European Social Services Conference
Lisa Paus studied economics at the University of Berlin. She has been a member of the Green Party since 1995. She held political responsibilities at the Berlin Senate between 1997 and 2009. Since 2009 she has been a member of the Bundestag, and from April 2022 she has been federal minister of the coalition government.
Jan Vrbický is Deputy Director of Social Services Department at the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Czechia. He focuses mainly on the topics of sustainability and availability of social services. At the level of state administration he has been also dealing with the issue of the crisis in social services. He used to work worked as a social worker and manager in social services. He also worked at the municipal level.
Michael Löher is the Executive Board of the German Association for Public and Private Welfare (Deutscher Verein für öffentliche und private Fürsorge e. V.) since 2007. In the years from 2000 to 2007 he was the Managing Director of the organization. From 1993 to 2000 he worked as the Deputy Head of Department and Head of Division for Family Policy in the Department of Children, Youth, Family and Sports in the Ministry of Labour, Women, Health and Social Affairs, Children and Youth of the State of Saxony-Anhalt. Before he worked in the Ministerial Administration of the State of Saxony. Directly after his studies of law and his state examinations he worked in the Scientific service for the CDU parliamentary group in the Lower Saxony state parliament, specializing in social affairs, organization, and administration.
Ivailo Kalfin is Executive Director of Eurofound since June 2021. He has a long experience related to the EU integration. Prior to assuming his current position, he served as Minister for Labour and Social Policy (2014-2016) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2005-2009), both times being also Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria. Ivailo was elected 4 times Member of Parliament and once Member of the European Parliament (2009-2014). He was also Director of the Economy and International Relations Institute and earlier on – Economic Policy Secretary to the President of Bulgaria. Ivailo’s main expertise is in the area of employment and social policy, public budgets, including the budget of the EU and EU relations with the neighbouring countries.
Francesco Cenedese is a Social Protection expert at the World Bank, working on social protection projects in the Europe and Central Asia region. Over the last few years, he has been working on operations supporting social assistance programmes in European countries, including the implementation of the Guaranteed Minimum Income program in Italy. He is co-leading the Case Compass initiative, a toolkit to support interested countries improve case management services and develop case management information systems. Previously, Francesco has worked on government relations between the World Bank and Southern European countries. He holds an MA in European Studies and International Economics from Johns Hopkins University (SAIS) and a BSc in Economics from the University of London.
Greg McKay is Microsoft’s Worldwide Director of Public Health and Social Services, developing strategies for governments to achieve better outcomes for vulnerable people.
Greg brings a unique perspective to leadership and has committed his life and career to protecting and healing vulnerable people, while making success a reality for those committed to serving them. Greg witnessed, firsthand, the dreadful outcomes caused, in part, by unaddressed challenges experienced by vulnerable people. Moreover, he saw the tireless dedication of professionals trying to serve them in a meaningful way, within systems that lack capacity and innovation to aid in their success.
Previously, Greg was appointed Director of Arizona’s Department of Child Safety (ADCS) by Governor Douglas A. Ducey. Under Greg’s leadership, the child welfare agency recovered from its position as worst ranked among 50 states to first ranked in most notable categories. Remarkably, he did so with a leaner workforce and saved or cost avoided $98 million of federal and state dollars during his five-year tenure. Greg was the first director in America to successfully transform a legacy case management system on mainframe to a Cloud based, CRM system. ADCS has nearly 3000 employees and a $1 billion budget.
Prior to serving as a cabinet agency head, Greg was requisitioned by former Arizona Governor Janice K. Brewer to “startup” the first criminal investigative component within the state’s child welfare system. This was enacted through a special legislative session in response to a series of high-profile deaths of children with prior system involvement. Greg grew this operation from being the sole employee with a $1.7 million budget, to leading over 100 staff with a $10 million budget. The state saw a drastic reduction in child fatalities as a result of this implementation.
For Greg’s twenty years prior to state government leadership, he served the Phoenix Police Department (America’s fifth largest city) with assignments ranging from interdicting criminal street gangs, to investigating crimes against children, to undercover fugitive apprehension, to homicide investigations. Greg investigated and prosecuted the series of child murders that led to Arizona’s reform efforts in child welfare.
Greg and his wife, Wendi, married in 1998 and have four children: Grace, Allyson, Justin, and Rachel. They were also Arizona foster parents.
Dr Nataliia Gusak is a professor at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (Kyiv, Ukraine). She has also been a Fulbright scholar at the School of Social Work (Wayne State University, Michigan, USA), visiting lecturer at Dublin City University, and visiting researcher at the Centre for Health and Social Service Studies (University of Kent, Canterbury, UK). Dr. Gusak has been involved as an expert in developmental projects, performed by World Bank, International Medical Corps, UN Developmental Programme, International Organization for Migration, GIZ, and GFA Consulting Group GmbH aiming to develop social services for vulnerable populations in Ukraine. Nataliia has also provided consultancy to the Ukrainian Ministry of Social Policy and Ministry of Health about social service development.
Sedat Arif is the Deputy Mayor responsible for the labour market and social services in Malmö, a role he has had since February 2017. He previously worked as an ombudsman, responsible for organizing members within the Social Democratic party in Malmö and as a union recruiter/educator in the Trade Union.
Mr. Arif studied political science with a focus on international relations. He was involved in fundraising initiatives for refugees during the refugee crisis of 2015. Mr. Arif has previously had political positions within the city of Malmö through the RosengÃ¥rd city district council, the sport and leisure committee, and the election committee.
Fariborz Pakseresht is Director of the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS), USA. As the largest state agency in Oregon, ODHS with 10,000 staff serves 1.5 million Oregonians. Prior to his current position, Fariborz served as the Director of State Juvenile Corrections. In his 32 years serving Oregon State government in a variety of leadership roles, Fariborz has focused on system improvement, outcome-based management, and people centered leadership. He has been recognized for sponsoring ground-breaking research and data analytics to improve outcomes. His interests include management theories and practices, personal and organizational change, human potential, communications, quantum physics, and mindfulness.
Professor Viktoria Stein is co-founder and co-CEO of VM Partners Integrating Health and Care and joint editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Integrated Care. She is also Assistant Professor for Population Health Management at Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands. Prof. Stein’s recognition as a leading expert in integrated care policy, design and implementation has led to her extensive work as a consultant and expert for international agencies like the World Health Organisation, World Bank, the European Commission, or Accreditation Canada, providing input on so diverse topics as workforce development, integrated care design, evaluation and monitoring, or population health management and community involvement. A special focus throughout her career has been the creation of learning opportunities and environments, which foster knowledge generation and exchange.