Lord John Bird, Founder and Editor in Chief of The Big Issue, United Kindom

In September 1991, John Bird along with Gordon Roddick of The Body Shop launched The Big Issue. The inspiration for the magazine came from Street News, a newspaper sold by homeless people in New York. The Big Issue campaigns on behalf of homeless and socially excluded people. It is not part of any other media group, has no party-political allegiance and guards its independence fiercely. The magazine is a combination of hard-hitting current affairs journalism and critical, incisive writing about the world of arts and entertainment. Its high standard of reporting has won the magazine a brace of high-profile media awards.

In June 1995, John Bird was awarded the MBE for ‘services to homeless people’ and in 2006 he received the prestigious Beacon Fellowship Prize for his energy and originality in raising awareness of homelessness and his support of homeless communities worldwide. John Bird was nominated for life peerage by the House of Lords Appointments Commission in October 2015 to become a non-party-political peer.

Read more about Lord Bird’s life and the Big Issue here.

Jane Dudman, Freelance Journalist and Event Chair, United Kingdom

Jane Dudman is a freelance journalist, event chair & consultant. She is the former public leadership editor of the Guardian, where she worked for 14 years until December 2020. Jane is a senior commentator on UK and global public services, with expertise in central and local government and social housing. She is an experienced chair of UK and global events.

Christian Fillet, Chair, European Social Network

Christian is Deputy Director of the City of Bruges (Belgium). He is also responsible for all social services and 9 local public welfare associations in Bruges covering services for children, disabled people, elderly, and youth. He also sits on the Board of EXELLO, the Flemish association of city directors. Christian has been working in social services in Brussels and Flanders since 1986, soon after graduating in law. Outside work, Christian loves jogging along the seafront where he lives.

Alfonso Lara Montero, CEO, European Social Network

Alfonso is the Chief Executive Officer of the European Social Network where he oversees the Network’s management and strategic direction, leads the programme of activities co-financed by the European Commission, and the annual editions of the European Social Services Conference and the European Social Services Awards. He has over 15 years of experience in public policy formulation and evaluation, has authored and co-authored several publications, and is a regular contributor to academic journals, newspapers, and specialist social services magazines. Before joining ESN in 2010, Alfonso worked in project management and consultancy in public policy evaluation.

He holds an MA in modern languages from the University of Granada, an MA in European Governance from the College of Europe, an MSc in Public Policy from University College London, and a Masters in Executive Management of International Associations at Solvay Brussels School for Economics and Management. Alfonso advises public administrations on social services quality evaluation and teaches on social services innovation and transformation at the Universities of Barcelona, The Basque Country, and the School of Public Administration in Galicia in Spain.

Katarina Ivanković Knežević, Director for Social Rights and Inclusion, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion, European Commission

Since September 2018 Katarina Ivanković Knežević is a Director for Social Rights and Inclusion in the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. Her area of activity is modernisation of social protection systems and wider social policies fostering social and labour market inclusion, through the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and other relevant social policies of the European Union.

She is leading a work on disability and inclusion and is also DG EMPL Equality Coordinator. Before joining the European Commission, she was a State Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and the Pension System of the Republic of Croatia, in which she was responsible for the management and implementation of the European Social Fund and other EU instruments aiming at human resources development. For the last 20 years her professional interests are human rights and gender equality, social and employment policies.