European Young Leaders (#EYL40)

Margarida Balseiro Lopes took over in April 2024 as Portugal’s Minister of Youth and Modernisation. Then 34, she is the youngest woman ever to hold ministerial office. During her first months in the job, Balseiro Lopes hit headlines introducing tax breaks and loan guarantees to help young people enter the housing market; reaching out to diaspora youth; promoting digital inclusion; and engaging media stars in campaigns against domestic violence and online bullying. Balseiro Lopes served as Member of Parliament from 2015-2022.

Ricardo Baptista Leite is the CEO of Health AI – The Global Agency for Responsible AI in Health, a nonprofit dedicated to helping countries develop regulatory frameworks for artificial intelligence in health care. He is also the founder and president of the UNITE Global Parliamentarians Network for Global Health, which connects policymakers from 110 countries. Ricardo is a city councillor in Sintra and previously served four terms as a member of Parliament in Portugal, where he contributed to the health and foreign affairs committees. Committed to community service, Ricardo volunteered as a medical doctor during the COVID-19 pandemic at his hometown hospital in Portugal and joined a humanitarian mission at the Lviv Regional Hospital in Ukraine during the first summer of the war. He was recognised in 2015 by Friends of Europe as a European Young Leader (EYL40), a programme highlighting emerging leaders shaping Europe’s future.

Throughout an extensive and wide-ranging career in international organisations and institutions, Sandro Mendonça’s work has focused predominantly on the economics of innovation and industrial strategies. Mendonça is a Fellow of The German Marshall Fund of the United States and was a Visiting Fellow at King’s College London. In addition to serving as a board member of the Portuguese Communications Regulator (ANACOM), Mendonça was a science officer at the official Ibero-American Programme for Science and Technology (CYTED).  He has published in major international journals and has taught doctoral programmes in mainland China, namely Guanzhou and Chengdu. Sandro’s research has been used by various international organisations, including the United Nations, the European Commission and the US Senate. Mendonça was named a European Young Leader (EYL40) in 2015.  

Miguel is responsible for founding the toy company Science4You, which develops, produces and sells scientific toys that have won several awards due to their scientific merit, in addition to their innovation and usefulness in the teaching environment. Miguel founded the company in 2008 at the age of 22 when he was still a student. Since then, he has collected several individual awards (as well as collaborative ones) like the Entrepreneur of the year award from the European commission in 2010 or the Business Internalisation Award in 2013, granted by the British Government. In 2015, Science4you was awarded by the Portuguese President with the Order Entrepreneurial Merit’s medal.

Joao is involved in the Parliamentary Committees of Budget, Finance and Public administration. Previously, Joao served as Secretary of State of Internal Administration of the Portuguese government. Joao currently represents the CDS-PP political party as spokesperson in the Parliament, having previously served as Secretary General and President of the People’s Part Youth division, of which he is still the Honorary President. Locally, he was member of the municipal assembly of Sao Joao da Madeira. With a sound legal background, Joao was a consultant at PROLEGAL – Moser & Lobo d’Avila and an attorney at Alves Mendes, Jardim Goncalves & Associates. He is also passionate about sports, being the Director and Chairman of the Board of the “os Belenenses” professional football team and sports club.