2025 - FES Future of Work - Policy Conference

Isabelle Schömann has been elected Deputy General Secretary at the ETUC 15. Congress in Berlin, in May 2023. She leads ETUC policies on Democracy at Work with a focus on Workers’ Information, Consultation and Participation, on Legal Affairs with a focus on Trade Unions, Workers’ and Human Rights, the ETUC legislative, legal and litigation strategy (the ETUCLEX), on Gender Equality, on Single Market, and on Human Centric Digitalisation with a focus on Artificial Intelligence in the world of work.

Previously serving as Confederal Secretary from 2019 to 2023, Isabelle has played a central role in shaping and advancing the ETUC agenda. She has been instrumental in driving forward initiatives on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence and reinforcing the role of European Works Councils. Moreover, she has led the ETUC’s pioneering positions on Artificial Intelligence and the Right to Disconnect, while championing collective bargaining rights for self-employed workers. Her leadership has also been pivotal in combating gender-based violence, embedding a Human Rights Legal and Strategic Litigation approach within the ETUC, and promoting the Social Progress Protocol. Additionally, she has contributed to defining a worker-centered EU Industrial Strategy, advocated for a sustainable and inclusive EU Competition Policy, and helped position the ETUC within debates on the EU’s Open Strategic Autonomy.

June Lowery is a senior expert and equality coordinator at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content & Technology (DG CNECT). Her current responsibilities include encouraging more girls and women into the digital sector, and supporting digital equality and inclusion.

Sophie Jacquot is  Professor of Political Science at UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles, she is Director of the Institute of European Studies, and she holds a Jean Monnet Chair (EUGENDERING) on the challenges linked to the establishment of a Union of gender equality, non-discrimination and diversity. From a background in sociology of policy analysis, Sophie specialises in EU and gender studies. Her research interests focus on the transformation of EU gender and anti-discrimination policies.

Her work has appeared in the major journals in her fields of study (20+ articles in peer-reviewed journals, among which Journal of Common Market Studies, West European Politics, European Journal of Politics and Gender, Policy & Politics, or Journal of European Public Policy). She has published a monograph on the Transformations in EU Gender Equality Policy. From Emergence to Dismantling (Palgrave, 2015), co-edited several books on the notion of Europeanization as well as a Dictionary of Policy Analysis (in French), and written chapters on gender and the EU for handbooks and encyclopedias.

Charlotte Schlüter is a  policy officer for gender equality at the German Trade Union Confederation. Her political expertise lies in the independent livelihoods of women throughout the lifespan as well as the digitalization of work. Charlotte studied psychology, philosophy, and gender studies in Groningen and Berlin. 

Monique Munarini is a PhD candidate in AI for society at the University of Pisa- Italy. Qualified lawyer, researcher, and policy analyst, she has published award-winning papers on AI governance at leading academic conferences. Her PhD research focuses on developing an equity-based framework to evaluate AI auditing methodologies in relation to emerging legislation. She also contributes to global policy debates through her work with the Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP) and Digihumanism.

Anastasia Karagianni is a Doctoral Researcher at the LSTS Department of the Law and Criminology Faculty of VUB and former FARI Scholar.  Her academic research focuses on the "Divergencies of gender discrimination in AI". Besides her academic interests, Anastasia is a digital rights activist, since she is a co-founder of DATAWO, a civil society organisation based in Greece advocating for gender equality in the digital era, and founder of @femme_group_BrusselsGR. Anastasia Karagianni was MozFest Ambassador 2023, and Mozilla Awardee for the project “A Feminist Dictionary in AI”– of the Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence working group. 

Dijana Šobota is Executive Secretary for International Relations and Organisational Development in the Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia. Her areas of responsibility involve European policy, research and educational activities, as well as communication and campaigns.  She is a PhD candidate in Information and Communication Sciences at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. Her research interests focus on information literacy in the workplace.

Silvia Semenzin is an Italian sociologist and digital rights advocate specialized in online gender-based violence and online harms. She has conducted extensive research on digital sexual violence, particularly non-consensual intimate image sharing online. Silvia was the leader of the campaign #IntimitàViolata, which led to legislative changes against image-based abuse in Italy. She collaborates with international institutions and organizations advocating for digital rights, feminist activism, and platform accountability. Her work bridges academia and activism, focusing on the intersections of technology, power, and gender justice in the digital sphere.

Miriam Klöpper  is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway, where she works at the Faculty of Information Systems and Electrical Engineering. Previously, she was a doctoral candidate in the Information Systems Department at the University of Münster, Germany, and she holds a master’s degree in History of War from King’s College London. Her research focuses on the social and ethical implications of using algorithm-driven systems in personnel management, especially on the impact of such systems on social relations, hierarchies, and power structures in traditional organisations. She also focuses on workplace-surveillance, and equality at the workplace. Starting in June 2025, Miriam will serve as the board leader of the ACM Women’s Chapter Trondheim.

László Andor is a Hungarian economist, and former EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (2010-2014). Since stepping down from the Commission, he has been head of department of economic policy at Corvinus University (Budapest), Senior Fellow at Hertie School of Governance (Berlin) and a visiting professor at ULB (Brussels) as well as Sciences Po (Paris). He also became member in various think tanks (EPC, RAND Europe, Friends of Europe) in an advisory capacity.

Between 1991 and 2005, Andor taught political science and economic policy in Budapest, and was editor of the progressive social science journal Eszmélet. He was also a regular columnist for the weekly business magazine Figyelő and the daily Népszava. He has authored, edited or co-edited a dozen books in Hungary, including on economic and political history, comparative economics and globalization. Andor has also taught at Rutgers (State University of New Jersey, USA) as Visiting Fulbright Professor (1997-8) and worked as an adviser for the World Bank on SAPRI (Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative). He also worked as an adviser for the Budget Committee of the Hungarian Parliament (1998-9) and the Prime Minister’s Office (2002-5). From 2005 to 2010, he was a Member of the Board of Directors of the EBRD (London), representing the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary and Slovakia.

Patricia Shaw LLB(Hons), LLM, FRSA, MIEEE, is CEO of Beyond Reach Consulting Limited based in the UK and advises globally on Responsible AI (AI/data ethics, policy, law, and governance), and Corporate Digital Responsibility. Patricia has over 20 years’ experience as a lawyer in data, technology and regulatory/government affairs and is a registered Solicitor in England and Wales, and the Republic of Ireland. She has authored and edited several works on law and regulation, policy, ethics, and AI. She has a particular interest in algorithmic bias, autonomous decision making in high impact AI systems, privacy, and fairness, and how AI impacts on gender, religion, and belief. Her focus has predominately been areas where there is high risk impact on society such as in Finance, Health, and Education (including the impact on the future of work).