The Executive Board
The President and the Vice Presidents are elected by the Steering Committee for a mandate of 4 years.
Benedetto Zacchiroli
ECCAR-President, Representative from the City of Bologna (Italy)
Benedetto Zacchiroli was elected president of ECCAR in April 2015 for a mandate of four years. Reelected president of ECCAR in June 2019 for a second mandate of four years (2019-2023). At the Steering Committee 2023 in Wroclaw (Poland) he was reelected for a third mandate of four years (2023-2027).
Danijel Benjamin Cubelic
Vice President, Representative from the City of Heidelberg (Germany)
Elected Vice-President in July 2020 for a mandate of four years. Danijel Benjamin Cubelic is Head of the Office of Equal Opportunities of the City of Heidelberg and teaches Diversity and Gender Studies at Heidelberg University and the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW). He studied Religious Studies, Islamic Studies and Cultural Anthropology in Heidelberg, Bochum, Damascus and Aleppo. From 2011 to 2017 he was a research fellow at the Center for Religious Studies at Ruhr University Bochum and the Department for the Study of Religions at Heidelberg University.
Ana Isabel Rodríguez Basanta
Vice President, Representative from the City of Barcelona (Spain)
Ana Isabel Rodríguez Basanta was elected as ECCAR Vice President in December 2021 for a mandate of four years (2021-2025). She is the head of the Department of Human Rights in the City Council of Barcelona. Ana Isabel Rodríguez Basanta has developed her professional career mainly in public administration coordinating projects and services on safety and prevention policies, and on the safeguarding of rights and non-discrimination. He has participated in several research projects and publications on these subjects.
Dr Ayfer Yazkan Kubal
Vice President, Representative from the City of Kadıköy (Türkiye)
Elected Vice President in October 2022 for a mandate of four years. She is Head of EU-Foreign Affairs Commission at Kadıköy Municipality. Dr. Yazkan Kubal is graduate of Sankt Georg Österreichisches Kolleg in İstanbul and finished Economics and International Studies at the University of Warwick. After her PhD in Political Science, she worked as an academician and was elected as Municipality Councillor in Kadıköy District, Istanbul, Türkiye.
Bartłomiej Ciążyński
Vice President, Deputy Mayor from the City of Wrocław (Poland)
Elected Vice President in October 2022. Lawyer and local government official. Since 2011 attorney-at-law, since 2018 Councilor of Wrocław and deputy chairman of the City Council, since 2019 Civic Advisor to the Mayor of Wrocław on Tolerance and Counteracting Xenophobia, originator and since 2021 co-chairman of The Wrocław Equal Treatment Council.
The Office
The Coalition's office is based in the City of Heidelberg (Germany), as part of the city administration.
The tasks of the Office are i.a.:
- Acting as a liaison office and contact point for member cities and interested municipalities
- Promoting communication among member cities and sharing of experiences and best practice examples for the implementation of the "Ten-Point-Plan of Action Against Racism"
- Performing public relations and on- & offline communication for the Coalition
- Supporting the national coalitions of cities against racism in the implementation of activities and campaigns against discrimination
- Organising the whole activities, cultural and political events of the Coalition
Evein Obulor
Evein Obulor is ECCAR director. With a background in Political Science, Peace and Conflict Studies her work is rooted in community building with a focus on antiracism. As director of ECCAR she shifted her focus towards the role of city administrations in the fight against racism. Today she is responsible for the work of the coalition as a whole and puts a specific focus on representation of BIPoC within institutions and the implementation of the UN Decade for People of African Descent.
Jana Christ
Jana Christ is ECCAR Coordinator. She has an academic background in education, migration and multilingualism. As coordinator she is the main contact person for member cities, interested municipalities in all matters relating to ECCAR membership as well as for all other ECCAR bodies. She is responsible for the onboarding of new cities and supports them throughout the whole accession process. On behalf of the office, she also coordinates the working group on equality data collection and the implementation and strategic development of the ECCAR Online City Reporting Tool.
Dr. Linda Hyökki
Dr Linda Hyökki is ECCAR’s Senior Policy and Advocacy Advisor. She also coordinates the ECCAR Working Groups on anti-Muslim racism and antisemitism. In 2023, Linda obtained her Ph.D. in Civilization Studies with an award-winning thesis on anti-Muslim racism and Finnish Muslim converts from Ibn Haldun University in Istanbul. Apart from her commitment to ECCAR work, she also does freelance consulting in various national and transnational projects and publishes academic and policy articles on the topics of anti-Muslim racism, racialization, hate speech, gendered Islamophobia, anti-discrimination, and Muslim identity in Europe.
Marie Paule N'Guessan
Marie Paule N'Guessan is the project manager for ECCAR's project ACTION. The project's goal is to provide essential support to ECCAR city members in developing and revising local action plans against racism, as well as enhancing existing plans through designed capacity-building services. She is also responsible for managing the ECCAR membership fees. With a background in foreign languages and literatures, she has gained professional experience in the social field, working collaboratively with city administrations and a variety of civil society organizations over the years.
Angelo Camufingo
Angelo Camufingo is the coordinator of the ECCAR Working Group Anti-Black Racism. He has a background in teaching and cross-role experience as a community organizer, anti-racism and education policy advisor, lecturer and project assistant. He is currently the co-project lead of KomPAD (Competence Network Anti-Black Racism) at Each One Teach One (EOTO) e.V. and founded STUBBORN Consulting, where he focusses on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), organizational development and coaching.
Nils Vieten
Nils Vieten is ECCAR's financial manager and is responsible for ECCAR’s digital infrastructure. With a background in sociology and political science he is in charge of all legal and financial matters of the coalition and makes ECCAR’s digital infrastructure fit for the future, building a platform for meaningful internal and external exchange.
Celina Brook
In her role as the ECCAR Office's assistant, Celina Brook supports the team in various administrative and content-related duties. With a background in language studies and economics, she has also gained experience through her active engagement in local community initiatives focused on antiracism.
The Steering Committee
The Steering Committee has the following tasks:
- Deciding on the admission of cities as members of the Coalition
- Suggesting the exclusion of member cities to the General Conference
- Representing and promoting the Coalition and its goals at a European, international and regional level
- Deciding on and preparing General Conferences and other conferences of the Coalition
- Implementing decisions taken during the General Conferences
- Preparing and facilitating medium and long term action programmes for the Coalition
- Preparing and discussing the budgets and annual accounts
- Forwarding the reports presented by the ECCAR members to the Scientific Secretariat for annual evaluation
The Steering Committee members are elected by all member cities for a mandate of four years. Some members serve as observers and scientific advisors.
Barcelona – Berlin – Bologna – Bonn – Bordeaux – Dortmund – Dunquerke – Esch-sur-Alzette – Gent – Graz – Heidelberg – Kadikoy – Karlsruhe – Lausanne – Liège – Malmö – Monheim am Rhein – Nancy – Nizza – Nuremberg – Oslo – Rotterdam – Toulouse – Wroclaw & UNESCO
The General Conference
The General Conference is organized by ECCAR with the assistance of hosty city, institutional partners, civil society and local stakeholders. The Conference is centered on actual issues related to the objectives of ECCAR. Participants have the opportunity to showcase their experiences while creating spaces for discussion and dialogue.
The General Assembly
The ordinary General Assembly meets at least once a year. The General Assembly of member cities is competent to make all key decisions and elect ECCAR representatives and its Steering Committee for a period of 4 years.
The Scientific Advisory Council - SAC
The Scientific Advisory Council (SAC) of the Coalition comprises a representative of UNESCO and up to 3 Scientific Advisors. While UNESCO is a permanent member, the advisors are appointed by the Steering Committee. The SAC is coordinated by an appointed member of the Executive Board. The SAC may be supported by an institution suggested by a member city.
The tasks of the Scientific Advisory Council comprise the following:
- Responsible for the analysis and evaluation of the member cities’ reports: Evaluation of the implementation of the "10 Point Action Plan against Racism" on the basis of reports submitted by member cities on an biannual basis
- The support and advice of the member cities of the implementation of the "10 Point Action Plan" and other related actions
- Advises the Executive Board and the Steering Committee in the preparation of work programmes and in their implementation, as well as in all issues those bodies request for advice
- May function as a research centre for ECCAR. In specific projects, the SAC carries out research or facilitates research upon decision by the Steering Committee