Secretariat

Magalie Soenen has been working for EQAR since 1 May 2023. Prior to joining EQAR, Magalie worked as Higher Education Policy Advisor for the Ministry of Education and Training of Belgium (Flemish community) for more than 13 years.

Not only did she thus represent Belgium (Flemish community) at the EQAR General Assembly, the Members’ Dialogue and even a number of times as observer to the Register Committee, but she also represented the interests of the Flemish Ministry at the Bologna Follow-up Group (BFUG) and many of its working groups.

Within the Bologna Process, Magalie currently co-chairs the Thematic Peer Group on Quality Assurance as well as the Bologna Coordination Group on Global Policy Dialogue. She is also a member of the Working Group on Learning and Teaching, the Bologna Implementation Coordination Group, the task force on Enhancing Knowledge Sharing in the EHEA community and the BFUG Board.

Magalie started her career at Ghent University as policy officer in quality assurance and internationalisation.

Mobile: +32 494 62 02 68
Email: magalie.soenen@eqar.eu

Melinda Szabó joined the Secretariat in March 2013. Melinda has done her master studies in Educational Management in Romania and complemented her degree with studies in political science at the Universite Libré de Bruxelles. She has previously worked in the Bologna Follow-Up Group Secretariat in providing support for the activities of the Working Groups and Networks (mainly the Social Dimension Working Group and Network of Experts on Student Support in Europe).

Phone: +32 2 234 39 15
Email: melinda.szabo@eqar.eu

Blazhe Todorovski joined the Secretariat in October 2022. Blazhe holds a master degree in corporate law (LLM) from Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. Before joining EQAR he worked as a Review Officer at MusiQuE – Music Quality Enhancement, quality assurance agency for higher music education. Blazhe also served as Vice President of the European Students’ Union (2015-2017).

Tel: +32 2 234 39 14
Email: blazhe.todorovski@eqar.eu

Annelies Traas joined the EQAR Secretariat in 2009. She has a Master Degree in European Studies (Amsterdam) and complemented her degree with a post-graduate degree in European Law (Bilbao, Spain). Previously, Annelies has held various positions (operations manager, legal advisor, director of the board of an international pre-school in New-York) in different fields of expertise (non-profit organisations, business incubation, financial services, education), based in different countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Malta, USA and Austria).

Phone: +32 2 234 39 12
Mobile: +32 474 9009 74
Email: annelies.traas@eqar.eu

Pooja joined the EQAR Secretariat in November 2020 as staff member, having worked already for EQAR in 2019 as temporary agency worker to coordinate the DEQAR project financial reporting.

She has a Master degree from KU Leuven in International Business Economics and Management, and a degree in Commerce from India. Prior to joining EQAR she worked as a tax consultant, project reporting officer, finance assistant and tax analyst at various international organisations, based in India, Belgium and London.

Aleksandra Zhivkovikj joined the Secretariat in July 2020. She holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University “SS. Cyril and Methodius”-Skopje and a master’s degree in educational policies and development from the University of Oslo, the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Malta. She has been working in the civil society sector in North Macedonia for a few years, participating in several research projects about higher education, exploring topics such as malpractices in academia, disadvantaged groups in higher education, student services and guidance, student activism and organising. Before joining the Secretariat, Aleksandra worked as a consultant at the OECD’s Directorate for Education and Skills.

Email: aleksandra.zhivkovikj@eqar.eu