Fernanda Rodrigues holds a PhD in Social Work from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (Brazil) and a degree in Social Work (ISSS Porto) and in Sociology (ISCTE). Her professional activity includes direct intervention and coordination work in social policy/social assistance, and she has taught undergraduate, master's, and doctoral courses at various national and international higher education institutions. She is a guest lecturer at the Faculty of Human Sciences of Universidade Católica Portuguesa and an Affiliate Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto (FPCEUP). Fernanda Rodrigues is also a full researcher at the Centre for Educational Research and Intervention (CIIE) of FPCEUP. Her domains of interest focus on social policy, social exclusion, participation and social work, and she integrates several research projects in areas such as poverty and social exclusion, local and social development, community work, networking and partnerships and social responsibility. She has produced several publications and has vast experience in interventions at scientific conferences and civic and professional movements. Fernanda Rodrigues is President of the installation committee of the Social Workers' Association and was evaluator for the 2nd and 3rd European programs to combat poverty and coordinated the national plans. Additionally, she was a member of the Coordinating Committee of the National Strategy to Combat Poverty and the Scientific Committee of the Regional Strategy to Combat poverty in the Azores. She is a COLAB CHILD POVERTY board member at the University of Minho. She is a member of the Board of the Neurointervention Complex of the Portuguese Red Cross and President of the Porto Delegation. Likewise, she coordinated the National Action Plans for Inclusion (PNAI) between 2006 and 2010 and was a UNICEF consultant for preparing and proposing the Social Assistance Policy in Angola. In recent years, she has been a guest expert at the Reference Group of the European Semester. She has developed various international collaborations in European and Latin American countries, namely, over seven years, with the Kyiv-Mohila Academy in Ukraine, in partnership with an English university, the creation and consolidation of a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Social Work and Social Policy. Finally, Fernanda Rodrigues was a city Councillor on Porto City Council (2009-2013 and 2017-2021), and Municipal Director in charge of Housing Social Development, Education and Sport (1996-1998), being also a member of the Social Security staff, where she held various positions. She is president of the Administrative Commission of the Porto Delegation of the Red Cross (since 2017).

1999 – PhD in Social Work - Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brasil

Social work; Social policy; Social assistance; Poverty and social exclusion; Empowerment and partnerships.