Sofia Leitão started her collaboration with our institution in 2012. Until 2021, she was the Director of the Research & Development Division at “Hope For Children” CRC Policy Center. Currently, Sofia is a Senior Development Manager at the Rinova group, a social enterprise based in London (UK) with a subsidiary branch in Malaga (ES), working in the field of social innovation and promoting cultural, economic, social and educational inclusion.
Sofia is a sociologist. She holds a PhD in Media Studies and a MA in Journalism Studies from the School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies, Cardiff University (UK), and a Licenciatura (five-year university degree) from the University of Porto (PT). Her doctoral and master thesis looks into childhood & media focusing on representations of childhood, cultural diversity, and children’s social agency. She is the author of a book on media discourses and childhood constructions (Leitão, E.S.A. 2008. Desenhos Animados – Discursos sobre ser criança. Lisboa: Edições 70), and co-editor of a book on the rights of UMs (Vissing, Y., Leitao, E.S.A. (Eds). 2021: The Rights of Unaccompanied Minors: Perspectives and Case Studies on Migrant Children, Switzerland: Springer Nature)
Sofia has a particular interest in children’s education with an emphasis on storytelling and the use of media and arts as means to enhance self-expression and learning.
She has worked as a sociologist for local authorities in Portugal, researching issues related to social exclusion and vulnerable populations; as a lecturer at ISCEM Lisbon, where she taught Theory of Communication, Research Methods, and Sociology; as a teaching assistant of the module Approaching Media Images, at the School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies, Cardiff University; and she worked as a PA to the Ambassador of Portugal to Cyprus, Lebanon and Syria