Brussels team
Secretary General
Sorcha Edwards
Sorcha is responsible for the institutional relations and the overall coordination of the Secretariat’s work.
At the same time, Sorcha is the face of Housing Europe in Brussels and also makes the link between the Board and the rest of the organization’s structure.
Policy
Deputy Secretary General & Policy Director
Julien Dijol
Julien coordinates the policy work of Housing Europe, monitoring all relevant political developments and drafting the position papers of the organisations.
Julien coordinates the work of all Committees and makes the link between them and the day-to-day work in Brussels.Julien also represents Housing Europe in various events, delivering a wide range of presentations.
Senior Policy Officer
Edit Lakatos
Edit is part of the policy team, focusing especially on European Funding. She is leading on the work of the European Responsible Housing Finance Working Group and monitoring all sources of EU financial means that can support the public, cooperative, and social housing sector.
Junior Policy Officer
Johanne Philippe
Johanne supports our policy work, more particularly on EU funding, as well as the work of the European Responsible Housing Finance Working Group.
She holds a M.A. in European Studies specialised in Public Policy and Administration from Maastricht University, and a Master’s Degree in European Politics from the Institute for European Studies, during which she wrote two master’s theses about social housing from an EU perspective. During her studies, she also worked as an intern for the Brussels office of our French member, l’Union Sociale pour l’Habitat (USH).
Research
Research Director
Alice Pittini
Alice leads the daily work of the European Social Housing Observatory, coordinating comparative studies, thematic briefings and articles.
As the go-to person for facts and figures around housing in Europe, she delivers presentations in various events that try to make a reality check with what happens on the ground. Alice also works closely with the Chair and the Vice-Chair of the Observatory.
Research Coordinator
Dara Turnbull
Dara is the Research Coordinator at Housing Europe, bringing together various strands of our work. This includes the preparation of research for the Observatory, coordinating knowledge sharing with and between our members, as well as working with our Innovation & Projects manager in ensuring the successful participation of Housing Europe in a number of EU level projects.
An economist by training, Dara also brings five years of expertise in the area of finance to bear on analysis of issues concerning the financing of social housing and of national and EU funding schemes related to the provision of non-market housing solutions.
Innovation & finance
Director of Innovation
João Gonçalves
João plays a pivotal role in shaping and implementing the organisation’s innovation strategy. He fosters a culture of creativity while leading cross-functional teams to develop and execute research and innovation initiatives aligned with Housing Europe’s strategic goals.
An urban planner by training, João brings in more than 15 years innovation experience in a diversity of organisations including a university, a consultancy and a business association. He is a native Portuguese speaker and speaks English fluently.
Innovation and Project Officer
Clara Mafé
Clara Mafé works as Innovation and Project Officer at Housing Europe. She manages and develops EU-funded projects related to the decarbonisation and climate adaptation of social housing neighbourhoods including positive energy districts; circular retrofits; integrated district renovation and sustainable mobility.
Her mission is to make cities more liveable, sustainable and fair places for people through innovation. Before joining Housing Europe in 2020, she gained experience in user-centred innovation in smart city projects through Living Labs at the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL). She holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Valencia (Spain) and an MSc in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Birmingham (UK).
Junior Project and Innovation Officer
Margherita Marinelli
Margherita joined Housing Europe in October 2022 and now works mainly on projects related to social justice in the green transition which touch upon topics, such as energy poverty and housing exclusion. Additionally, she is determined to help improving cooperation and knowledge exchange in the sector by moderating the mentorship programme and the online community group within the European Affordable Housing Consortium (SHAPE-EU) and facilitating members’ access to funding opportunities at the European level.
Her background consists of a mix of social and environmental sciences as she holds a BSc in International Studies from the University of Trento in Italy and a MSc in Environmental Policy from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Her previous working experiences in the academic and NGO sectors revolved around environmental sociology and inclusive conservation. Margherita speaks Italian and English and is currently learning French.
Finance Officer
Aurore Leconte
Aurore is taking care of the finance and administration of the European Affordable Housing Consortium: Sustainable Housing for Social Impact, SHAPE-EU project which is coordinated by Housing Europe. After commuting for 10 years between France and Germany for both studies and work, Aurore worked until 2015 at a European membership-based association as Finance and administration manager.
Before joining the team, she specialised further in the non-profit sector and European projects at a tax and accounting consultancy for 5 years. Aurore’s mother tongue is French, she’s fluent in English, German, and speaks Italian.
Communications & membership
Communications Director
Diana Yordanova
Diana is leading the external and internal communications work of Housing Europe, including the organisation’s online presence, press relations, event curation, and European projects-related communication activities. She is the go-to person when it comes to the International Social Housing Festival, streamlining our messages, journalists’ queries, and the monthly newsletter or social media channels.
A journalist and EU policy communicator by training, Diana has contributed to campaigns for the European Commission, worked with a trade association in Brussels, and served as a correspondent for a UK/Canada-based media outlet. She is fluent in English, French, and Bulgarian.
Communications Junior Officer
Andreea-Alexandra Nacu
Andreea joined Housing Europe in 2021 and took on the mission of supporting the team in its activities related to different European projects through the Horizon2020 programme.
She is also responsible for various daily communications tasks. Coming from a background of foreign languages studies, she has dived into the field of digital communications. Having Romanian as a mother tongue, she also speaks English and French.
Membership and Events Coordinator
Abderrahim Khairi
Abderrahim is the Membership and Events Coordinator of Housing Europe, focusing on membership engagement, expansion of the Housing Europe family and ensuring that public, cooperative and social housing providers make the most out of being a part of a rich Pan-European network.
In addition to that, he is also coordinating the organisation of internal and external events of the Federation. Abderrahim speaks no less than five languages – Italian, Arabic, English, French and Spanish.