Speakers

André Sobczak works to empower cities in EU decision making through Eurocities, following two terms as Vice-President of the Nantes Metropolitan Area. He is forging new connections with academia, where he has a history of driving social and ecological change, spearheading initiatives on issues like gender equality and precarious employment. He leads with an approach of multi-level cooperation between the public sector, businesses and civil society for tangible positive impact.

Since 2018 Rutger Groot Wassink has been Deputy Mayor for Social Affairs for the City of Amsterdam and is now serving his second term (since 2022). As such he is responsible for the reception and shelter of refugees, civic integration of migrants, adult education, participation, social services, democratisation, municipal holdings, and archaeology. He has been faction leader of the political party Groen Links (Green Left) in the Amsterdam City Council since 2014.

Javier Ayala was born in 1972 in Córdoba. He is married and has a son. Since 2018 he has been mayor of Fuenlabrada, a city where he has lived for 46 years. He is also spokesperson for the Socialist Group in the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces. Before becoming mayor he held different council positions in the Fuenlabrada City Council such as Citizen Participation, Urban Planning or Infrastructure. He won the 2019 and 2023 elections in Fuenlabrada with absolute majorities thanks to obtaining around 54% of the votes.

Aurélie has been working at the European Commission for almost 16 years. Before that she started her career in the French administration where she was enforcing competition law. Since 2008, she has worked in very varied field ranging from fight against fraud to space policy. She joined DG HOME in 2021 and led the team in charge of the negotiations of the Screening Regulation. In March 2024, she was appointed head of the sector in charge of integration and resettlement within the unit dealing with legal pathways and integration. Aurélie studied law in France and Spain and specialised in Middle Age law.

Shada Islam is an award winning and well-known Brussels-based analyst and commentator on European Union affairs who now works independently as an advisor/analyst/strategist/op-ed writer on Europe Africa Asia Geopolitics Trade and Inclusion. Her columns are published in the EU Observer, the Guardian and Hyphen Online. Shada worked for nine years as Director of Europe and Geopolitics at Friends of Europe, an influential independent think tank based in Brussels. She now runs her own Brussels-based global media, strategy and advisory company, New Horizons Project. Shada is Senior Advisor at the European Policy Centre and also at Bursons, a renowned international communication firm and a Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Natolin). In 2017, Politico identified her as one of Brussels' 20 most influential women. In 2023 and 2024, she was on the ZN Consulting list of 50 top influencers. Shada has won a European of the Year in Media award from the European Movement International and a prize for her work on building an inclusive Union of Equality from the Association of European Journalists of Catalonia. Shada is “ambassador” for the Brussels Binder, a women-led directory of women experts.

Faouzi Achbar is a Rotterdam Vice Mayor on behalf of the centre-left political party THINK (in Dutch: DENK). He is responsible for Social & Digital Inclusion and Sports.

Achbar grew up in Rotterdam. He held various different positions in education. After completing his teacher training he obtained a master's degree in sociology and an MBA for education managers. He worked as a Havo (Higher General Secondary Education) Team Leader for VAVO Rijnmond College in recent years. He started his political career as a district councillor in Feijenoord in 2006. Achbar became a Member of the Municipal Council in 2018, as well as leading candidate and Party Leader for DENK in 2021