Joana Gomes Cardoso is president of EGEAC, Lisbon’s municipal cultural company, since January 2015. She previously headed the Office of Planning, Strategy, Evaluation and International Relations of the Ministry of Culture (2010-2012). She holds a degree in International Relations, a Masters in Culture and Development from the Catholic University of Leuven and was admitted to the PhD program in Anthropology at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon. She was a journalist for several years in Lisbon, New York, New Delhi and Communications Director of the European Office of Amnesty International in Brussels, as well as Vice-President of Amnesty International Portugal.