Szabolcs Schmidt graduated from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences with a specialisation in external economic relations. Before joining permanently the European Commission services he accumulated professional and managerial experience both in the corporate and in the public sector with postings in Germany, Hungary and Poland where he got engaged at an early stage with the European reunification process and the preparations for the 2004 enlargement of the European Union. Within the European Commission services he worked in the areas of external and enlargement policies, cohesion policy and transport policy. Since 2017 he holds the position of Head of Unit for Non-discrimination and Roma coordination of the European Commission. In this function he is responsible for ensuring the appropriate implementation of the European Union's legislation in the area of equality and for its further development, as well as for promoting equality through instruments such as the Commission Recommendation on Standards for Equality Bodies, the Diversity Charters the EU List of Actions on LGBTI equality and the EU Strategic Framework on Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation.  

Miriam Toplanska works in the European Commission, DG Employment and social affairs, in the Unit on disability and inclusion, in particularly dealing with the integration of migrants into the EU labour markets and society. Previously she worked as programme manager of the European Social Fond and Team leader in the delivery of the EU technical assistance to the countries of the Western Balkans and European Neighbourhood Policy.  As a diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she actively contributed to the accession negotiations between Slovakia and the EU. She studied at the University of Economics, followed by studies in the Institute of International Relations and Law Approximation in Bratislava. 

Director, European Anti-Poverty Network 

Juliana Santos Wahlgren is the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN)'s Director. She is an expert on social rights, gender, anti-racism and anti-discrimination at both EU and Member States Level. She has extensively covered issues related to poverty, migration, integration and strategic litigation. In November 2020, she was appointed to the EC Expert Group on the views of Migrants on Migration, Integration and Asylum.