Patrizia Bussi studied at the business management Faculty of the Turin University (Italy). She is the Director of the European Network of Social Integration Enterprise (ENSIE), representing social enterprises and especially more than 3000 work integration social enterprises across Europe (30 members in 21 EU Member States, as well as Azerbaijan, Serbia and Moldavia), aiming to contribute to sustainable development through different actions such as creating links between the job market and the social integration of disadvantaged risk-groups by improving their employment opportunities and productivity, and promoting the economic viability of social enterprises and the integration and reinforcement of their role in the general economic landscape.
During her time in ENSIE, she has also worked for two Italian social economy enterprises: the Consorzio Sociale Abele Lavoro and the A-type social cooperative Stranaidea. Since 2012 she is a member of the European Commission expert group on social business (GECES), member of the working group on the role of clusters and similar forms of business cooperation, she was also member of the GECES’s Social Impact Measurement sub-group and member of the Italian GECES group, Gruppo Multilaterale sull’imprenditoria sociale. Since 2014 she has represented ENSIE in the Structured Dialogue with European Structural and Investment Funds' partners group of experts (ESIF SD) of the European Commission.
Since the beginning of 2019 she is Vice-President of Social Economy Europe.
Contact: patrizia.bussi@ensie.org, +32 (0) 496 87 22 12
Aziza Yussupova is graduated in international relations, diplomacy and conflicts resolution from the Belgian university (Université Catholique de Louvain, UCL). She has broad experience in managing teams and projects with different target groups through the management of the EaSI programme of the European Commission and other EU projects. She gained more than five years of experience working in the human rights domain through her voluntary involvement in Amnesty International’s activities and local groups. She joined the ENSIE team in 2018 as a Policy Officer. She helps in developing constructive working relationships with key influential bodies in the European Commission and national Member States to gain their support for programs and policies linked to the social inclusion and the fight against poverty. She is the person in charge for the monitoring of the EU policies and tools as the Youth Guarantee and the European Solidarity Corps. She is also the representative of ENSIE in the advisory board of the European Solidarity Corps Research Center. In addition, she has the responsibility to monitor and evaluate the European Semester process, the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights principles and the Sustainable Development Goals. Finally, she is the person in charge of the measurement of the Social Impact of WISEs/social enterprises.
Contact: azizam.yussupova@ensie.org, +32 (0) 470 85 09 19
Baptiste holds a master's degree in Work Integration Social Entrepreneurship (Université Gustave Eiffel, Paris). He has been actively involved in social economy, gaining ground-based experience working for two different WISEs in France. He had also the opportunity to work further on social economy during a 5-month traineeship at the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, in the European Commission. Since August 2023, Baptiste is a Policy Officer for ENSIE. He is involved in the management of 2 projects: SocialTech4EU and HELPDESK. Moreover, Baptiste is following a vast range of policy dossiers as, among others, the implementation of the Social Economy Action Plan (SEAP), the work relationships with the European Parliament, and the development of the social economy ecosystem in Eastern Partnership Region.
Contact: baptiste.vasseur@ensie.org, +32 (0) 491 52 71 66
Martina Paterniti got a Bachelor degree in International and diplomatic science at University of Bologna Alma Mater Studiorum (Italy) and a Master degree in European Studies at Université Catholique de Louvain and Université Saint Louis-Bruxelles (Belgium). She worked for more than 3 years at EURACTIV, a pan-European media publishing on European affairs, as European Projects Manager. She has experience in managing projects in the framework of the LIFE programme, H2020, IMCAP, Cohesion Policy, REC programme, Erasmus+. She also worked as independent bid writer in collaboration with Comunicazione EUROPE NET, responsible for drafting technical and financial parts of project proposals addressed to EACEA and CHAFEA. Today, Martina is Projects Officer at ENSIE, responsible for managing three Erasmus+ projects as well as following policy dossiers linked to digitisation, skills and European Education area.
Contact: martina.paterniti@ensie.org, +32 (0) 478 15 33 88
Ana holds a MA in International Relations from Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and a Specialized Master’s in interdisciplinary EU Studies from ULB, with emphasis on Economic Governance. She has worked and volunteered in the not-for-profit sector in the fields of development cooperation, Human Rights, and social care executing tasks linked to project development, monitoring and reporting, research (green practices on agriculture, carbon capture and the new green deal), advocacy and awareness raising. As a Project Officer, she worked in EASPD for 3 years on proposal development and project management of European projects, among which centred on the improvement of access to employment for persons with disabilities. At ENSIE, she currently coordinates COSME projects GreenBoost4WISES and BuyWISELY, and is responsible for proposals drafting for European calls and private funding sources. Ana is Brazilian and speaks fluent Portuguese, English and French.
Caterina Grimaldi holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration at the Italian university ‘Roma Tre’ of Rome.She gained experience in the field of European funds thanks to her internship at the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, during which she participated in the implementation of regional projects financed by the European Social Fund (ESF). She worked for one year as a European Projects assistant at a European non-profit organization, taking part in the design and development of projects aimed at integrating vulnerable target groups into the world of culture and sport. She has broad experience in many voluntary activities in Italy and abroad, mainly with homeless people, people with disabilities and refugees. She joined the ENSIE team in April 2022 as an Administrative Assistant, she is in charge of organizing ENSIE events and managing the financial and administrative aspects of the ENSIE team.
Contact: caterina.grimaldi@ensie.org, +32 (0)4 70 11 46 91
Antonio Contini is graduated in political sciences at LUISS University in Rome and completed his studies in European Affairs at Sciences Po University in Paris. He worked as intern for the European Movement International, where he moved his first steps into policy and project communication. Subsequently, he moved on with a second internship at the Green European Journal, where he gained more experience in general communication management and had a first experience with journalism and publications-related communication. Before starting with ENSIE, he had a brief experience as a trainee at the European Committee of the Regions. Antonio also successfully completed an executive master in political communication and electoral marketing, where he gained practical skills learning from communication professionals and spin doctors. He started working at ENSIE in October 2023 as a Communication Officer; in this position, he oversees the development and the implementation of internal and external communication for ENSIE.
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