Speech – Isabelle Le Galo Flores
G-EPIC Forum of Stakeholders – Closing Conference
Brussels, 3 November 2025
Dear colleagues, distinguished guests,
It is a real pleasure to be here with you today for the closing conference of the G-EPIC project, a moment that is not just symbolic, but profoundly meaningful.
Because what we are celebrating today is not only the conclusion of a research project, but the beginning of something deeper, a new understanding of how we empower the next generation, how we bridge the gender gap in political participation, and how we turn knowledge into change.
Let me start by saying how deeply impressed I have been by the work of Gender5+. This collaboration stands out for its values-driven mission and its rigorous, scientific, yet deeply human approach.
From research to classroom into policy, G-EPIC has demonstrated that gender equality is not a rhetorical aspiration, it is a social, political, and ethical imperative. This project has taken the tools of science, observation, experimentation, conclusion, and added something essential: intervention. The courage to act. To move from understanding what is, to shaping what should be.
In this sense, Gender5+ is not just a think tank. It is a catalyst, a true agent of transformation.
And on a personal note, I must say: I relate deeply to this approach.
I trained as a mathematical engineer and a political scientist, two fields that taught me very different but complementary things. One taught me how to build systems. The other taught me how to question them.
This combination, of structure and questioning, of precision and vision, has shaped how I work. It is what drew me to the kind of transformative agenda that G-EPIC represents. One that does not separate research from action. One that treats complexity with both rigour and creativity.
I also relate to the mission. As a woman in STEM, something that remains far too rare, and as the first female Secretary-General of the European Economic and Social Committee, I know what it means to challenge boundaries. But these milestones are not simply personal victories. They are reminders of those who were excluded before me, women who were capable, courageous, brilliant, but never had the chance to enter the room.
Being a first is never enough. What matters is what comes next. How we build lineages, networks, and communities of women and allies. How we pass on knowledge, experience, and resources so that progress does not stop with one generation, but multiplies.
And yes, the same structural barriers that G-EPIC has mapped in schools and political institutions are present in institutions like the EESC. From unequal representation to invisible care burdens, gender inequality is deeply embedded in how our systems function. That is why we must do more than study the problem. We must lead by example.
At the European Economic and Social Committee, we have begun to do just that. Over the past two years, we have launched and strengthened several initiatives to make our institution more inclusive, more responsive, and more aligned with the values we promote.
One of them is the EESC Women’s Forum, which I launched to create a safe, intergenerational, and intersectional space for dialogue, mentorship, and solidarity. A space that is now growing, with the addition of a mentoring programme that supports women’s visibility, confidence, and professional development.
We are also seeing a significant increase in the number of women members actively contributing to our opinions, shaping European policy directly through civil society voices. And we have introduced structural reforms to our working methods, including greater flexibility and modularity, to better support parents and caregivers, especially women who still shoulder the majority of care work.
These may seem like internal adjustments. But in reality, they are tangible steps toward systemic change. Because if we want society to move, institutions must move first.
Looking ahead, my vision, and that of the EESC, is clear: we must view every policy challenge through a gendered lens, internally and externally. From climate to tech, from education to democracy, gender matters. And when we apply this lens, we do not just see problems. We start to see new solutions.
This vision is strongly reflected in the programme of our new President, Séamus Boland, who has called on us to build a Union of opportunities, of security, and of resilience, a Union where no one is left behind and where civil society is both heard and empowered.
With a mandate to represent over 90 million people through Europe’s organised civil society, the EESC has a unique power and responsibility to act as a bridge. A bridge between research and policy. Between institutions and citizens. Between knowledge and action.
That is why collaborations like G-EPIC are so important. They help us anchor our work in evidence, connect with new communities, and transform insight into impact.
We must continue. We must scale. And above all, we must ensure that civil society, in all its diversity, feels at home in the house of civil society.
Dear xxx,
The goal is not only to reduce the gender gap in political participation. The goal is to reimagine participation itself, so that it becomes more inclusive, more equitable, more human.
Let us continue to work together, researchers, educators, activists, policymakers, to make sure that every girl who raises her voice is heard. That every boy learns to see power differently. That every classroom becomes a space of possibility. And that every institution learns to live the values it claims to defend.
Because when we do that, when we align values with action, change is not only possible. It becomes unstoppable.
Thank you.