Secretariat

Edit (Hungary) studied law at the ELTE University Budapest, where she later followed the PhD programme in the field of Criminology. She also has a degree in European and French Law from Université Panthéon-Assas in Paris (France). From 2004 she worked for the Hungarian Probation Service and from 2006 was responsible for the field of victim-offender mediation. She is a trained mediator and facilitator of restorative conferences and she almost completed a 4-year programme in dance therapy. She joined the EFRJ in February 2012 as a project officer in the project ‘ALTERNATIVE’ on RJ in intercultural settings and since 2016 she is the Executive Director of the EFRJ.

 +32 (0)488690479  / edit.torzs@euforumrj.org

Emanuela (Italy) studied Liberal Arts at the University College Maastricht (The Netherlands) and University of Gaborone (Botswana) with a focus on social psychology and criminal law and the Master programme in Criminology at KU Leuven (Belgium). Previously, she studied in a maritime institute and worked in several sailing yachts navigating the Mediterranean sea, French Polynesia and the Caribe. She joined the EFRJ team in September 2013, mostly working as a project officer in different EU-funded projects on access to restorative justice (Accessibility), on justice and security in intercultural settings (ALTERNATIVE), on restorative justice training (KINTSUGI, MEDIAREJ, PROTECT), on child victims (i-RESTORE) and on arts (TPP). She also worked as a researcher for the KU Leuven Institute of Criminology in a project on the implementation of the EU Victims' Directive (IVOR). In 2016-2019 she managed communications and events at the EFRJ. Since 2020 she focuses on (research) projects. She cooperated with the Radicalisation Awareness Network for organising events and publishing papers on restorative justice in cases of violent extremism and terrorism.

+32 (0)466 209112 / emanuela.biffi@euforumrj.org

Laura (Italy) studied Political Science at the University of Bologna with a focus on international and European human rights law and case law. She has extended professional experiences as project and policy officer working with NGOs in the field of development and cooperation, migrant’s rights, anti-discrimination and conflict resolution. She also researched and worked in the field, mainly in Latin America. In 2016, she joined the KU Leuven’s research team in Transitional Justice and Human Rights in the implementation of academic activities and, in March 2018, she started her PhD in Criminology. She joined our team in May 2018 to contribute to the development and implementation of the organisation’s policy and advocacy work. She has a keen interest in policy related issues and in further explore the links between restorative and transitional justice.

+32 (0)489 970881 /  laura.hein@euforumrj.org

Bálint (Hungary) has been working extensively with education and training programmes, cultural project management and theatre internationally. Previously, he was the educational programme manager of the performing arts company, Krétakör. He led Krétakör Free School, a democracy awareness programme for students. He has experience in working with marginalised groups of society. In Brussels, he led community theatre workshops for vulnerable families. He holds a degree of Literature and Linguistics from ELTE University Budapest and completed a Master in Education with a focus on drama at Trinity College Dublin. He joined the EFRJ in 2019 to contribute to the organisation’s training development and communication.

+32 (0)483 388724 /  balint.juhasz@euforumrj.org

Zsófi (Hungary) studied economy at the Corvinus University of Budapest. She worked 10 years in various functions in multinational companies, from the financial to the logistics sector, both in Hungary and in Belgium. After a few years of detour in the green sector – she loves nature and plants – she returned to her initial interest in finances thus filling the role of Finance and Administration Officer of the EFRJ.

zsofia.anda@euforumrj.org

Georgina (Spain) studied Criminology at the University of Barcelona, and the MSc programme in Criminology at KU Leuven with a focus on international and EU policy developments in the areas of criminal justice and cross-border crime. She developed a growing interest for restorative justice through her master. In her thesis, she conducted a discourse analysis of the main international restorative justice policy documents from the Council of Europe, the United Nations and European Union. She is a Researcher and Teaching Assistant at KU Leuven's Instiute of Criminilogy (LINC). 
She has a keen interest in EU policy related issues, alternative means of conflict resolution, juvenile justice, and gender related issues. Between 2020-2021 she worked the EFRJ as a Policy Intern, and in 2023 she joined the Secretariat again as the Project Officer of the i-Restore 2.0. 

Teresa (Italy) graduated in Sociology at Gabriele D’Annunzio University of Chieti in 2020. The subjects she studied made her more curious and aware of the heterogeneity of the world, so much so that she moved in a bigger and more cosmopolitan city Birmingham (UK). She volunteered for an organisation that provides physical and psychological support to vulnerable adults. She did a Master in Criminology at Birmingham City University. Her interest is not only about crime but more about helping people and institutions to deal with crime and social inequalities. After that she came back to her hometown (Sicily) to do an internship in a community under supervision for minors in difficult situations. This was a memorable experience in which she learned many things about youth crimes, how the Juvenile Justice System works, and how to deal with difficult teenagers. Before joining the EFRJ’s Secretariat as an Communication and Event Organisation Intern in 2023, she spent the summer working as camp counsellor and leadership in a Summer Camp in Pennsylvania (US). She is willing to start a new chapter in Belgium and in the field of restorative justice.
Contact: teresaschepis@outlook.it

Fanni (Hungary) graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International Relations and Sociology. As the editor of the Leeds Human Rights Journal, she helped curate and publish a human rights-focused academic journal. She has previously lived and worked in the UK and in Japan, equipping her with a deeper understanding of social inequalities and cultural diversity. Alongside her studies she has volunteered extensively with marginalised communities, which have evoked a deep commitment to social justice and passion for promoting community reparation and reconciliation. These values have led her to discover restorative and transitional justice, which she wishes to combine with her research interests in environmental justice and human rights. More specifically, she aims to explore how they can be used in cases of indigenous land acknowledgement and migration-related challenges.