Our team members

Justina has been conducting research and evaluation studies since 2018 and has a Master’s degree in Social Policy and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences from Vilnius University. She has played a key role, including as a team lead, in several comparative research studies covering multiple European countries and is experienced in various methods of data collection and analysis, including participatory approaches. Justina has experience facilitating organisational development activities. Thematically, Justina enjoys working on topics related to social policy and human rights, such as inclusion of disadvantaged groups, work-life balance, gender equality, and strengthening of civil society.

Justina sees her research assignments as a way to contribute to a better society. Throughout her career, she provided recommendations to national and EU-level decision-makers to improve decisions on funding and policy design, as well as shed light on various issues and innovative good practices that otherwise might have gone unnoticed. For instance, Justina was one of the lead researchers in a study on the situation of sheltered workshops (places of work specifically designed for persons with disabilities), commissioned by the European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities. The study was one of the first systematic attempts to provide a balanced picture of the sheltered labour market’s conditions across the EU. Justina has presented the study’s findings to EU-level stakeholders, including representatives of the European Commission (DG EMPL). Its results are being utilised in another wide-scale study on Alternative employment models for persons with disabilities, commissioned by DG EMPL. Justina is also an active member of a community of students and alumni from Vilnius University which encourages young people to engage in active citizenship and academia.