Francisco Mingorance

For over 25 years Francisco advises international firms and governments agencies on European and International policy and regulatory matters. In 1999 he participated in the development of the European Commission policy on TRIPs-related matters and access to patented pharmaceuticals in Africa. After completing his mission for the European Commission (declining a kind invitation to work for Mr Viola’s predecessor in DG Trade at the time), Francisco moved back to private sector and opened the representation of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) in Brussels where and managed International and European regulatory affairs for leading US Tech corporations for over 10 years.

After leaving BSA and since 2011 in his capacity of founding partner of Europa Insights, a consultancy specialized in IP, trade and technology matters, Francisco has created and is supporting several European-driven associations that bring together leading European corporations, SMEs and research institutions, such as: IP Europe (Brussels-based European-driven coalition for R&D and IP-intensive innovators) and CISPE (Association of European and SMEs Cloud Infrastructure Providers). Europa Insights also supports leading IoT groups such as AIOTI and his currently engaged with dozens of European innovative SMEs. In the past 18 months, Europa Insights has advocated for the next European budget (“InvestEU”) to help finance strategic Intellectual Property Rights for R&D-intensive European start-ups and SMEs in order to make these innovative enterprises more competitive and attractive for growth investors, without diluting entrepreneurs. Press release here: https://www.iptalks.eu/3148-2/

Dual Swiss and Spanish citizen, Francisco is a lawyer with an engineering background: he holds masters of the University of Geneva (Law) and of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL, Technology Management, materials and fuel cells department).

Lieve Fransen

Lieve is former Director, Europe 2020 Social Policies DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion at the European Commission and current senior policy advisor for Royal Philips Health, Plusvalue, Tiburg University, Bozar and European Policy Centre. She’s also been a Public Health Advisor to the Ministry of Health, Mozambique, Kenya, Rwanda and Cape Verde Islands, Task Manager of a research programme on pregnant women and new-borns in Rwanda, and Director of a research programme on sexual and reproductive health in Kenya and in the Tropical Institute in Antwerpen, Belgium. Lieve is a medical doctor and holds a PhD. Her expertise spans health and development, pensions, social protection, gender, employment and social innovation.

Javier Arias

Javier has more than 35 years of experience in the financial sector. Prior to his former position of BBVA’s Group Head of European Affairs and Representative to the EU, he has served as Senior Director of Corporate Development, Director of BBVA’s Strategic Alliances, Director of Investment Policy, Risks & Financial Controller of the Private Banking Division of BBVA Spain, Regional Head of International Financial Institutions, Head of Wholesale Banking and Treasury of GESBANQUE and Head of BBVA Belgium, among other managing positions within the Group BBVA, BBV and Banco Vizcaya. Besides, he has also participated   in the Boards, management committees and policy bodies chairing relevant working groups of relevant European financial associations and fora, such as the EFR, AFME, IBC, ECGI, TABD, ELEC, EPFSF, Ad –Hoc Council. He holds a Executive  Master in Business Administration by Insead (EMBA), a Post Graduate degree in International Commerce (Solvay University)  and a Master’s degree in Economics.

Ignasi Guardans

Ignasi has more than 25 years of professional experience in EU law and policy. A large part of his career has been dedicated to public responsibilities in matters including, among others, digital and telecoms regulation, audiovisual policy, IP as well as international trade. A respected lawyer, after a few years of international legal practice he started a political career. He was then elected in two consecutive terms to the Spanish Parliament; and in 2004 he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament.

In 2009 he was appointed Director General of the Spanish Film Agency, and in 2011 he became the first Director of Public Affairs at the European Broadcasting Union – Eurovision, based in Geneva. After moving to Brussels, Ignasi worked for five years as a Partner at K&L Gates, a global law firm, in charge of its of EU Policy and Government Affairs practice, as well as its Brexit Working Group, advising clients both in Europe and the US. As as an active member of the Trans-Atlantic Business Council and later appointed as its Director in Europe he spent years involved in the transatlantic trade policy and regulatory dialogue. He has worked as a Senior Expert in several projects funded by the European Commission.

He has worked closely with European and international think tanks in European affairs; he publishes regularly in Spanish media, and is a weekly contributor on some of the most influential current affairs radio broadcasts in Spain. He is fluent in English, French, Italian and Portuguese, besides his own Catalan and Spanish. He holds a PhD in international law.

Damir Filipovic

Damir started his career in 1998 in public sector, in the Ministry of Communication in Croatia. From 2000, he was leading regulatory and wholesale business departments in Croatian telco operators. In 2008, he joined Telekom Austria in Brussels, covering spectrum, environment and m-commerce and providing support to South-East Europe operations. In 2010 Damir became Director of Public Affairs in DIGITALEUROPE. In January 2012, he joined the Samsung EU Affairs where he became Head of public policy. In January 2016, he re-joined DIGITALEUROPE as Director for Digital Economy. In October 2017, Damir joined Europa Insights as Director. He speaks Croatian, English, German, Romanian and French.

Simone Casadei Pastorino

Simone is a public affairs and communications specialist, with experience in both private and public sector. Prior to joining Europa Insights, Simone worked as policy advisor to a Member of the European Parliament where he focused on Internal Market and Consumer Protection and on Legal Affairs matters with particular interest in digital policies. Before this, he worked for GS1, the global standards organization, as public policy and PR manager. Simone has an entrepreneurial mindset acquired throughout the years as co-founder of Penrose CDB, a communication agency with offices in Bucharest and Brussels.

Simone holds an MSc in Political Science and European Union from the University of Amsterdam. He is fluent in Italian and English, with knowledge of Spanish, French, Romanian and Polish.

Althay Ramallo Fuentes

Althay is a regulatory Affairs expert with a solid academic background and experience in both public and private sectors at EU level. Prior to joining the team of Europa insights, Althay worked as Head of Office and Policy Advisor to a Member of the European Parliament covering issues related to budgetary control, environmental regulation, energy and Brexit. Wide professional network developed after working experience in Madrid and Brussels, built across disciplines (Regulatory Affairs, Consultancy, EU Institutions and international Organisations). Experienced in handling corporate procedures and translate insights into advice to the business.

Althay holds an MA in Political and Business Communication with a focus on European Public Affairs. He is fluent in Spanish, English, Swedish, French and with knowledge of Danish.

Laura Lischinski

Laura is a policy and communication specialist. She started her career at the European Union Intellectual Property Office in Alicante in the Public Awareness Team of the Observatory, where she focused on grants, and communication activities. Before she joined Europa Insights, she worked at the European Patent Office in Munich in the External Communication Department. Laura worked in media relations and assisted in the preparations for the European Inventor Award. 

She holds a Master’s degree in European and International politics from the University of Innsbruck.

In addition to her native German she speaks fluent English and has a good knowledge of French.

Lisa Boch Anderson

Lisa Boch-Andersen is a leader in international strategic communications, corporate positioning and public affairs. In addition, CSR and Citizenship has played a key role throughout her career. She has close to 20 years of international experience from consultancy, international institutions, associations and corporations.

Lisa has a strong cross-sectoral background including six years in Microsoft, where she as Senior Director of Communications led the digital positioning of the company throughout the European Region, and before that the company’s Citizenship Strategy towards European decision makers. Prior to Microsoft Lisa held a range of senior roles with ExxonMobil in Marketing, Communications, Media Relations, CSR and Public Affairs during her 10- year career there. Lisa has also worked for the medical technology industry as Director of Communications, leading the positioning of the sector in the European region in terms of communications and PR.

Today, as a partner at Praetor Public Policy, responsible for strategic communications, Lisa supports a number of industries and companies across health, automotive, telecom, and ICT. Her work evolves around Strategy & messaging development, marketing, PR, political communication, and stakeholder engagement, for European as well as global clients.

In the course of her career, Lisa has gained a strong expertise across major communications & public affairs disciplines, including corporate and industry reputation management, brand building, PR, creative storytelling, policy communications, digital media as well as alliance and coalition building.

Rory Douglas Home

Rory is a media and communications specialist with fourteen years’ experience working on the front-line of EU regulatory, corporate and special situations campaigns. He believes in communicating with conviction and delivering research led campaigns that integrate online and offline disciplines to activate coalitions of advocates.

He has successfully applied this approach to deliver positive outcomes for clients with targets ranging from changing regulatory frameworks, to merger and competition decisions, corporate reputation, industry positioning, internal change management and funding or revenue growth.

He has worked with clients ranging from businesses in the telecommunications, healthcare, financial services, chemicals and biotechnology sectors, to cultural organisations, NGOs and governments.

Rory established the independent media consultancy Hekla Communications in 2016. Prior to founding Hekla, he held senior positions in the Brussels team of a global strategic communications agency, delivering successful campaigns for clients in a variety of sectors.

He also spent two years as head of communications at the Commonwealth Partnership for Technology Management, with responsibility for communications around high-level political summits in Malaysia, Zambia, Uganda and Tanzania.

Rory holds an MSc in Business and Management and graduated from the FTI Consulting International Leadership Academy in 2014. He holds both a UK and Irish passport.

Stephen Fenerty

Stephen specialises in content, communications, thought leadership and engagement. With a background in tech and communications, he helps organizations to formulate key messages and deliver persuasive content across multiple channels for external and internal audiences. Often working with senior leaders and through periods of transition, Stephen’s expertise spans thought leadership, campaigns, web, events, social media, writing training and coaching. Client work includes QinetiQ, Consultus (The Energy Brokers), Brown Thomas/Arnotts (Selfridges), DLA Piper, BP Lubricants (Castrol), SAS, Symantec and Vodafone. He graduated from the University of Manchester.

Arnaud Jourdan

Arnaud is in charge of the visual department of Europa Insights. He pilots a team of creative designers to give shape and execute the campaign concepts. He holds a BA in Visual Communication and a MA in 3D animation – which offers him a large spectrum of production techniques. He is the Art director of Old-Continent communication agency since its creation in 2013.

He worked on hundreds of projects, conceiving multiple visual identities (EEB, COHESIFY, EPRC), 360 campaigns (House of European History, Seas at Risk, Flight for Survival) and videos. Arnaud will handle the Art direction of all communication tools, defining its visual impact, the project’s creative mood and supervising the production.

Marijana Butkovic Brcina

Marijana is responsible for organizing the administrative activities that facilitate the smooth running of the Europa Insights office. She has an extensive working experience in Office Management, Human Resources, and Accounting in both the private and public sectors at the EU level. Before joining the Europa Insights team, she also worked on various EU projects where she was responsible for Administrative and Financial Project Management in the fields of European integration, Economic Development and Sports. Marijana holds an MA in business informatics and economics. In addition to her native Croatian, she speaks fluent English and has a good knowledge of Italian.