YA meet the team en

Shiho Nakamura

Lamà Shashit

Marwa El-Feki

Gloria Filippi

Elisabetta Bellora

Giulia Melina

Rute Mendes

ACADEMY ON YOUTH EMPLOYMENT 2023 ITC-ILO

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Meet the team!

The Organizers

ACADEMY ON YOUTH EMPLOYMENT 2023 ITC-ILO

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Meet the team!

Bernd Mueller

Elisenda Estruch-Puertas

Valeria Esquivel

The experts

Maria Prieto

Vicky Leun

Chiara Curcio

Susana Puerto Gonzalez

Sara Elder

Sher Singh Verick

Stefano Merante

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Mette Grangaard Lund

Luca Spinosa

François Dumora

The experts

Charles Bodwell

Felix Weidenkaff

Noémie Razafimandimby

Takaaki Kizu

Marcelo Cuautle Segovia

Milagros Lazo Castro

Federico Negro

Meet the team!

ACADEMY ON YOUTH EMPLOYMENT 2023 ITC-ILO

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Eesha Moitra

Zeeshan Suhail

Christina Behrendt

The experts

Jonas Bausch

Maikel Lieuw Kie Song

Anna-Karin Palm Olsson

Meet the team!

ACADEMY ON YOUTH EMPLOYMENT 2023 ITC-ILO

Rute Mendes est chargée de programme au sein du Programme d'analyse des politiques et de l'emploi (EPAP) de CIF-OIT depuis 2016. Elle est responsable du groupe d'activités sur l'emploi des jeunes. Rute travaille à l'ICIFOIT depuis 2007. Avant de rejoindre le Programme d'analyse des politiques de l'emploi, elle était membre de l'Unité d'évaluation, où elle était responsable du suivi et de l'évaluation des activités de formation de l'ICIFOIT. Entre 2000 et 2007, Rute a travaillé dans plusieurs universités européennes pour développer des recherches empiriques dans les domaines de l'économie du travail et de l'économétrie. Rute est titulaire d'un Master en économie du travail de l'Université libre d'Amsterdam, aux Pays-Bas, et d'un diplôme en économie de l'Université de Minho, au Portugal (son pays d'origine). Rute est la coordinatrice de ce cours.

Luca Spinosa holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and International Relations awarded cum laude by the University of Pavia. He also holds a double Master’s Degree in Europe and Asia in Global Affairs from Sciences Po Paris and Fudan University. Before starting his academic career, Luca worked as Senior Volunteer at Expo Milan 2015 as part of the team in charge of the Save the Children pavilion. During his Bachelor’s Degree, he served as IT assistant at the University of Pavia. He later won an Erasmus+ Traineeship scholarship and worked at the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (Bruges, Belgium), specifically on the development of the “Regional Integration Knowledge System platform”. Luca wrote several articles and reports on geopolitical topics linked with Chinese affairs for Il Caffè Geopolitico, China Files, and Lo Sbuffo. After obtaining his Master’s Degree, he became a Fellow of the 58th edition of the United Nations Graduate Study Programme and later served as Intern at the Forests, Housing and Land Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (Geneva, Switzerland). He later joined Bocconi University for an internship at the Market & Partners Division.Luca started his tenure in Enel Foundation in January 2021 and currently serves the institution as Researcher. He is the Community Manager of the Open Africa Power program.

Senior Youth Employment SpecialistSusana Puerto is an accomplished leader at the ILO, driving the Youth Employment Accelerator. With a strong focus on research and action, she positions the ILO at the forefront of global discussions and initiatives to improve opportunities for youth. She leads the UN Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth, scaling up impact within the 2030 Agenda. Susana's current work examines active labour market programmes, employment opportunities within the green and digital economies, and the impact of crises on youth. With 15+ years of experience, she has contributed to employability and job-creation efforts. She is an economist from Georgetown University.

Christina Behrendt is the Head of the Social Policy Unit in the International Labour Office’s Social Protection Department in Geneva (Switzerland). Her earlier work experience includes assignments as regional social security specialist at the ILO Regional Office for Arab States in Beirut (Lebanon), as consultant for the International Social Security Association (ISSA), and as lecturer and research fellow at the University of Konstanz. Having studied in Konstanz (Germany) and Edinburgh (United Kingdom), she holds a Master degree in Politics and Public Administration and a PhD in Social Policy from the University of Konstanz. She has worked and published on various aspects of social protection in both developed and developing country contexts

Head, Employment Analyses and Economic Policies Unit elder@ilo.org Key areas of expertise: • Support to country offices on employment and social trends, including SDGs (primarily Asia and Africa) • Expert on labour statistics (concepts, methodologies and national survey systems) • Leads production of Global Employment Trends for Youth (past and present) • Coordinating research symposiums, including calls for proposals • Studies linked to integrated policy approaches to formalization, including e-formality Specialized focus on issues of gender and youth

Chiara Curcio joined the Youth Accelerator Group in the ILO Geneva in November 2021 as Technical Officer in Youth Employment Promotion through the Italian JPO programme. In her current role she follows many research projects on Youth Employment and leads the knowledge production in some of the country-level operations led by the Youth Team in the ILO. She holds a Ph.D in Economics from Sapienza University of Rome and she is specialized in Impact Assessment and Labour Economics. Previously to join the ILO, she was researcher at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and she collaborated with the Italian Institute of Public Policy Analysis. In 2019, she joined IFAD as Programme Data Analyst working on M&E, operational support and corporate results reporting.

Gloria Filippi a rejoint CIFOIT en 2006. Elle fournit une assistance administrative et logistique à de nombreuses unités différentes, mais principalement à l'EMLD (avec le programme Boulder de 2006 à 2015), au SPGT, à l'ILSGEN et à l'EPAP. Elle travaille en anglais, français, espagnol et portugais. Gloria est l'une des assistantes de ce cours..

Charlie Bodwell, a father of four teenage boys, joined the COOP HQ team this November. Previously, as a specialist on enterprise development and entrepreneurship, he supported programmes and activities in East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific while based in the ILO’s Bangkok regional office for Asia/Pacific. Starting with the ILO in 2000, his work has centred on creating sustainable approaches for linking job creation and job quality, through support to large factories, business associations, national governments, and the informal economy. Before joining the ILO, he worked at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), where he was assistant to the Chief of Staff in the office of the Director-General, as well as at Schlumberger, Agfa-Bayer and IBM. He has completed degrees in engineering, business and international management, at Michigan State University, McGill University, and ESADE respectively, and conducted doctoral research on Intel Corp’s product development process while based at Cambridge University and Stanford.

Lamà Shashit est l'assistante e-campus et le support général de ce cours. Elle est étudiante en dernière année de Global Law and Transnational Legal Studies à l'université de Turin. Elle s'intéresse particulièrement aux migrations de travail, à l'emploi, au développement et à la politique des compétences. Elle suit actuellement une formation dans le cadre du programme d'analyse et de politique de l'emploi au CIF-OIT de Turin..

Marcelo Cuautle Segovia is currently serving as an Employment and Labour Market Policies Officer within the Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch (EMPLAB) at the ILO headquarters in Geneva. Since joining the ILO in 2012, Mr. Cuautle Segovia has developed extensive expertise in labor market policies, youth employment, and skills development. He has successfully managed and backstopped development cooperation projects and has been instrumental in establishing valuable partnerships. Mr. Cuautle Segovia coursed his undergraduate studies in economics at the Universidad Autónoma de Puebla in Mexico. He pursued a graduate program in Civil Society Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, USA and holds a Master's degree in Development and International Cooperation from the Institute of Political Studies in France.

Felix Weidenkaff works at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Bangkok as regional Youth Employment Specialist to provide technical advice on labour market policies and programmes for youth as part of the ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. Prior to this role, he served as Employment Specialist in the ILO’s Decent Work Technical Support Team for East and South-East Asia and the Pacific. Before joining the ILO in 2012, he worked in the Division on Investment and Enterprise of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). He holds a Master of Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Giulia est chargée de programme associée au programme d'analyse et de politique de l'emploi du CIF-OIT. Auparavant, elle a travaillé pendant plus de huit ans en tant que consultante internationale en recherche et spécialiste de l'apprentissage en ligne, soutenant des organisations internationales telles que l'OIT (siège et bureaux locaux), le CIF-OIT, l'UNSSC, l'UNITAR et l'OIDD dans l'élaboration et la mise en œuvre d'événements de formation en face à face et d'activités d'apprentissage à distance. Le développement durable est le dénominateur commun de ses domaines d'expertise et de recherche, qui comprennent l'emploi des jeunes, l'économie informelle et l'inclusion des groupes vulnérables, l'économie sociale et solidaire, le développement des MPME, la transition juste et les emplois verts. Giulia est titulaire d'un master en coopération locale et internationale et en développement de l'université de Bologne et de l'université libre de Bruxelles, ainsi que d'un master avancé en politique publique et changement social de l'université de Turin. De nationalité italienne, Giulia travaille en anglais, en français, en espagnol et en portugais.

Anna-Karin Palm Olsson holds a Masters Degree in International Legal Sciences, specializing in European Union Law and Human Rights. She comes from International Affairs at Arbetsförmedlingen (Swedish Public Employment Services) where she worked for 17 years mostly with planning, follow up and development of all operations, as a Project Manager and responsible for the international aspects of Agenda 2030. She has worked with the free movement of workers within the EU and mobility of workers globally. She believes that employment is the strongest poverty reductor we have today and in an inherent right for all persons to move freely across borders.

Milagros Lazo Castro is Youth Employment and Participation Officer with the Youth Employment Accelerator Group of the ILO. She is responsible for the activities of the Youth Group in the area of meaningful youth engagement, with a focus on refugee and host community contexts. Milagros first joined the ILO in 2012 and has since worked in different capacities, first as Technical Officer in the Youth Employment Programme where she supported the implementation, coordination and monitoring of numerous youth employment projects programmes, and more recently as Technical Officer in the Skills and Employability Branch of the ILO where she led the work on innovation and knowledge management. She also worked in the OECD for a couple of years as Policy Analyst for the EU-OECD Youth Inclusion project.Milagros has a solid experience in innovation, learning, and knowledge management and dissemination, with a specific focus on youth employment, skills development and social inclusion. Furthermore, she has contributed to numerous publications on youth inclusion and well-being. Milagros holds a Bachelor’s Degree in History from the Sorbonne University and a Master's degree in International Relations from Nouvelle Sorbonne University.

Elisenda Estruch Puertas is an economist with more than fifteen years of experience in international development, policy, strategic partnerships, economic analysis, capacity development and resource mobilization. She has wide expertise on rural employment, decent work, informal employment, youth, women, migration and social protection. She is working in ILO’s Sectoral Policies Department (SECTOR) in HQ/Geneva. She is a specialist in policy support and analytical work to promote decent work in the rural economy and related sectors. Previously, Elisenda worked as labour economist in FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organization). Elisenda holds a European PhD on Socio-Economics and Statistics, as well as a degree on Economics and a master degree on European Economics.

Noémie Razafimandimby Is a Programme Associate, Employment Analysis and Policy Service, ITC-ILOShe holds a Master's degree in Public Law and Political Science from the Catholic University of Madagascar. She has completed the DESS degree course on project management and local development. And is currently pursuing an online professional certificate on knowledge management and big data/industry 4.0. She has joined the EPAP team recently and had worked with ILO Madagascar for 4 years as a project manager, and with IOM before that.

Shiho Nakamura est chargée de programme au sein du Programme d'analyse et de politique de l'emploi du CIF-OIT. Avant de rejoindre le CIF-OIT, elle a travaillé comme fonctionnaire au ministère japonais de la santé, du travail et de la protection sociale pendant plus de onze ans. Sa carrière se concentre sur la planification et la mise en œuvre de politiques publiques en matière d'emploi. Ses domaines d'expertise et de recherche comprennent l'apprentissage tout au long de la vie, l'emploi des jeunes, les politiques de l'emploi dans une société vieillissante et les services publics de l'emploi. Shiho est titulaire d'une licence en arts libéraux de l'université nationale de Yokohama et d'un master en psychologie de l'institut de technologie de Kanazawa. Elle est psychologue publique agréée.

Valeria Esquivel is Employment Policies and Gender Specialist at the International Labour Office (ILO), based in Geneva, Switzerland. Previously, Valeria was Research Coordinator on Gender and Development at the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD). Before joining the United Nations, Valeria developed a long academic career as feminist economist, publishing extensively on labour, macroeconomic and social policies. Her latest publications have focused primarily on care policies and care workers. She is co-author of the recent report Care work and care jobs for the future of decent work (OIT, 2018), and of Innovations in Care: New Concepts, New Actors, New Policies (Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2017). In 2016, she edited the Gender & Development issue devoted to the SDGs (Vol. 24, No. 1). Valeria is on leave of absence from her positions as Associate Professor of Economics at Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, and as Researcher at CONICET (Argentina). She is economist from Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires (UBA) and earned an MSc and a PhD in economics from the University of London

Technical Officer, Green Jobs and Just Transition, Enterprise Department, International Labour Organisation (ILO) Mette works on green jobs and just transition in the Enterprise Department at the International Labour Organisation. In particular, she is covering work streams of private sector engagement, circular economy, and green jobs for youth, as well as coordinating the ILO engagement in the UN Climate Change processes. Before joining the ILO she was working for a Danish employers’ organisation on private sector development and job creation in more than 15 countries across topics of sustainable enterprise development, skills development, gender equality, and integration of the SDGs. Mette holds a master’s degree in Business and Development Studies from Copenhagen Business School.

Vicky Leung works as Technical Officer on Transition to Formality in the Development and Investment Branch (DEVINVEST) of the ILO Employment Policy Department in Geneva. Since joining the ILO in 2013, her work has focused on the transition to formality, especially on the use of digital technologies, youth, employment promotion and poverty reduction. She previously worked in the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva and the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).

Employment and future of work specialist Maria is an Employment and future of work specialist in the ILO’s Employment Policy Department (EMPLYMENT/EMPLAB). In her current position, she works on the two interrelated strategic topics of youth employment and digitalization. Maria coordinates the implementation of the ILO’s Governing Body approved Youth Employment Action Plan 2020-30, as well as leads the work on digitalisation in the context of national employment policies. The Action plan supports ILO Member States around the world in the creation of decent work for young people. Previously, Maria worked as a Specialist in the ILO’s Future of Work Initiative, where she provided technical support to the Global Commission on the Future of Work and to the work of the ILO on the subject. Maria has more than eighteen years of professional experience in the United Nations (ILO and UNDP) in positions that included thematic areas such as youth employment, digitalisation, local economic and social development, public-private partnerships for urban environment, small and micro enterprises, informal economy and infrastructure development

Maikel Lieuw-Kie-Song has worked in the field of infrastructure and employment creation for more than 20 years. His work incorporates economic and employment policy, infrastructure development, public works programmes, social protection nature-based solutions and Green Jobs. Since 2015 he works in the Employment Intensive Investment Programme of the International Labour Organization in Geneva, Switzerland as a Senior Technical Specialist on promoting job creation through public investment and developing methodologies for, and promoting the use Employment Impact Assessments. He has a varied professional and international background, having worked as a Chief Director in the Department of Public Works in South Africa, as a Researcher at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, an Executive Director of Afribike an NGO, a Resident Engineer and as an independent consultant and researcher for various UN agencies and the World Bank. He is a Suriname national and holds a B.Sc. degree from Cornell University in the, USA and an MSc degree from IHE Delft/ Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, both in Civil & Environmental Engineering.

Takaaki Kizu joined the ILO as an Economist in 2014. He has published on a variety of topics such as school-to-work-transition; jobs in global supply chains; labour provisions in trade agreements; firms’ labour flexibility strategies; and skills for the green transition. Prior to joining the ILO, he worked at the UNESCO Bangkok, the University of Pennsylvania and two vocational education institutions in the United States. He holds postgraduate degrees in Development Economics from the Institute of Developing Economies and in Education from the University Of Pennsylvania Graduate School Of Education.

Stefano Merante is the programme officer in charge of the Skills Development portfolio within the Employment Policy and Analysis Programme of the International Training Center of the ILO in Turin (Italy). He works in the field of TVET and skills development since 2005. After a brief experience in Latin America, he has managed international cooperation and technical assistance programmes and projects in different countries of English-speaking and French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa. Training engineer and program manager, he has specific skills and experience in the creation of public-private partnerships, in the development of Recognition of Prior Learning systems and in the digitalization of skills systems. He holds a Master’s degree in Training and Employment Systems Design at the ENSFEA (Toulouse, France), a Master’s degree in International Cooperation for Development at the IUSS - School for Advanced Studies of Pavia (Italy) and a Master’s Degree in Humanities at the State University of Milan (Italy).

Jonas Bausch is a Youth Employment Specialist at the Regional Office for Africa of the International Labour Organization (ILO), based in Abidjan. Passionate about working with and for young people, he designs and implements programmes to create decent jobs for youth across the continent. Moreover, he advises ILO constituents on delivering youth employment interventions in the digital economy, conducts data-driven research on the latest youth labour market trends and is an accomplished lecturer and training course facilitator. In different roles, Jonas has been advancing the ILO’s work on employment creation for more than seven years, including at the Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch in Geneva and the Country Office for Egypt in Cairo. He also worked for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris and holds an M.Phil in Economics from the Tinbergen Institute in Amsterdam.

Bernd Mueller is the Senior Employment Specialist in ILO’s Decent Work Team for Southern & Eastern Africa. In this role, he is responsible for providing seasoned technical advice and support to the organization’s members and constituents with regard to designing and implementing employment creation policies and initiatives. Before joining the ILO, he was Rural Employment Specialist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) based in Rome. He has conducted extensive research on labour markets across Africa, and has authored a multitude of peer-reviewed articles and reports on the topic of labour markets and employment promotion on the continent, particularly in rural areas. He has over 10 years of experience as development practitioner, policy advisor, researcher, university teacher, and consultant, with a specialist focus on labour markets and employment in Sub-Saharan Africa. He is Diplom-Volkswirt (MSc Economics equiv.) from the University of Muenster, Germany, and holds a PhD in Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Federico Negro works at the ILO Action Program on crisis and post crisis in Geneva. Since 2009 he supports from Geneva ILO country offices to promote Decent Work in fragile, post conflict and disaster situations. He started working on development/recovery in 1999 with INGOs in Kenya and Eritrea, he was as JPO dealing with crisis response in 2002-2003 in Geneva, then with UNHCR in Eritrea in 2004. He was also based in Juba, South Sudan as ILO Focal Point in 2007-2008.

Marwa El-Feki est chargée de programme à CIFOIT et dirige le portefeuille "Politique de l'emploi" au sein du Programme d'analyse et de politique de l'emploi (EPAP). Forte de plus de dix ans d'expérience au sein d'organisations internationales dans le domaine de la promotion de l'emploi et de l'analyse du marché du travail, Marwa possède une solide expérience des programmes internationaux de formation en matière de renforcement des capacités dans le domaine de l'emploi. Avant de rejoindre ITCILO, Marwa a travaillé pendant plus de 9 ans à l'Organisation internationale du travail, au bureau du Caire, au sein de l'équipe Travail décent sur des projets et programmes de coopération technique régionale de promotion de l'emploi, où elle a acquis une solide expérience des outils macroéconomiques, du fonctionnement des marchés du travail et des politiques de l'emploi, avec une attention particulière pour l'Afrique du Nord. Elle a également travaillé avec d'importants instituts de recherche et bureaux nationaux de statistiques dans la région, afin d'améliorer et de générer des données sur l'emploi et les marchés du travail et de fournir des conseils politiques fondés sur des données probantes. Marwa est titulaire d'un double diplôme en économie de la faculté d'économie et de sciences politiques de l'université du Caire, en Égypte, et de l'université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, en France. Elle a également obtenu une maîtrise en économie politique dans le cadre du programme d'études euro-méditerranéennes de la faculté d'économie et de sciences politiques de l'université du Caire. .

Elisabetta Bellora travaille pour le Centre international de formation de l'OIT depuis 1993. Elle a apporté son soutien administratif à différentes unités du département de la formation pour des activités de formation organisées à Turin et sur le terrain. Depuis 1999, elle fait partie de l'équipe ESD (aujourd'hui appelée EPAP - Programme d'analyse et de politique de l'emploi) ; Elisabetta travaille en anglais, en espagnol, en italien et en portugais. Elisabetta est l'une des assistantes de ce cours.

Zeeshan is the Social Impact Manager at Nestlé, where he supports advocacy, engagement and outreach on youth, human rights, sustainable sourcing and gender & diversity. He joined Nestlé HQ after a stint with Nestlé in the Pakistan market, where his focus was on sustainability, media relations and government affairs. Prior to Nestlé, Zeeshan worked in the international development space, with assignments at both HQ and country offices within the UN system and the World Bank. Zeeshan has undergraduate and graduate degrees from the City University of New York, and an Executive MBA from the University of Oxford.

Sher Singh Verick is Head of the Employment Strategies Unit in the Employment, Labour Market and Youth Branch in the ILO, Geneva. Prior to this role, he held positions with the ILO in Turin and New Delhi. He has also worked for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and various research institutions in Europe and Australia. He holds a master’s degree in development economics from the Australian National University and a doctorate in economics from the University of Bonn. Since December 2004, he is a Research Fellow of the Institute for Labor Economics (IZA). He has published on labour market issues in a range of journals, including the Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Journal of African Economies and International Labour Review, and has authored or edited a number of volumes, including Transformation of Women at Work in Asia: An Unfinished Development Agenda (2016).

François Dumora has been working at the ILO in Geneva since 2020, as an Employment Services Specialist and career guidance referent. He supports the PES in their strategic thinking and modernisation projects. He also works on a number of research projects on active labour market policies and has designed a series of practical guides to help employment services professionalise their teams. Manual: How to support a job seeker? Handbook for employment and career development advisers (ilo.org) He is currently working with PES in Costa Rica, Mexico, Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia, Indonesia, Ethiopia. Prior to the ILO, he had 29 years' experience with Pôle Emploi (the French PES) in various managerial positions. From 2008 to 2020, he headed the network of employment agencies in French Guyana, South America.

Eesha works as a Youth Employment and Engagement Officer in the YOUTH Accelerator Group at the International Labour Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. In her role, she supports the implementation of the PROSPECTS area of work on advancing meaningful youth engagement and participation in forced displacement contexts. She also promotes the work of the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth, particularly the thematic priority on youth in the rural economy, including managing partnerships with different UN entities, private sector and other stakeholders. She has previously worked at the United Nations Institute on Training and Research (UNITAR) and the United Nations Institute on Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). She holds a Bachelor’s in International Relations from Durham University, United Kingdom, and an MA in International Affairs from The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.