Our Team & Governance

Leila is an Affiliate of Russian and East European Studies at OSGA, prior to which she was a senior common room member and academic visitor at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University. Originally from Azerbaijan, she founded and directed two think tanks in Baku and previously held fellowships at Harvard University, UC Berkeley, Kennan Institute, the NATO Defence College and IFK (Institut Für Kulturwissenschaften) Vienna. Her research and publications cover Azerbaijan, the Caucasus, Russia and the broader former Soviet Union, ranging thematically from energy security and conflicts, to democracy in oil-rich states, as well as issues around EU and NATO integration.

Geert Cami co-founded Friends of Europe, the action-oriented think tank, which in 2011 launched both its citizen’s platform, Debating Europe and its European Young Leaders Programme. In 2015, Friends of Europe integrated the Security and Defence agenda thinktank. As Secretary General, Geert mainly deals with the strategic development of Friends of Europe, coordinating the work of the high-level Boards involved in the governance of the organisation and chairing the Leadership meetings. He oversees both the financial health and the successful running of the organisation and its flagship initiatives and focuses on the expansion and the activation of Friends of Europe’s vast network of trustees, European young leaders and other senior political, corporate, media and societal contacts and partners throughout the world.

 In 2019, Geert founded TownHall Europe (the Davignon Centre for New Leadership) and in 2020, he co-founded the Africa-Europe Foundation (AEF) in partnership with the Mo Ibrahim Foundation (MIF).

 Geert headed the European conference organising, press relations and publishing company Forum Europe for more than ten years, and managed the revival of one of Belgium’s finest architectural examples of Art Nouveau, after creating La Maison de l’Europe in the prestigious 100-year-old Bibliothèque Solvay.

 At the outset of his career, Geert worked for a few years in the Humanitarian Office of the European Commission as a deputy in the newly set-up information and communications unit. His focus was mainly on raising the profile of the EU’s humanitarian efforts throughout the world, through publications and media initiatives such as exhibitions, television debates or Humanitarian Days in Member States.

 He also worked briefly as a teacher and TV journalist for two music programmes at Belgian public Radio 1.

Mary Fitzgerald is a researcher and analyst specialising in the Mediterranean region with a particular focus on Libya. She has consulted for a number of international organisations including in the areas of peacebuilding and civil society. She has worked with the International Crisis Group (ICG), the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) among others. She is a Non-Resident Scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC, an Associate Fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, King’s College London and an Associate Fellow at ISPI in Milan. Mary has also worked on wider initiatives with UNESCO, the Anna Lindh Foundation, the British Council and other cultural organisations. Her writing has appeared in publications including Foreign Policy, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Financial Times and The Guardian.

Nathalie Furrer is the Director of the Climate, Energy & Sustainability; Health; European Young Leaders (EYL40); and State of Europe programmes at Friends of Europe. Through her leadership, since 2002, the think tank has become the go-to place to connect, debate and change Europe. She founded its Africa, development, health, climate, energy and sustainability transition policy areas and launched its very successful European Young Leaders (EYL40) programme. She has been instrumental in developing a multi-stakeholder approach to the work of a think tank and in the organisation’s reach to the non-institutional sector. In her current role, she works with our talented team, members and partners. Prior to joining Friends of Europe, she worked at an institute for public policy research, organising international conferences throughout Europe.

Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani was director of policy at the European Foundation Centre (EFC). He was the England director at the Big Lottery Fund, the largest independent funder in the UK and fourth largest in the world. Dharmendra has held senior positions in the public and voluntary sectors and advisor to numerous ministerial policy initiatives across the UK.

*Consultant at Friends of Europe.

Adam is the Director of Citizen Outreach and Engagement at Friends of Europe. He is responsible for the online citizen-driven discussion platform Debating Europe, which he co-founded in 2011. He has extensive experience in digital media start-ups, including the launch of the Brussels-based newswire service EUPOLITIX.com, which he merged into The Parliament Magazine, where he was the Managing Director. Adam speaks fluent English and Italian

*Consultant at Friends of Europe.

Retiring from NATO in September 2018 after 38 years at the organisation, Jamie Shea has occupied a number of senior positions at NATO across a wide range of areas, including external relations, press and media, and policy planning. As NATO’s spokesperson, he was the face of the alliance during the Bosnia and Kosovo conflicts. He later worked as the director of policy planning in the private office of former secretary general Rasmussen during the preparation of NATO’s 2010 Strategic Concept. Shea is also a regular lecturer and conference speaker on NATO and European security affairs.

Dr Valbona Zeneli currently holds the role of Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defence at Friends of Europe, and is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council of the United States, with a dual affiliation at the Europe Center and the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s Transatlantic Security Initiative. From 2011 to 2023, she served as a Professor of National Security Studies and Chair of Strategic Engagements at the U.S. Department of Defense’s George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies. She is also a visiting scholar for 2023-2024 at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University and a visiting fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre (RSC) at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Dr Zeneli specialises in transatlantic relations, strategic competition, NATO, globalisation, European Union enlargement and the Western Balkans. In 2023, she won the Inspiration for Women Award.

Alexandra is the Head of Digital Strategy, Development & Performance at Friends of Europe. Previously, she has overseen the operations and events of the e-Crime & Cybersecurity Congress series in Europe, the United Kingdom and the Middle East. Prior to that, Alexandra has worked in the cultural and diplomatic field in roles related to public relations, projects, events and administration. She holds a BA in Cultural Mediation from the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris, an MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies, major in International Relations and Politics, from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and a diploma in Business Foundations from Wharton School. Alexandra is fluent in English and French, advanced in Italian and Spanish, intermediate in Arabic and native in Romanian.

Pronouns: she/her

Oleksandra is a Programme Manager responsible for overseeing, developing and enhancing Friends of Europe’s capability to deliver effective programmes and projects on peace, security and defence. She has also been engaged with the International Centre of Ukrainian Victory advocating for Ukraine’s victory. Before moving to Brussels in 2022 Oleksandra worked as a Political Advisor at the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine. In her early career, she obtained experience through the Blue Book Internship at the European Fisheries Control Agency and an internship at the MEP’s office in the European Parliament. Prior she has also participated in the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Programme. She holds a joint International Master’s Degree in Russian, Central and East European Studies from the University of Glasgow, UK and the University of Turku, Finland and a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University. She also holds an Executive Diploma in the Art of Diplomacy specialising in International Security from the European Academy of Diplomacy. She is fluent in Ukrainian and English and has a limited proficiency in French and Spanish. 

Ringailė Trakymaitė, with 20+ years of experience in the think-tank and PCO industry, is a Senior Programme Expert at Friends of Europe, working with the flagship programmes: European Young Leaders (EYL40) programme, State of Europe, the Ukrainian Initiative. She started her career at the Open Society Fund – in Lithuania, working with youth and Roma programmes, and has continued working in the NGO/think-tank field ever since. Amongst her previous positions, she has led the Civil Society Development & Co-operation Division at the Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) in Vilnius, working with complex donor-funded projects and programmes, including managing delivery in politically sensitive and/or high-risk contexts, incl. working in unstable and difficult environments and countries, such as Belarus, Azerbaijan, Georgia and more. In addition, Ringailė has MA degrees from Lithuanian, Swedish and Italian universities, holds a PhD in linguistics, and teaches both BA and MA students in general linguistics, language contact and areal linguistics and grammatical categories at Vilnius University. She speaks numerous languages, including Lithuanian, Russian and Scandinavian ones.  

Consultant at Friends of Europe.

Cyril is the Policy Officer for the Ukraine Initiative, the Peace, Security and Defence Programme. Prior to joining the team, Cyril worked at the Council of Europe, supporting public sector reform in Central Asia and the South Caucasus. He also did a Bluebook traineeship at the European Commission, DG NEAR, working with the Eastern Partnership and Western Balkans. Cyril holds degrees in journalism, international relations, and EU administration, having studied in Poland, the UK and Belgium. He speaks English, French, Ukrainian, Russian and Polish.

Tom, with 15+ years in multimedia, is the Multimedia Executive at Friends of Europe. Co-founder of Both Nomads, he is a documentary filmmaker and former correspondent, focusing on social and human rights in South Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Tom has developed campaigns for Fair Trade Advocacy Office, Forus, European Parliament, VICE News, Bozar and more. As an educator, he created electronic music workshops for kids, ran a silkscreen studio, and co-managed Nest, an experimental art space in Belgium where he was responsible for event management and communications. He graduated in graphic design at St. Lucas (Ghent), and Free Graphic Arts at KASK (Ghent). 

Pronouns: he/him
Thomas Van Vynckt is Acting Head of flagship oversight and delivery. This includes the delivery, coordination and oversight of the annual State of Europe high-level roudntable / Festival of Politics and Ideas, the European Young Leaders (EYL40) initiative, Friends of Europe’s Renewed Social Contract 2030 strategy, and other programme-specific high-level policy summits.

Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Thomas worked in the defence industry in the private sector in London (UK) and at NATO Headquarters, both in the Political Affairs and Operations divisions. At NATO, Thomas worked on the accession of the Republic of North Macedonia to NATO and partnerships between NATO and Western Balkans countries more broadly, the KFOR mission in Kosovo, and the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. Thomas has lived, studied, and worked in Bosnia & Herzegovina, the Netherlands, Slovakia and the United Kingdom (England and Scotland). He attended the United World College in Mostar (2009-2011) and is a proud UWC alumnus. He holds a BA from the Leiden University, an MSC from Aberdeen University, and an MA from King’s College London.

Thomas’ expertise and interests lie at the intersection of security, politics, governance, and culture and his career has been dedicated to fostering dialogue and building connections across sectors and borders. He enjoys sports (swimming, cycling, running, hiking, skiing and sailing), travelling and the opera. Thomas speaks fluent French, English and Flemish (and is working hard on his Spanish) and holds both Belgian and Swiss citizenships.

Igor holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in marketing from the National Technical University of Ukraine ‘Kyiv Polytechnic Institute’. He has a wide range of experience in different fields. Initially, Igor worked as an account manager at an international creative agency, gaining over eight years of marketing and advertising experience for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) clients on the agency side, including successful campaigns for Young & Rubicam, Ace DDB and JWT. He has also successfully managed large-scale national programmes and campaigns. In addition, Igor has four years of marketing and sales experience in the automotive oil industry in Ukraine, having worked for Shell Oil Products Ukraine. Prior to joining the Friends of Europe team, he managed the educational event space TseHUB, which is part of the Ukrainian gadget retailer Citrus, and organised a national tour for Ukraine’s top musician artist, Ivan Dorn. Igor is fluent in English, Ukrainian and Russian.

Pronouns: she/her
Catarina is the Podcast Officer at Friends of Europe. She worked as a journalist in Macao, China, with a focus on the pro-democracy movement and migrant communities. Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Catarina worked at the communications department of the European Union Agency for Asylum. Catarina holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Communication and a master’s degree in Political Science and International Relations. She is a native Portuguese speaker and also speaks English, Spanish and Italian.

*Consultant at Friends of Europe.

Pronouns: he/him
Rayan is the Programme Officer responsible for the Making Space Matter initiative. He hosts the Dark Matter podcast, a YouTube programme in which he interviews a diversity of experts on space policy, law and diplomacy. He also organises activities related to space at Friends of Europe. He previously worked for the Peace, Security and Defence programme and, prior to joining Friends of Europe, completed internships at the United Nations and Interpol. His academic interests include space diplomacy, conflict resolution and political sociology, with a particular interest in critical conflict studies and intersectional feminist analysis. He speaks French and English, as well as some Dutch.

Dr Valbona Zeneli currently holds the role of Senior Fellow for Peace, Security and Defence at Friends of Europe, and is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council of the United States, with a dual affiliation at the Europe Center and the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security’s Transatlantic Security Initiative. From 2011 to 2023, she served as a Professor of National Security Studies and Chair of Strategic Engagements at the U.S. Department of Defense’s George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies. She is also a visiting scholar for 2023-2024 at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University and a visiting fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre (RSC) at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Dr Zeneli specialises in transatlantic relations, strategic competition, NATO, globalisation, European Union enlargement and the Western Balkans. In 2023, she won the Inspiration for Women Award.

Monica Frassoni is an Italian politician who previously served as the Co-President of the European Green Party. Prior to that, during her time as Member of the European Parliament, she was Co-Chair of the European Greens–European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament. She also served for ten years as an officer of the Greens group in the European Parliament and was Secretary-General of the Young European Federalists. In 2010, she co-founded the European Alliance to Save Energy, an organisation which aims to promote and advocate energy savings and a new energy model.

Prior to his current position at Teneo, Philippe Maze-Sencier served as Chair of Global Public Affairs of Hill & Knowlton Strategies (H+K) and Managing Director at McLarty Associates’ Brussels and Washington DC offices. He has been working at the nexus of policy, government relations and communications on transatlantic issues and oversaw operations in India, the Middle East and Africa in various sectors ranging from aerospace to energy to defence. Previously, Maze-Sencier held roles at the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, and at the delegation of the European Commission in Washington DC.

Jon is one the best-known political bloggers and commentators on all things EU politics and Brexit. His commentary on his blog (jonworth.eu) and Twitter account (@jonworth) are well known in Brussels and EU circles. His work around Brexit and especially his famous Brexit diagrams have been featured in international media, including The New York Times and ARD. Jon is a Visiting Lecturer on politics and online communication at the College of Europe in Bruges. He also leads workshops at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, the University of Maastricht and the Italian School of Public Administration in Rome. The Founder of Trains for Europe, a campaign that demands the European Union take action on the issues surrounding long distance rail travel in Europe, Jon is an experienced campaigner, having previously organised a number of online campaigns for United Kingdom politicians and the Atheist Bus Campaign.