Designation: 2020

Giovanni Cabona, Councilor of the Italian National Council of Social Workers since march 2021. He graduated in social work and worked for 26 years as a social worker in different public organisations. He’s specialised in addiction desease. He was adjunct professor at the University of Genoa in the degree course in social work from 2015 to 2019.

Sean Renner spent his whole professional life working in and for Social Services. He started his career at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the UK where he held various responsibilities. After sixteen years at DWP he moved over to the private sector where he started his current career track as an advisor on digitization for organizations in Social Services, also taking on sales and business responsibilities. Sean is currently responsible for the Government and Human Services business (GHHS) within IBM Watson Health for Europe, Middle East and Africa, leading a multinational team of experts.

Farid Mammadov, a Chairman of the Board of the Agency for Sustainable and Operative Social Provision (DOST Agency) under the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Azerbaijan, has over 20 years experience in the program, project and process management. Professionally, he has a background in policy and strategy consulting, mainly in economic and social development field. Farid has broad practical experience in the day-to-day leadership of one-stop-shop concept for social protection, labor and employment in Azerbaijan. He is a leader of a rapidly accelerating growth phase of DOST Agency and is a proven professional in building effective and dynamic organization.

Stephen is the new Association of Directors of Social Services (ADASS) President 2021-22 and has been the national Policy Lead for Mental Health since 2014. Stephen’s current day job is with Oxfordshire County Council and Cherwell District Council as Director of Adult and Housing Services.

Stephen gained national recognition for leading the transformation of adult services, as well as being system lead with the NHS for a number of urgent care work streams. He started his career as a nurse and worked for the first half of his career in a number of NHS roles include board level positions.

Stephen is recognised for his work developing innovative models of adult social care with a focus on earlier invention, partnership and market inclusiveness. He has a passion for co-production, improving quality and has led the introduction of #doityourway a model of “Promoting Independence’. Sometimes described as radical sometimes traditional he has an absolute focus on leadership with a specific emphasis on the roles that professional leadership plays and the impact this has on everything we do.

David Nelson, M.S., is an Executive Director at IBM Watson Health where he leads global government strategy and market development. Mr. Nelson has 30 years’ experience working with government agencies, industry leaders, providers, and insurers. Mr. Nelson’s work examines how provincial and state health and social services agencies, and federal agencies involved with health policy development and delivery, can optimize operations, inform policy and best serve their stakeholders. IBM Watson Health works with health and human services agencies in over 40 states in the U.S., U.S. federal healthcare agencies, and in 18 countries around the world. Prior to joining IBM Watson Health, Mr. Nelson held leadership positions with The Advisory Board Company, Gemini Consulting, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and Henry Ford Health System. Mr. Nelson received an M.S. from Harvard University and a B.A. from Michigan State University.

Tracy Wareing Evans is the President and CEO of the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA), a bi-partisan, non-profit, membership organization representing state and local human service agencies through their top-level leadership. In coordination with its governing board of directors, Wareing Evans sets the strategic direction for the Association and spearheads delivery on its mission “to advance the well-being of all people by influencing modern approaches to sound policy, building the capacity of public agencies to enable healthy families and communities, and connecting leaders to accelerate learning and generate practical solutions together.” In support of APHSA’s bold strategic plan released in 2018, Wareing Evans is mobilizing strategic partnerships with connected sectors integral to thriving communities, including education, justice, housing and health as well as community-based organizations.

Wareing Evans has a long history in high-level policy development and public administration. She served as a senior advisor to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and, before moving to Washington D.C. in 2009, as the Director of the Arizona Department of Economic Security, an integrated human service agency. She has also served as policy adviser for human services under then Arizona Gov. Napolitano and as director of the state’s child welfare division. Wareing Evans began her career as a litigator. Wareing Evans has served on more than 20 boards and advisory committees over the course of her career, including several national appointments. In 2019, she was selected as a fellow to the National Academy of Public Administration.

Karin Christiansen holds a PhD in Philosophy from The University of Melbourne, Australia. Since 2015 she has been working as a Senior Associate Professor at the Faculty of Health, VIA University College in Denmark. She is research leader at the Program for Health Technology, Methodology Development and Ethics, VIA Research Centre for Health and Welfare Technology. She is a renowned expert in the field of ethics in welfare services and has conducted multiple studies on the subject. Recent studies include “Ethics and use of technology in health care professions”, “Policy and philosophical implications of the ageing demographic revolution” and “Dementia, technology and health ethics”. In her research, she operates close to the practical level, which has given her a unique insight into the key questions and complexities surrounding the field.

From 2006-2015 Christiansen was employed at the Centre for Health, Humanity and Culture, Department of Philosophy, University of Aarhus in Denmark. She worked as Post.doc, Assistant professor and later as Senior Associate Professor and taught numerous undergraduate and postgraduate courses in medical philosophy at the Department of Philosophy and the Department of Health (Odontology, Sport Sciences, Public Health, Nursing Science, and Medicine). She has been visiting scholar at the Department of Philosophy, University of Melbourne and visiting Academic at the Institute of Medical Genetics, University Hospital of Wales. As an undergraduate student, she studied philosophy at the Department of Philosophy, Tübingen Universität, Germany (Erasmus program). Besides being a member of the international Erasmus + Prospero project (Social Robotics), Christiansen is currently involved in the EU-COST project RANCARE (Rationing Nursing Care). Previously she has been involved in the work of the EU NanoMed Roundtable. She is a member of numerous Danish research networks and is engaged in activities at the Schader Stiftung in Darmstadt, Germany.

Martin Knapp is Professor of Health and Social Care Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), based in the Health Policy Department. He is also a Professorial Research Fellow in the Care Policy and Evaluation Centre (CPEC; formerly PSSRU) at the LSE. Since 2009, Martin has been Director of the School for Social Care Research, part of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in England. His main research interests are in the areas of social care, child and adult mental health, dementia and autism, with much of his work using economic arguments and evidence to inform policy discussion and influence practice development.