• Deputy director of the Area for the Elderly of the Álava Provincial Institute of Social Welfare.
• Specialist Geriatric Nurse and Graduate in Social and Cultural Anthropology.
• Expert in Ethics applied to Social Intervention.
• President of the Ethics Committee for Social Intervention in Alava (CEISA).
• Member of the Social and Health Commission of Ethics Committees of the Basque Country.
• Member of the Euthanasia Guarantee and Evaluation Commission of the Basque Country.

Amaia has been the Director of Gautena – Gipuzkoa Society for Autism since 2017. The entity, constituted in 1978, has the mission of working for the quality of life of people with ASD and their families in Gipuzkoa, both through the vindication of their rights and social awareness, and through the direct provision of services with a high level of specialisation.

In this context, it works in close collaboration with the different administrations involved in achieving this goal, with special emphasis on the areas of Social Policy, Education and Health, among others.

Amaia represents Gautena in FEVAS Plena Inclusión Euskadi, an association of Basque entities that works for the rights of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their families. She takes part in Autismo España and Autismo Europa, being a member of its Board of Directors. She also belongs to the Board of Trustees of Gertuan Fundazioa, focused on the provision of support measures for the exercise of legal capacity.

From her position as Director of an Association of Families, she demands personalised support, with a community, integral and coherent approach throughout the whole life cycle, and that the participation of people with ASD and their families in the design of their life projects is guaranteed.

Studies

Graduate in Social Work from the UPV-University of the Basque Country. Specialised in the areas of social inclusion and family mediation.

Professional career

• • Currently, General Director of Child Protection and Social Inclusion. Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa (appointed on 9 July 2019).
  • General Director of Child Protection and Social Inclusion. Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa (Legislature 2015-2019).

Social worker, in the following Municipal Social Services:

– Eibar. Basic Social Services (2011-2015).
– Errenteria. Child and adolescent care area (2007-2011).
– Eibar. Basic Social Services (2005-2007).
– Zarautz. Home help service and disability area (2003-2005).
– Eibar. Basic Social Services (1993-2003).
– Eibar. Public Foundation for Home Help. Management of the home help service (1989-1992).

She holds a degree in Economics from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and a Master in Economic Analysis, also from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and a PhD in Economics from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra.

Specialised in data processing and analysis in the field of the labour market, supplementary payment systems and public service provision, she has taught at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Pompeu Fabra University and the ESCI-UPF International Business School.

Between 2004-2010 she was part of the management team of the Department of Health of the Generalitat of Catalonia as Director of Services and Secretary General, and is currently Director General of Personal Autonomy and Disability of the Department of Social Rights of the Generalitat of Catalonia.

Matxalen Legarreta-Iza holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU and is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Social Work at the same university.

She is a member of the AFIT-Feminist Anthropology Research Group and her lines of research mainly deal with care and gender inequalities.

She regularly collaborates with the public administration and third sector organisations, carrying out research and giving conferences, training and awareness-raising courses related to her areas of work.

Graduate in Law from the University of Deusto (UD) and University Specialist in Development and International Cooperation from HEGOA-UPV/EHU. She is also an anthropology module of the Diploma in Humanitarian Aid of the Pedro Arrupe Human Rights Institute (UD) and a Mediator with a Diploma from AEXME.

She began her career as a volunteer in different non-governmental organisations and has been responsible for various programmes in the Spanish Committee of UNICEF since 1996, and has been the coordinator of UNICEF in the Basque Country since 2009.

Speaker at various forums, seminars, congresses, tutor of internships and research, and member of various regional and local Development Cooperation Councils of the Basque Autonomous Community, the Family Council of the Basque Country and the Civil Dialogue Table. Coordination of the study “Does Spanish ODA guarantee the rights of children and adolescents” and publication of various articles related to children’s rights.

MSc in Economics (Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London), PhD in Economics (University of Barcelona, UB). Professor of Economics and researcher at the Barcelona Economic Analysis Team (BEAT) UB. Her research on the interaction between demography, economics and public policies -especially intergenerational transfers- has led to more than 25 articles in specialised journals, in addition to participating in another 40 publications (books, reports, etc.). She has participated in more than 30 projects, many of them as principal investigator, at regional, national and European level.

Between 2006 and 2010 she coordinated research on the effects of population ageing at the Instituto de Estudios Fiscales (Madrid). She is currently Chair of the international project National Transfer Accounts (NTA) https://ntaccounts.org. She has carried out studies for various public administration bodies at regional, national and European level. She has collaborated as an advisor with the European Commission on pension, health and dependency policies within the framework of the open coordination method. She frequently appears in the media in debates on the sustainability of the pension system and the welfare state in general.

Academic background in political science and international relations. working for the European Commission since 2004, first in the European Commission delegation in Bucharest, Romania and, since 2008, in Brussels. In charge of managing the european commission’s representations in the member states and their related information networks between 2008 and 2011, then working in DG Employment on social inclusion and social protection policies.