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BIOGRAPHIES
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and a undergraduate degree in Economics from
the University of Oviedo (1997-2001). He has
completed his training with a program of
Advanced Econometrics at the London School of
Economics and Political Science (2006).
Professionally, Jonás joined as an analyst in eco-
nomics and international politics in the consul-
tancy firm Solchaga Recio & Asociados in 2005,
chaired by former Spanish finance Minister
Carlos Solchaga. Three years later he was pro-
moted to the company´s board and later on, ap-
pointed as Chief Economist in 2014. Jonás has
combined his work activity with teaching at the
Universidad Carlos III (2007-10) and various en-
trepreneurial activities. In addition, he is a regular
op-ed contributor to the main Spanish newspa-
pers (
El País
,
Cinco Días
,
La Nueva España
, etc.).
Politically, Jonás Fernández was Secretary General
of the Socialist Youth in Oviedo (1998-2000) and
served on the executive board of the Socialist
Youth in Asturias (2000-01). During the college
years he was also a member of the Senate of the
Universidad de Oviedo as a student representative.
More recently, he has participated in the design of
the electoral programs in the 2008 and 2011 leg-
islative elections, and was a policy advisor of PSOE
(2004-05). Moreover, he is an associate in various
national and international foundations. Jonás is
also a participant of the Political Leadership
Program of the Aspen Institute, chaired by Javier
Solana, former EU Higher Representative.
Estrella Galán
is a third sector professional,
anthropologist and social worker, an expert in
Management of Social Organizations, Human
Rights, Asylum, Migration and social intervention
with disadvantaged groups. She is a regular con-
tributor to the radio program
La Ventana
, Cadena
SER and other media. An author and contributor
to numerous articles, studies, reports and publi-
cations on Asylum and Migration, she is General
Secretary of the Spanish Committee for Refugee
Aid (CEAR), where she has worked since 1999.
Maria João Rodrigues
, currently member of
the European Parliament, S&D Group Vice-
President in charge of Economic and Social
Policies, was Minister of Employment in Portugal
and has been a policy maker working in several
posts in the European Institutions since 2000, no-
tably in the leading teams at EU Presidency. The
main outcomes she has been working for are:
the EU Strategy for growth and jobs, the Lisbon
Strategy followed by the EU2020 Strategy, the
EU agenda for globalization and the strategic
partnerships with the USA, China, Russia, India
and Brazil for a new growth model, the develop-
ment of several policy areas: employment, edu-
cation, innovation, research, regional and indus-
trial policies, some special EU initiatives, such as
the new Erasmus for mobility or New Skills for
New Jobs, the responses to the eurozone crisis,
the final negotiation of the Lisbon Treaty. In aca-
demic terms, she was professor of European eco-
nomic policies in the European Studies Institute-
Université Libre de Bruxelles and in the Lisbon
University Institute. She was also the chair of the
European Commission Advisory Board for socio-
economic sciences. She is author of more than
one hundred publications, notably the books
The
new knowledge economy in Europe – A strategy
for international competitiveness and social co-
hesion
, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK and
Northampton, MA, 2002,
European policies for a
knowledge economy
, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham,
UK and Northampton, MA, 2003, Europe,
Globalization and the Lisbon Agenda, Edward
Elgar: Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA,
2009;
Europe is still possible
, Xlibris-Penguin
Group, UK and USA, 2013 or
Eurozone crisis and
the transformation of the EU governance
, edited
with Eleni Xiarchogiannopoulou , 2014.