Validated Expert info
Expert can perform Ad hoc expertise missions at network and programme level in relation to:
Thematic expertise: Equality, diversity and inclusion
Summary
Gloria Elena Rendón Toro is a senior consultant and urban governance expert specialising in migration governance, institutional development and the strengthening of inclusive public service systems. With more than 20 years of experience across Europe and Latin America, she has worked with cities, governments and international organisations on the design, implementation and evaluation of reception, inclusion and migration governance policies.
She has advised municipalities including Barcelona, Bilbao and Getxo on the design and transformation of reception and inclusion systems, and has contributed to national and local migration governance frameworks in Costa Rica, Mexico and Medellín (Colombia) through European Union cooperation programmes implemented with the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) and partner organisations. Her work combines evidence-based approaches, participatory methodologies and multi-stakeholder governance models. It also incorporates an intersectional perspective, including attention to gender, reflected in Barcelona's family reunification programme, where women represent a significant share of programme participants, and in her ongoing collaboration with Dones pel Futur on participatory memory projects with migrant women.
Recent assignments include serving on Barcelona's Advisory Council for the Anti-Racist Plan 2025–2035; leading the strategic analysis and organisational diagnosis of Bilbao's Municipal Emergency Social Service (SMUS); and acting as external advisor for the evaluation of Harreragune, a multilevel reception pilot programme implemented by the Begirune Foundation.
She is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), where her research focuses on reception policies and local governance. She holds a Master's degree in Political Science (with honours) and has been a lecturer in the UAB–UB Interuniversity Master's in Contemporary Migration Studies since 2014, combining academic work with applied research and policy practice.