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Meet the EAfA champions of 2025

Every year, the European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA) highlights its most active members – the “Champions”. These are people and organizations that go the extra mile to promote internships, share best practices, and keep the conversation alive in public spaces.

In 2025, three new Champions were recognized: Magda Janiak from Poland, Ana Zacharian from Albania, and Antonio Bonardo from Italy.

Though they work in very different environments – a university, an NGO, and a global employment agency – they share one common goal: making internships better and more accessible for young people.

The academic approach – Magda Janiak and WSEI

Magda Janiak, Deputy Director for International Cooperation at the University of Economics and Innovation in Lublin (WSEI), has been building networks since 2022 that allow her students to take part in internships with EU organizations.

With around 40,000 students, WSEI combines academic courses with vocational training, paid internships, and postgraduate placements. This model strengthens the bridge between education and the job market.

But here’s the catch: how scalable is this? If only a small number of students benefit from international placements, the impact on overall graduate employment may be limited. Still, WSEI’s example shows that investing in mobility and international contacts significantly increases students’ chances of landing jobs in competitive industries.

NGO power – Ana Zacharian and AlbanianSkills

Since 2018, Ana Zacharian has led programs at AlbanianSkills, an NGO that organizes national skills competitions and projects to help young Albanians upgrade their competencies.

She emphasizes connecting education with the needs of businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). According to Zacharian, SMEs can gain fresh ideas and digital skills from young interns. The challenge, however, is making sure this cooperation lasts. Without system-wide incentives – like tax breaks or formal support programs – some employers may view internships only as a cheap labor source, rather than as an investment in quality employment.

A global lens – Antonio Bonardo and Gi Group

Antonio Bonardo, Director of Public Affairs at Gi Group, has been shaping EAfA projects across more than 40 countries since 2016. Gi Group works in recruitment, temporary and permanent employment, HR consulting, and training – including internships.

Bonardo highlights the value of EAfA as a network that shares best practices across borders. But one problem remains: regulatory diversity. What works in the EU doesn’t always translate easily to other parts of the world with different education or legal systems. For Champions like Bonardo, the challenge is ensuring consistent standards in a global environment.

Internships as tools for transformation – promise and pitfalls

All three Champions agree: internships can improve workforce quality, increase mobility, and better match skills with economic needs.

EAfA also stresses the green dimension: internships should prepare young people for building a more energy-efficient, sustainable Europe. But for this to be real, programs need to include specific skills linked to the green transition – from circular economy practices to energy efficiency and technological innovation. Without this, “green internships” risk remaining just a slogan.

The system gap – no common quality standard

The Champions’ stories also reveal a bigger problem: the quality of internships in Europe often depends on individual organizations or people. At EU level, there’s still no single standard of quality for internships respected by all Member States.

Currently, standards differ not only between countries but even within regions of the same country. That makes mobility harder – an employer in Spain, for instance, might not know what skills a candidate from Estonia really gained during an internship.

Here’s where EAfA could step up: by not just promoting best practices, but also helping develop minimum quality standards valid across the EU.

Investing in talent = Investing in Europe’s future

The examples of Magda Janiak, Ana Zacharian, and Antonio Bonardo show that internships are more than just a stepping stone for students – they’re a strategic tool for Europe’s competitiveness.

The benefits are clear: better job readiness for young people, stronger knowledge transfer between generations, and more innovative businesses.

But here’s the big question: with global competition for talent heating up, can Europe afford to stick with a fragmented model? Without a cohesive EU policy on internships, backed by legislation and funding, even the most inspiring initiatives may fall short of shaping Europe’s long-term competitiveness.

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