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Executive Board

posted on 09 November, 2011 10:54 , last updated on 10 July, 2023 11:32   (public)


COMPOSITION AS OF JUNE 2023

Further to the EPRA Statutes, the Executive Board acts as the strategic body steering the EPRA. Inter alia, it represents the EPRA in external events, proposes a 3-year strategy, devises the yearly work programmes and the related activities, and takes decisions relating to the operation of the EPRA.
 

EPRA Chairperson 

Helena Mandic - Photo
Mari Velsand

Director General at at the Norwegian Media Authority (Medietilsynet), Norway

After two mandates as EPRA Vice-Chairperson, Mari Velsand was elected as EPRA Chairperson at the 57th EPRA Meeting on 1st June 2023. Mari Velsand is Director General at the Norwegian Media Authority, a position she has held since 2017.

When she entered the authority, she came from the media business, where she for more than 20 years held different management positions. She has been a part of the top management team at NRK (the Norwegian public broadcasting company), Chief Editor of the national newspaper Nationen and Executive Vice President at Amedia, the second largest media company in Norway.

Mari has studied journalism and has a master of management from the Norwegian school of management, BI.

She has also over the years held a number of board positions within the Norwegian media industry, and she has been Norway’s representative in the board of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN IFRA).

Further to the EPRA Statutes, the Chairperson chairs the meetings and represents the EPRA in its external relations.


EPRA Vice-Chairpersons

In alphabetical order


Stephanie Comey

Director of Media Development at the Coimisiún na Meán (CNaM), Ireland

Stephanie Comey was re-elected as EPRA Vice-Chairperson at the 57th EPRA Meeting on 1st June 2023. Stephanie is also in charge of the EPRA "AI and Regulators Roundtables".

Stephanie joined the Authority (formerly the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland) in 2003 and has since worked across a number of broadcasting policy development and regulatory areas. Currently, she has responsibility for Media Literacy, Gender and Diversity and Sectoral Development.

She led the development of the BAI Media Literacy Policy which set out a number of key media literacy competencies and led to the development of an Irish media literacy network. She is now a co-chair of the Media Literacy Ireland network. She was also a co-chair for the ERGA Action Group on Media Literacy, and a member of the EPRA media literacy taskforce since its inception.

She contributed to the drafting of the Council of Europe Recommendation on Gender Equality in the Audiovisual sector in 2017, and has led the work of the BAI to increase women representation and participation in media. She has worked with key stakeholders to increase the availability and quality of learning and development initiatives in the media sector, supporting the establishment of industry bodies and representative networks.

She holds degrees in Law and English from the University of Le Havre in France, an MA with the University of Westminster and an MSocSci with the University of Leicester in the UK. She is currently reading for a PhD in media studies with the Technological University of Dublin.
 



Maria Donde 

Head of International Content Policy, Ofcom, United Kingdom

Maria Donde was re-elected as EPRA Vice-Chairperson at the 57th EPRA Meeting on 1st June 2023, after joining the EPRA Board in 2018. She has been actively involved in the work of the EPRA network for many years and was responsible for the organisation of the EPRA meeting by Ofcom in Edinburgh in 2017. Maria was the EPRA Chairperson ad interim from November 2022 to May 2023 following the resignation of Ľuboš Kukliš effective as of 10 November 2022. Maria is also in charge of "EMIL", EPRA's Taskforce on Media and Information Literacy. 

Maria works for Ofcom as Head of International Content Policy, covering media, content and broadcasting issues. She leads on Ofcom’s engagement with other European media regulators, most particularly through EPRA, as well as international bodies, and represents Ofcom on the full range of media policy questions including media literacy. She oversaw Ofcom’s input into the negotiations on the AVMS Directive and oversees Ofcom's relationship with European and global institutions on questions of media and content policy. She recently served as Chair of the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on Media Environment and Reform.

Her regulatory background is in advertising, having spent four years at the Advertising Standards Authority before joining Ofcom’s Broadcasting Standards department. Prior to that, she worked in media analysis, and before that as a radio producer for the BBC World Service. She has a Modern Languages degree from Cambridge University and a Masters degree in Literary Translation.
 


Valentin-Alexandru Jucan

Vice President, National Audiovisual Council, Romania

Valentin-Alexandru was elected as EPRA Vice-Chairperson at the 57th EPRA Meeting on 1st June 2023 and joins the EPRA Board for the first time. He is currently serving as the Vice President of the National Audiovisual Council of Romania, holding the rank of State Secretary. He has been appointed to his second term in this authority and has a long experience in public administration.

He received his education at the "Gheorghe Dima" National Music Academy, and subsequently pursued specializations in law, European Affairs and journalism.

He is a graduate of the renowned international leadership and journalism "Edward R. Murrow" programme, which is sponsored by the United States Department of State and held in both Washington and New York. Moreover, Valentin-Alexandru has completed post-graduate coursework in Strategic Communications and Operations in the Information Environment at the US Navy.

A considerable portion of Mr. Jucan's preparation was carried out within the framework of the Directorate for European Affairs, situated in the Romanian Parliament's upper house, the Senate.

During his tenure, Valentin-Alexandru has prioritized the safeguarding of freedom of expression, the establishment of a mechanism to combat disinformation, and the implementation of mandatory national media education programmes. Other critical themes on his agenda include the protection of minors, as well as combating hate speech that is directed towards individuals based on their ethnicity or sexual orientation. Inter-institutional cooperation and dialogue are fundamental criteria that he employs when addressing issues that are common within the audiovisual industry.

 


Stanislav Matějka

Head of the Analytical Department, Council for Media Services, Slovakia

Stanislav Matějka was elected as EPRA Vice-Chairperson at the 57th EPRA Meeting on 1st June 2023 and joins the EPRA Board for the first time. He is the Head of the Analytical Department at the Slovak Council for Media Services, the national regulatory authority for audiovisual media services.

In 2023 he serves as a Chair of Subgroup 3 of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services dedicated to countering disinformation and strengthening democracy in the digital environment.

He previously served as a Hybrid Threats and Strategic Communication expert at the Slovak Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and as an analyst focusing on trends in terrorism studies within GLOBSEC Policy Institute, a Slovak think-tank.

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