Click to see the full LIST OF ORGANISATIONS, whose representatives participated in the GEF Co-Creation Workshop on GreEn.

AL OLAIMY Tariq,
GreEn Forum Representative from Bahrain
Tariq Al Olaimy is the Co-founder and Director of Al Tamasuk (Meaning ‘Cohesion’ in Arabic), an award winning, Bahrain based, social enterprise that addresses diabetes prevention and education, through a model that is intended to foster a healthier and more socially cohesive, inclusive, and responsible society. Tariq is also a co-founder of 3BL Associates: a strategy consultancy meets think-tank, which offers a boutique suite of services including Sustainability, Innovation, and Leadership. 3BL Associates align the pursuit of profits with social and environmental development, and are a playground for the convergence of ideas and innovation in Bahrain.

AMAGLIO Nicoló, GreEn Forum Representative from Italy
Nicoló Amaglio is from Milano, Italy. He is a student of a faculty no-one ever cared about, cultural and linguistic mediation. So far he invented his jobs himself offering his experience to others, to realize someone else’s projects and dreams. Nicoló says: “I believe in Europe. I don’t believe in an easy way to the united EU. I believe in culture. I don’t believe in degrees. I believe in life experiences. I don’t believe in experts. I trust the power of people. I stopped trusting people on power.”





BABAYEV Bahruz,
GreEn Forum Representative from Azerbaijan
Bahruz Babayev is an active youth leader in Azerbaijan, GEF Ambassador and Director of the Modern Youth Public Union which aims to achieve sustainable youth enlightenment, leadership and participation and support all young people regardless their sex and race. Bahruz shares: “I work for a company called Metal Group that aims to popularize the concept of hybrid cars, buses as well as alternative energy sources in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. Soon, we are going to enlarge our business through purchasing hydroelectric power stations in Georgia thereby investing in developing of alternative energy sources.”



BALDASSARRI Simone
European Commission – DG Enterprise and Industry
Simone is responsible for Education for entrepreneurship in the European Commission’s Directorate General (DG) for Enterprise and Industry. Previously he has worked in business associations and in services advising and consulting for enterprises. In 1999 he joined the EC DG XXIII and later became part of the DG Enterprise and Industry, Unit “Entrepreneurship”. He liaises with national and regional administrations, coordinates the work of Expert Groups and is engaged with Commission documents and research. Simone was responsible for the Communication on Fostering entrepreneurial mindsets through education and learning and for the Oslo Agenda for Entrepreneurship Education in Europe. He holds an Economics degree.

BINDEWALD Leander, GEF GreEn Team
Leander, born and raised in Germany, has spent the last 12 years since High-school traveling, studying, working and living in all four corners of the globe. After completing a Masters in Neurscience in 2007 and a Masters in Philosophy and Economics in 2009, he moved to Brussels to engage in whatever way possible in the emergent fields of participatory paradigms in general and complementary currencies in particular. Working for the GreEn Forum since May provided the perfect environment for both.




BOUVY Elise, GEF GreEn Team
Generation Europe Foundation
Elise Bouvy has been involved with Generation Europe Foundation as a board member since 2008. In 2010 she joined the team to work on the GreEn Forum and to develop new projects adapting to GEF’s mission and vision of becoming a more global actor. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. She worked in the field with humanitarian NGO’s such as Médecins Sans Frontières and in the public sector as an advisor to the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs on conflict prevention and humanitarian aid worldwide and governance, reform and bilateral relations with Africa. Elise is fluent in French, English and Spanish, speaks Dutch, Italian and German.


BWENGE Jean Claude,
GreEn Forum Representative from Rwanda
Jean Claude Bwenge is a young engineer and entrepreneur from Rwanda, who’s company focuses on renewable energy solutions and ICT. He says: “As we get an advance in technology, we also face the risk of getting an advance in pollution! Let us be responsible enough and earn our interests only from environmental friendly resources. It is every one’s effort to support green businesses and stand against polluting businesses as a major way of eradicating polluting activities and hence save our world. Let us help the entire world to understand this!”

CURAVIC Marco
European Commission – DG Enterprise and Industry
Trained in business and economics, Marko worked and consulted in international banking and finance in several European countries and Turkey before joining the European Commission in 2008. First advising then leading the entrepreneurship unit on SME in the Directorate General ENTR, he built the most comprehensive knowledge and expertise on entrepreneurship policy, business education, corporate finance as well as regional and developmental policy. One of his many fields of personal engagement was the establishment of the Erasmus exchange network for young entrepreneurs.

DANIAL Lilian
Masar high school
Lilian is the Principle Science Teacher in  Masar high school and a science teacher in Nazareth Baptist School in Nazareth, Israel. She teaches Chemistry, Environmental Science and Science and technology in society. She has a B.Sc. in Molecular biochemistry and B.Sc.Ed in Science and technology education – specializing in Environmental Education from the Israel Institute of Technology. Currently Lilian is following a Master’s program. She had conducted a research aiming to evaluate an “environmental educational project” provided by the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority to Young Arab students living in villages near protected natural areas. The project aims to minimize damage to the biodiversity and natural resources of the area. Lilian’s participation at the workshop was supported by Pegasus.

DE CARO Chiara
YES – European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs
Chiara De Caro is the Director of YES – European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs. She is responsible for the association’s membership enlargement, communication and advocacy strategy, network development and international contacts. She also coordinates YES participation in European projects. Chiara is a frequent speaker at conferences relating to youth entrepreneurship to promote the entrepreneurial spirit in Europe and abroad. Her educational background includes a BA in Political Science and an MA in International Relations.




DE NIJS Marieke
Enviu
Marieke den Nijs works as a project manager for Enviu. Her main focus is on projects such as Unleashing Sustainability and Brains X Change. An important component of her work is to facilitate young professionals within medium to large size companies to become change agents for the company they work for and stimulate sustainable change from within. She has facilitated various workshops on sustainability and creative sessions to generate and develop innovative sustainable business ideas. Marieke has a Bachelor in International Business and Languages and a Master in Social and Cultural Anthropology.

FALLEIROS Alessandro
European Confederation of Junior Enterprises
Alessandro is a member of JADE – the European Confederation of Junior Enterprises – and since 2006 works as a Senior Project Manager in the network. He is also an Ambassador of Brasil Júnior – Brazilian National Confederation of Junior Enterprises. Alessandro is responsible for the projects JE.NET and Public Affairs in JADE. Alessandro works with the Junior Enterprises in different areas such as Quality management, national development programs, exchange programs, strategic planning, division management and public affairs. He has been always looking forward to improve the Entrepreneurship Education in Higher Education Institutions trough Junior Enterprises experience. He is studying Business Mechanical Engineering.

GONZALEZ Samuel
Youth Entrepreneurship and Sustainability
Samuel is the Founder and Executive President of Fundación E, responsible to oversee all programs. He has worked for Zacson Entelsa Entelsa and was the founder of Master Training. Samuel created trainings for Grupo ADO, Fundación Activa, Grupo Bimbo, and the Iberoamericana University. He fostered an alliance between Fundación E and Cents International and since 2007 developed an alliance between Fundación E and Youth employment and Sustainability, positioning Fundación E as the regional agency for YES in Latin America. He is part of the Youth Employment Summit Committee. Samuel has a BA in Science Communication and a Masters in Corporative Communication.

HOENIG-OHNSORG Dennis
Ashoka
Dennis is the director of Youth Venture Germany for Ashoka. The topics of entrepreneurship and youth are a red thread through his life. Parallel to his studies of International Economics and Business Administration, he founded a German CSO in 2004 and a foundation in Bolivia – where he lived and worked for 2 years – focusing on prevention work with street kids in La Paz. Inspired by this experience he initiated a Social Enterprise in Germany that aimed to change towards a skill-focused educational approach within schools. He started at Ashoka by founding the national Think&Do-Tank Leading Changemakers to change the overall conditions for youth Changemaking.

HOUDMONT Arnaud, GEF Team
Arnaud Houdmont joined the Generation Europe Foundation team again in 2009 following a sabbatical in South America. His involvement with GEF dates back to 2004, now his expertise is in the management of diverse communication projects as well as international project development with his background being in international issues, human rights, the European institutions and the European media. With his home-grown local knowledge Arnaud will be the “Go-to Person” for our young community representatives during the workshop.



JORDAN Christina
Evolutionize It
Christina Jordan is an American social innovator with 25+ years of experience in international development, including more than a decade designing and facilitating local/global collaboration strategies from Africa. In 2001 she became the first Ashoka Fellow in the E. African region for her innovations in using the internet to support community based development in Uganda. Christina currently lives in Belgium, where she has founded Evolutionize It, a social enterprise that facilitates collaboration in the emerging social change sector worldwide. Her extensive global experience infuses her group facilitation and leadership style with a practical and culturally inclusive analytical approach.

KIMMICH Matt
Global Changemakers
Matt Kimmich is Head of Community Development for the British Council’s Global Changemakers programme. He has been working for the programme since 2007, supporting a growing network of young social entrepreneurs, community activists and volunteers around the world. Among other activities, he has accompanied environmental activists to the Global Humanitarian Forum’s inaugural meeting in
2008 and the United Nation’s World Climate Conference in 2009. While Matt has been involved in youth work for the last few years, his background lies in the academic field: he holds a PhD in Modern English Literature from the University of Bern, Switzerland, having worked on the novels of Salman Rushdie.

KONDAKIS Nike,
GreEn Forum Representative from Greece/Denmark
Nike Kondakis is a Greek/Danish but has been living in Kenya for the last four years. She is an ethical fashion designer, creating garments from recycled parachutes and jewelry from wood, a percentage of her sales goes towards educating Maasai girls. Nike says: “I’m passionate about creating a competitive alternative to the extremely polluting fashion industry. I often teach youth at the Nairobi University, where I offer my students time to reflect on their dreams and goals and I give them tools to think out of the box and inspire them to turn their passion in art into an ethical and sustainable livelihood.”



MAMALIGA Elizaveta,
GreEn Forum Representative from Moldova
Elizaveta Mamaliga is a recent graduate in economics from Moldova and our merited GreEn Host of the online community. Her post from the “My Exceptional Resource” competition won the first place! Elizaveta is passionate about youth development, business development and her family’s bee hives. She says: “I am young. I have my life in my hands right now. I am ready to invest my time, my energy, my knowledge, my network; everything I have and I am going to get on the way in my dream, my wish, my plan, my green business.“




MARTENS Tobias,
GreEn Forum Representative from Germany
Tobias Martens from Germany is a young student or business consultant or entrepreneur or volunteer or networker? Developing new media technologies for the coming value-based society he represents what he his web-solutions stand for: the wealth of diversity. Tobias says: “All of this is linked and driven by one core green aspect: The sustainability of personal- and business-interactions/-transactions. This is what green means to me – you participate and interact with your environment, while trying to move and create the future you would choose to live in.”




MICHIELS Stien, Facilitator
Stien Michiels graduated in 1998 at the University of Leuven in Germanic Languages and Theatre Science. She acquired skills and qualifications in solution focused communication, coaching, creativity, systemic work, group dynamics, interventions in small and big groups and hosting multi-stakeholder dialogues. It is in the latter that she found her real passion: guiding diverse groups of people through all kinds of processes and conversations that matter. Her focus is on increasing participation, authenticity and self-organization. She works in and with small and large scale organizations, in the private sector as well as nonprofit organizations and government.

NARAG Augustus,
GreEn Forum Representative from the Philippines
Augustus Lito Narag is from the northern countryside of the Philippines, youngest in the family and finished his Master of Arts in Public Administration. He now serves as a university instructor and public administrator focusing on youth empowerment, sustainable development, education and everyday leadership. In his commitment towards professional development, Augustus took part in an exchange program in United States where he got a chance to intern in different not-for-profit organizations that promote international development, environmental restoration and education.

NISAR Nina, Facilitator
Nina Nisar is an independent dialogue host and active consultant in peace and conflict transformation. Her passion lies in co-creating and hosting inspired spaces for dialogue for humans to act from and for the common future as it emerges, using interactive group processes and relying on the collective intelligence, creativity and power of what emerges from meaningful authentic connections. Her path combines political science and psychology, community development and dialogue work, facilitating conflict transformation and designing participatory processes in organizations with a curiosity for inner conflict, manifestation in the outer world and deep connection.

OLVIK Anu, GreEn Forum Representative from Estonia
Anu Olvik from Estonia is covering every angle of our Forum in one person: She is a student, a teacher, an entrepreneur and an activist. She teaches economics in high-school and studies law and history in university and organizes 24hour entrepreneurship camps and “manager for a day” events. Anu shares: “I am eager to find out the disposition of youth and their expectations of the world tomorrow. Where are we going and from where are we coming? Estonia is so small, it is really easy to start a change. I strongly feel it has lot to learn and already something to give.”

PAYNE Nick, Facilitator
Nick Payne has been working as an independent graphic recorder & facilitator since 2004, and has worked successfully with a wide variety of businesses and public and non-profit organisations in the UK, Europe, North America and the Middle East. He uses graphics to capture the content of presentations, conversations and debates as they happen. Nick seeks to organise the thinking behind the talk and to make it visible to everyone. He holds a degree in Politics and Government, a Certificate in Management and has many years of practical and hard-won management experience.

PIETIKÄINEN Kristiina
European Commission – DG Information Society and Media
Kristiina Pietikäinen works at the European Commission DG Infso for Digital Agenda policy coordination. She comes from Finland where she has worked for the ministry of transport and communications since 1995. For more than 10 years Kristiina has been doing information society policy coordination for the Finnish government and has contributed to the European information society strategy. Since September 2010 she works with DG Infso. She also has an expertise in electronic communications and audiovisual policy, trust and security. Kristiina has a Masters degree in communications and sociology from Helsinki University.


RASKIN Arnoud, Keynote Speaker
Arnoud Raskin is our inspirational keynote speaker from Belgium. Starting out with a graduation project for his degree in product design, Arnoud was first confronted, then challenged and finally gifted to work with street kids in Latin America and to learn about their needs and problems, but also about their outstanding insights and resources. With “Mobile School” he goes out and helps them in countries all around the world. With their focus on opportunity, resilience and self-esteem they help him with “Streetwize”, his vehicle to teach companies and individuals on our “High Streets“, and to offer us this authentic insight into entrepreneurship and sustainability.
Website: streetwize.be & mobileschool.org/news.php



SAVASKAN Seden
Junior Chamber International & SAVAŞKAN Law Office
Seden is working as a lawyer since 2006. She is one of the 5 partners at the Savaskan Law office with a focus on ınternational commerce and firm law, energy law, arbitration, trade & mark, child and women’s rights. Seden has graduated from the certificate program about energy law from Ankara Bar. She has also a degree from the energy law & contracts program of the Galatasaray University. She is working in Energy, Woman and International relationships Committees in Ankara Bar and in the same time is the educatıonal dırector of JCI Ankara in 2010. Seden will be the general secretary of JCI Ankara in 2011.

SENDERSKI Marcin, GreEn Forum Representative
Marcin Senderski is a GEF ambassador in Poland. He commenced his professional experience as a journalist for regional media. Since October 2007 he has been in charge of several managerial positions within Student Internet Television TVPW. In August 2009 he started working in business consulting, first for CASE-Advisors, then for Deloitte. He rendered advisory services to public administration, the energy sector and banks. He is passionate about modern history and participates in the EUSTORY Alumni Network. He graduated from Warsaw School of Economics and currently pursues a master degree at University of Warsaw.




SETIAN Lucy, GEF GreEn Team
Lucy Setian joined Generation Europe Foundation in October 2010. She is supporting the work on the GEF GreEn Forum. For the last 4 years she has been working in the field of journalism, media management and project development. Lucy received several green awards for her media achievements in the field and wrote the travel novel Beyond the Armenian Eyes. She is the creator of ArmenGenocide.org, which is a cross media for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. Lucy is fluent in Bulgarian, Armenian, English, German, speaks Russian. Lucy Setian holds a BSc in Computer Systems and Technologies.




SHARMA Madi
The European Economic and Social Committee
Madi Sharma is an inspirational business woman with various entrepreneurial activities. She is an international speaker and advisor to organisations for conferences on education, entrepreneurship, female development and empowerment. She runs the Madi Group, a group of private sector and not for profit companies with a philosophy to create innovative ideas tailored to local action which can achieve global impacts beneficial to society. She began her first company from her kitchen at home, which grew to 2 factories and 35 staff. Madi is a member of The European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels, representing the employers group of the UK.



SOTIRAKOS Yannis
A2K
Yannis Sotirakos is the founder of a number of businesses and social ventures in various countries and in diverse fields such as entertainment, edu-tainment, marketing, CSR, tourism, real estate. Among them are EY ZHN SA, EY ZHN Rentis Park SA, Eco adventure camp, O2R international. Yannis is the founder of A2K, an innovative international NGO, for a new global generation. He aims to develop social entrepreneurship ventures/projects and to create (genuinely) green business opportunities for this new global generation. He has a degree from the National TU of Athens and an MSc from Sorbonne Paris 4 University.

SPIRO Lisa
Oxygen Capital
Lisa Spiro runs her own firm, Oxygen Capital. The group introduces its international clients to new sources of capital, makes cross border connections, provides strategic advice and forges private, public and not for profit partnerships. It works with enterprises and individuals who own innovative and proven sustainable technologies. Among them are Watermaker India Pvt. Limited, The Zero Base, The Green Technology Group, Lighting Science Group and L13 Energy. Lisa, who lives in New York, coaches senior executives, young entrepreneurs and individuals from across the globe in crisis or transition and remains closely linked to the financial services world.

STEFANESCU Roxana,
GreEn Forum Representative from Romania
Roxana Mihaela Stefanescu from Romania has recently finished her Ms in Management in Greece with a research paper on “Employability Skills and the attitude towards Entrepreneurship of students entering the job market”. Since, she has been working for Junior Achievement – Young Enterprise (JA-YE) Europe in Brussels. Roxana shares: “One of my main interests is education and during my international experiences I have been inspired in this field. I believe through education we can achieve sustainable development, lifelong learning, and a better perspective for today’s youth and my vision is to help with the creation of better ways of both formal and informal education.”


STOKES Lorna
The Hub Brussels
Lorna Stokes used to be an English teacher and worked in many diverse environments – a school in rural Italy, an orphanage in Peru and for the French Ministry of Defense. Now she works in Brussels for an organisation called the Hub, where the Co-Creation Workshop will take place. The Hub is a place for people with innovative ideas for a radically better world. It exists to stimulate, facilitate and support social innovation and entrepreneurship in the Brussels region. Education and entrepreneurship are important to Lorna. That’s why she is really excited to be involved in the GEF Forum.

TARLE Masha
European Commission – Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign
Masha Tarle holds a Master’s degree in EU Law and Policy and a BA degree in English Literature. Since March 2009 she has been working as PR Manager for the EC’s Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign, bringing promotional and communication support to Campaign Associates. Masha is also responsible for the international representation of the Campaign. Before this, she worked for the former Commissioner for Energy and Transport, Ms Loyola de Palacio, and for the International Labour Organisation and the Organisation of Latin-American States. Her mother tongue is Croatian. She is fluent in Croatian, English and Spanish and speaks French and German.

THORBURN Catie, GEF Team
Generation Europe Foundation
Catie Thorburn, a social entrepreneur, is the President of Generation Europe Foundation which she established in 1995. She has been the driving force behind the creation of the GEF’s activities, including the Europa diary, which has been published in over 3.5 million copies in 28 countries in 2010. Prior to this she ran a multinational in the field of multilingual document production (Lexitech Inc) and took it onto the New York Stock Exchange in 1986 (Nasdaq). She was a Consultant for Eurexpansion at Europe Information Service and thereafter was a Board Member of the think-tank “Club de Bruxelles”. Catie is Scottish, fluent in English and French.

THORBURN David, GEF Team
Generation Europe Foundation
David Thorburn has been managing Generation Europe Foundation UK for several years and is now responsible for a combination of logistics and operational management projects at Generation Europe Foundation in Brussels. As a graduate of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and former British Army Officer, he has developed, planned, trained, directed, managed and reported on operations in several countries. David has also worked in the cellular telecommunications business, has managed logistics for a luxury goods retailer and has been an equity partner in an international procurement consortium. During our workshop he took care of our logistics and catering.

UYGUN Didem,
GreEn Forum Representative from Turkey
Didem Uygun is a management student from Istanbul, Turkey, and intrepid green blogger and activist. She says: “Every little bit helps! Yet we need BIG steps, too, to realize what we dream about. For your dream to live in a better world, you may need to wake up to make it come true. That waking-up process requires many people, needs everyone’s contribution. Everyone has something to add to that delicious meal. Thoughts as salt, ideas as pepper, awareness as main ingredient! By being here, I am partly contributing to that meal to say ‘Bon Appétit!’ eventually.”

VAN DIJK Bieke, GEF GreEn Team
Bieke van Dijk has been working as a part time co-developer of the GreEn forum since April whilst also engaging in a number of other projects within education, experienced based learning and facilitation. She has been responsible for designing the agenda for the GreEn workshop and also for co-creating content, meaning and knowledge on the website. Over the past years she has put together a comprehensive tool box of process design, facilitation, ideas development and organisational process skills which is coupled with her passion for education, learning and leadership!

VERBEKE Yann, GEF GreEn Team
Yann joined Generation Europe Foundation in October 2009. Since April, he joined the GreEn Forum team and has been working on the design and the functionality of the website. He has been covering the Workshop by filming and taking pictures. Yann recently launched Switch, an non-profit organisation promoting social development in southern countries through documentary films and other multimedia tools. Yann holds a master degree in Communications & Development. He speaks fluent French, Dutch and English.




WILLY Craig
Future Challenges
Craig Willy is a contributor to Future Challenges, an interactive platform created by the Bertelsmann Foundation that aims to spread knowledge on global change and make it accessible to everyone. Born and raised in France, he earned a bachelor’s in history and political science from the University of Liverpool and a master’s from the LSE. He has interned in the U.S. Congress for a New Jersey Democrat. Currently he works in the office of French environmentalist MEP Corinne Lepage, Vice-Chair of the ENVI committee. In this position he is able to follow various environmental issues and debates, notably climate change, GMOs and clones.