 2008 and 2019.

In addition, between 2019 and 2023 she held the position of Head of Planning and Evaluation of the Andalusian Telecare Service. Since the summer of 2023, she has held the position of Head of the Andalusian Telecare Service of the Andalusian Regional Government of Andalusia.

José Fernández, a law graduate and career civil servant, has dedicated his life to public service in the Madrid’s City Council, consolidating a career marked by his leadership in municipal management. Throughout his career he has held key positions, such as City Council Legal Officer, District Manager and Manager of the Activities Agency. This experience has given him a comprehensive understanding of public administration and an outstanding ability to lead high-impact projects that have improved the quality of life of the people of Madrid.

Since 2019, José Fernández has been a councillor of Madrid’s City Council, where he has spearheaded strategic initiatives that have contributed significantly to the development and revitalisation of the city. Currently, since 2023, as delegate of the Area of Social Policies, Family and Equality, his focus is on the implementation of inclusive policies that prioritise the welfare of families and the most vulnerable groups in Madrid, with the aim of building a more equitable and supportive city.

Among his most outstanding achievements is his work with Volunteers for Madrid, a programme that has mobilised thousands of citizens in community projects, consolidating an active network committed to social cohesion. With this programme, Madrid is consolidating a more participatory, supportive and united city.

A strong advocate of culture as an essential tool for social integration and personal development, José Fernández is convinced that “culture makes us free”. His passion for cinema, reading, painting and the performing arts has led him to continuously promote access to cultural activities as a fundamental right for all.

With his extensive experience in public management, José Fernández continues his work focused on promoting a Madrid that is more inclusive, equitable and committed to the well-being of all its neighbours.

João Moura is an Account Executive at Microsoft, specialising in Public Sector. He brings a wealth of experience in digital transformation and innovation in this space, working with public entities to improve their relationship with citizens, operations and internal productivity. João is passionate about the impact of generative AI on public services and society and how it can have a transformational role in the way we provide social services, education or faster and better access to healthcare.

Eunice Valerio is the Head of Legal & Public Affairs at Edenred, where she expertly manages institutional relations with legal and public entities. With over a decade of experience in legal and compliance, particularly within the financial services sector, Eunice has a profound understanding of the legal frameworks surrounding social benefits such as meal vouchers, childcare, education, and health. She plays a crucial role in supporting all the business areas, making sure they comply with all relevant legal standards.

Eunice holds a postgraduate degree in Banking Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon (2017-2018) and has completed the General Management Programme at Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics (2021-2022).

Vikki Butler is the founder and co-director of Community Action in Research and Policy (C.A.R.P.) Collaborations; a not-for-profit social enterprise that furthers social inclusion through undertaking participatory evaluation, research and development. With a background in social sciences, youth work, training and policy; she has 30 years’ experience in developing participatory interdisciplinary approaches to community involvement and social inclusion within human services. She is not a proponent of any one particular method or school of thought, but instead creates bespoke methodologies to explore or solve an issue. A passionate advocate for equity and inclusion, she sees the role of researcher as utilising the right methods at the right time to enable dialogue between commissioners and communities, where individual voice, experience and ideas are listened to and acted upon.

Her research work uses innovative processes to explore the content of projects or programmes, often detailing the differences between strategic intention and the lived experience of people within marginalised communities. She uses her research approaches and findings as an evidence base to develop bespoke training courses and mentoring practice across health, social care and community services.

Dr Stella Owens is a social worker based in Tusla’s Office of the Chief Social Worker. Stella leads the Empowering Practitioners and Practice Initiative (EPPI) which aims to develop evidence-using and evidence-informed practitioners in Tusla by increasing the knowledge levels and confidence of staff, thereby improving the consistency and quality of practice across the Agency. She also leads the Practice Development and Improvement Project which centres on training, recruiting and retaining a skilled, competent, and quality social work and social care staff. It involves national coordination of student placements, practice teacher development and post-qualifying opportunities.