My name is Maite Hernández and I am proud to belong to EYCA board for the 2023-2026 mandate. I have devoted the last 13 years of my career to developing the European Youth Card for the region of Madrid (Spain). Currently I am the Head of Service of “Carné Joven Comunidad de Madrid”, as it is called, and I work and manage a team dedicated to the youth card in exclusivity. The program is based in the public sector, more specifically in the Directorate General for Youth of the Community of Madrid.

I have been fully involved in European Youth Card Association activities since 2013. I have participated in many EYCA seminars as a guest and as a speaker, and I have co-organised a couple of them. I gladly attend all EYCA encounters, such as regional meetings and of course the annual conferences and other opportunities that helped me expand my knowledge. All these events, added to my own experience as a Youth Card responsible in my region, make me have quite a extensive understanding of how EYCA works, so that I can help to promote delivering quality European Youth Card services and to contribute to foster youth mobility and active citizenship.

As a non-group board member, I will try to serve EYCA as a whole, no matter my organisation, my country, my group or my region. I am willing to put all my skills and experience into helping all the members to grow and become stronger, because that will mean EYCA becomes stronger too.

My intention is to continue endorsing, along with the President and my Board colleagues, the EYCA Strategic Plan 2021-2025, and hopefully contribute to produce the following one if required. 
EYCA’s values are also my values, especially those related to focusing all EYCA activities on young people, so I wish to make sure the Youth Panel is truly at the heart of EYCA.