Pavla Novotná has served as Director of the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy at the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic since 2017. With more than 1,500 staff under her leadership, she is responsible for national asylum and migration policy, as well as for dealing with migration-related issues at the European and international levels. Novotná has almost 20 years of policy, operational, and management experience from asylum, migration, and border policy at national, European, and international level. She is internationally recognised as an expert, particularly through her work at various migration-related meetings, committees, and boards, and she regularly participates at the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs Councils. Novotná received numerous awards recognising her accomplishments in migration policy. She holds master’s degrees in law and history from the Charles University in Prague. Photo credits: © Ministry of the Interior, Czechia