Curriculum Vitae:

In 2015, Irena Ceglar received her PhD in Sociology at the School of Advanced Social Studies in Nova Gorica. In 2008, at the Faculty of Social Work of the University of Ljubljana, she defended specialist work on the program Social work for people with special needs. In 1999, she graduated from the Occupational Therapy program at the Faculty of Health Sciences. She is a senior consultant in social care, in 2016 she received the Anton Skala Plaque – the highest award of the Association of Special and Rehabilitation Educators of Slovenia for her contribution to the profession and practice. She has over 20 years of work experience in management, from 2018 to 2022 she was the director of the Radovljica Center for Training, Work and Protection, from 2011 to 2016 she was the director of the Center for Training, Work and Protection Dobrna. From 2020 to 2022, she was the deputy president of the Association of Slovenian training organisations for persons with special needs, during this period she was also a member of the Council for the Disabled of the Republic of Slovenia. She actively participated in several working groups at the national level (Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, Ministry of Health), she was a negotiator for collective agreements for health and social care activities, she was a negotiator for the adoption of the General Agreement and the annex with ZZZS, she was active in EASPD (European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities). She is an active member of the Social Chamber of Slovenia, where she participates in the examination commissions for the professional examination for professional workers and professional associates in the field of social welfare, produces expert opinions and verifications for social welfare programs, participates in instructional counseling and produces expert opinions for development social welfare programs. She cooperates with the Slovenian Institute for Quality and Metrology, where she is an assessor for the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 quality standards. She is a member of the examination boards for NPK (work instructor, caregiver in health and social care and long-term care). She conducts trainings for managers, is an internationally certified trainer for neurolinguistic programming and the use of SDI®, Genos® and Disc Flow® development tools. She is a coach with individual international ACC accreditation from the International Coaching Federation.