Staff

Autism-Europe’s Director since 2007, her mission includes the overall coordination of our network of member associations, and the management of our advocacy and policy work, EU liaison, European projects, events, capacity building and finances.

Aurélie previously worked for the European Disability Forum (on a capacity building project with disability organisations in the Western Balkans) and completed training at the European Commission and Euro Coop.

Aurélie holds a Master in International Relations and a Master in European Public Management.

Aurélie speaks English and French. 

Christian Takow, MSc, joined the team of Autism-Europe towards the end of 2018 to support their advocacy and project work.

Previously, he was a trainee for the EU policy unit at the Party of European Socialists (PES) in Brussels.

He holds a master degree in Political Science with a specialization in International Relations from Leiden University and a bachelor degree in European Studies from Maastricht University.

Christian is on the autism spectrum.

He speaks German, English and is learning Spanish and Dutch.

Magali has been working part-time for Autism-Europe since 2009. She provides English-French translation and handles the daily administration and finances, as well as support for our events.

Previously, Magali worked in administration for the office of an Austrian region in Brussels for five years.

She holds a Bachelor and a Master in Translation.

Magali speaks English, French, German and Dutch.

Aoife joined Autism Europe in 2024 as Projects and Research Officer. Aoife’s role is to support the planning and coordination of Autism Europe’s EU projects. She also provides research and policy analysis for Autism-Europe’s advocacy and campaigning work.

Aoife holds an LLM in International Law and Human Rights from Maastricht University and a BA in Law from NUI Galway.

Before joining Autism-Europe, Aoife worked in Brussels within the disability rights field, first as a Policy Trainee for Inclusion Europe and then a Campaign Coordinator for the European Network on Independent Living.

Aoife has been an advocate for Autistic people and their families for many years both professionally and in a volunteer capacity.

She speaks English and has been learning French since arriving to Brussels.

Isaure joined Autism Europe in 2025 as a Communications Officer. She works across all communications from social media management to the dissemination of European projects.

Isaure’s background is in human rights advocacy and social movements. She holds a Master’s in International Relations, and has worked as an advocate at NGOs in Belfast, Paris, and Brussels, focusing on reproductive health, mental health, and patients’ rights.

She is passionate about people-centered advocacy and particularly interested in social justice, disability inclusion, and global health access. Isaure speaks English, French, and Spanish.

Jacques joined Autism-Europe in early 2025 as a communications officer. He is responsible for video and multimedia production, as well as creating content and managing websites for European projects.

Jacques previously worked as a journalist and translator in the United States, and for a Brussels nonprofit supporting science education in Europe. He holds a master’s degree in communication studies.

He has volunteered extensively with autistic children and children with learning disabilities. Jacques speaks English and German. He also is studying Dutch, and remembers at least some of the Spanish he learned 20 years ago.

Fernanda started working at Autism-Europe in February 2024. Her responsibilities include creating content, managing the organization’s website, and assisting with campaigns and research projects.

Previously, Fernanda worked as a media analyst and journalist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and has completed several other courses.

She has experience with science communication and is interested in pursuing a degree in Psychology. Fernanda speaks English, French, and Portuguese.

David joined Autism Europe in 2024 as a policy and project officer. David’s role is to support the management and implementation of our EU projects in addition to providing research and policy analysis to support our advocacy work.

Previously David had a worked in a diverse range of roles, contributing their analytical, communications, and research skills for a number of organisations, from topics as diverse as renewable electricity, public sector reform, social protection policy, education policy to consumer protection in the aviation sector.

David is passionate about one thing above all, building a accessible equitable and inclusive society for everyone. They hold a Master of Public Policy from the University College Dublin specialising in European Union Public policy and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Politics. David speaks English and German and aims to try and learn French. In addition to the above David is Autistic and Dyslexic.