Maria Arrufat is a feminist, humanist, anthropologist by training and mediator by vocation. She likes to accompany people in their changes and help them improve their relationships.

A little more than fifteen years ago she started her path in mediation. It was in the penitentiary field where, as an intercultural mediator, she learned the first tools of transformative conflict management. Since then, during her professional career she has shared several projects and been part of several teams, with a common denominator, mediation in the municipal sphere, which has allowed her to acquire a community view of social problems. She currently works as a secondary school educator.

mariaarrufat@AHEADedu.org

Xavier Baró is projects' coordinator and educational advisor of the Association of Human Rights Educators. Xavier has over twenty years of experience in the educational and youth fields as a trainer. He combines the work at European level with the local activism in Barcelona.

As a trainer and educational advisor Xavier Baró collaborates on a regular basis on the development of Training activities for the European Commission, the Education Department and the Youth Department of the Council of Europe; and the Anna Lindh Foundation for the Dialogue among cultures.

xavierbaro@aheadedu.org

Thomas Duchini is a graduate in Linguistic and Cultural Mediation and with a Master in Development and International Cooperation.

The rights of children and groups at social risk, such as migrants, refugees and LGBTI + people, have always been the object of his interest.

Thomas has participated as a volunteer in international cooperation projects with schools and educational centres in Africa and Brazil and here in Catalonia he has worked with associations that defend human rights.

Currently he combines his activism with his work as an Italian and English teacher.

Thomas was member of the coordinators team of the Living Libraries project and currently member of the Board of AHEAD.

thomas@aheadedu.org

Eva Navarro is a social educator and teacher of secondary education. She combines her profession with illustration and art therapy, and works on the development of human rights education through art.

Eva has collaborated on several AHEAD projects, and is part of the coordination team of the European Project: New Era - New youth work practices on refugee inclusion. She is currently a Board Member of AHEAD.

Eva@aheadedu.org

Bet has a degree in Political Science and Public Management, and she is specialized in International Relations. Thanks to her experiences abroad, her interest grew on international politics, and especially, on a European level.

Her migration and human rights concerns took her to do her internship with us, and she is currently part of AHEAD’s Team. Together with other member of the team, they work to manage, coordinate, and execute several of our European projects, like the CLAP - CERV Project and Towards Inclusive Europe, among others.

bet.gamell@aheadedu.org

Núria is an International Relations student at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and is currently doing her internship in our association. She has a link to non-formal education among children and youngsters through her participation in the Scout movement in her hometown, Vic. In the future, she would like to keep learning and training in the field of Human Rights and International Law. This interest grew in her during her Erasmus year at Sciences Po Strasbourg, since she had the chance to get introduced to institutions such as the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights.

nuria.gonzalez@aheadedu.org

Maria has almost ten years of experience working in the third sector as trainer, project manager, translator and interpreter, and a few more as a volunteer and activist in social movements. She has worked with minorities, women and children.

Maria worked on Human Rights and Education for Peace in Palestine in 2006, with children from a refugee camp in the West Bank. Since then she has been involved in social projects which bring together both sides of the Mediterranean and in the struggle for a fair peace in the Middle East, as well as in the promotion of intercultural dialogue and social justice back home.

Maria started working with AHEAD as a member of the translation team of the manual "Petit Compass", she was the President of the Association of Human Rights Educators (AHEAD), and nowadays she is a member of the Board.

maria@AHEADedu.org

Marina López is an educational psychologist and teacher

specialised in children with special needs, and counsellor in a public secondary school. Currently she focus on students with an immigrant background.

Marina started her cooperation with AHEAD by joining different on local and international level related with Human Rights Education (HRE).

She has always felt a strong motivation to work close to communities in social risk of exclusion. Currently she is working and strengthening my skills as a teacher in a state school in Catalonia. Marina wants to get to know and get personally involved in other practices on the educational field in different places in the world, so that she can both personally and professionally develop from these experiences.
Currently she is the Vice-President of the Association of Human Rights Educators (AHEAD).

marina@AHEADedu.org

Laia is a 4th year International Relations student at the Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona. This past year she did an Erasmus in Ljubljana, which increased her interest in the fields of human rights, migrations, conflict analysis and international politics, especially in the framework of the European Union, through sharing experiences with students from other places in Europe.

Besides the International Relations field, music and popular culture has always been deeply rooted in her. She plays the electric bass and the classical double bass in several music groups and orchestras and participates in cultural associations in her city such as the Gitanes De Granollers.
She will currently be doing an internship within the association, which she is very excited about as it allows her to continue her formation and see in a tangible way how work is done worldwide in the field of human rights.

Laia.Vera@AHEADedu.org

Carme Vidal is a student of International Relations at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. From her Erasmus experience in Belfast, Northern Ireland, she became interested in the protection of human rights and especially ethnic minorities and peace research. 

Carme is doing her internship at the AHEAD association. Thanks to this opportunity she will be able to deepen and learn about the various fields of action and dissemination of human rights, as well as to start her way in the professional field of international relations and grow professionally and personally. 

Carme.Vidal@AHEADedu.org

Isaac is a 4th year Political Science student at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. This last year, she was combining teaching secondary school boys and girls, which made her interest in the social field grow. In addition, his experiences in previous years where he has lived with people from other countries have made him interested in the European Union, and other cultures and ways of doing things.
Isaac, aside from running, has always been up to date with the world of sports since the age of eight due to his presence at home, making him play basketball all over the country today.
With this new adventure, he will seek to know new cultures while continuing to train for his professional life.

Isaac.Mayo@AHEADedu.org

Jordi Pelfort Moreno is a 4th-year student of International Relations at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Thanks to an Erasmus course in Karlsruhe (Germany), he has had the opportunity to share experiences with young people from all over the world, with whom he has exchanged views and perspectives on human rights and international politics, near the institutions of Strasbourg. In the future, he would like to specialize in the protection of sexual and gender rights across the European continent.

In his free time, Jordi volunteers in leisure for children and teenagers in the city of Igualada. Additionally, he actively participates in various popular and cultural entities in the city.

Currently, while doing an internship at AHEAD, he seeks to deepen his knowledge of human rights and international relations, as well as to embark on his professional path in this field.

Jordi.Pelfort@AHEADedu.org

Berta Vilardebò Ribes is in her final year of Sociology at the University of Barcelona. She chose these studies as a result of her concern for social inequalities and her motivation to initiate projects that could have an impact on people's lives. She has a particular interest in the field of migrations, diversity management, and interculturalism.

She is a resourceful person with a great adaptive capacity and initiative. Skills she has been able to strengthen through her involvement with non-profit organizations, such as her local "esplai" group, where she has been a leisure instructor for 5 years. Being part of the community's associative network has allowed her to develop a strong social awareness and realize the empowering dimension that culture and non-formal education can have on children.

That's why she is determined to continue her work as an educator, and through this experience, she will be able to deepen her knowledge in the field of human rights, something that she couldn't be more excited about.

Coordinators Team Expressions in Dialogue

Project Description Expressions in Dialogue: Innovative youth work practices on refugee inclusion through Living Libraries

Coordinators Team Not Alone in Europe

Project Description Not Alone in Europe: Intersectional youth work on refugee inclusion

Coordinators Team Citizens Cohesion

Project Description Citizens' Cohesion and Community Mediation Project

Ramon Tena (andorra@AHEADedu.org)

I have a degree in Political Sciences.

I’m a mediator and trainer in conflict transformation. Two years ago I left my job as a Diplomat to start a social entrepreneurship project. Its main objective is to promote culture of peace within organizations.

I also work in Human Rights Education, both nationally and internationally. I have participated in different projects of the Council of Europe and the Youth in Action program.

At present, I’m following credentialing process for the Council of Europe’s Pool of Trainers.

andorra@aheadedu.org

Thomas Duchini is a graduate in Linguistic and Cultural Mediation and with a Master in Development and International Cooperation.

The rights of children and groups at social risk, such as migrants, refugees and LGBTI + people, have always been the object of his interest.

Thomas has participated as a volunteer in international cooperation projects with schools and educational centres in Africa and Brazil and here in Catalonia he has worked with associations that defend human rights.

Currently he combines his activism with his work as an Italian and English teacher.

Thomas was member of the coordinators team of the Living Libraries project and currently member of the Board of AHEAD.

thomas@aheadedu.org

Meritxell Vidal studied Pedagogy and combined her studies with her passion on environmental projects and in constant contact with education.

Meritxell has worked in education from different perspectives: organising courses, being a trainer and coordinating educational, volunteering related, projects. She is a trainer on environmental education, ecotourism, youth leaders, and training of trainers with different audiences and ages. Nowadays she is working as an English teacher with younger learners.

Meritxell works and lives in Terres de l'Ebre, in the south of Catalonia.

projectes@aheadedu.org