Coordinators

Apply to Host Marshall Memorial Fellows

Have you ever considered hosting a Marshall Memorial Fellowship group in your city?

The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) would like to partner with individuals and organizations to host the Marshall Memorial Fellowship program. Even if you are in a city that does not currently host fellows, we encourage you to submit an application using the link below.

Marshall Memorial Fellowship Partnership Application Form

GMF will consider all applications received by November 10, 2021.

Current Hosting Locations

If you are interested in bringing the program to your hometown, please contact Leadership Programs at [email protected]

The United States

Anchorage, Alaska

Sarah Lukin

Sarah Lukin serves as the senior vice president and chief administrative officer, overseeing external and government relations, regional sustainability, corporate communications, corporate administration, and operations. Working with the executive leadership team, she supports, organizes, and implements corporate initiatives and strategies. Prior to joining NANA, Sarah was the chief operating officer of Pt Capital, a private equity firm investing in Arctic-based companies industry support services, technology, communications, and tourism. Eighteen years of her career have been spent working with indigenous businesses across the United States and Canada. She has testified before congressional committees and state legislatures, advocated before federal agencies and the White House, and interviewed with numerous national and regional media outlets. In the past, Sarah served as senior vice president of corporate affairs and a board member of Afognak Native Corporation. She was also executive director and a board member of the Native American Contractors Association. She has a master's degree from the University of Alaska and a certificate in Alaska native executive leadership from Alaska Pacific University. She received the Alaska Top 40 Under Forty award in 2008, the American Indian Top 40 Under Forty award in 2009, and was awarded the Marshall Memorial Fellowship for transatlantic leadership in 2013. Sarah is Alutiiq from the Native village of Port Lions. She is a shareholder of Koniag, Inc. and Afognak Native Corporation as well as a tribal member of the Native Villages of Afognak and Port Lions.

Aleesha Towns-Bain

Aleesha Towns-Bain currently serves executive director of the Bristol Bay Native Corporation (BBNC) Education Foundation, which provides support for BBNC shareholders to pursue educational opportunities and to promote and preserve cultural heritage. Prior to her current role, she served as vice president and chief operating officer at Rasmuson Foundation, where she oversaw external affairs, communications, and events. She also worked on Recover Alaska, a collaborative aimed at reducing harms associated with excessive alcohol consumption in Alaska, and the Alaska Children’s Trust. She was selected as one of Alaska’s Top 40 Under 40 and graduated from the Council on Foundations Career Pathways Project for emerging philanthropic leaders from across the U.S. In 2018, she was selected as a Marshall Memorial Fellow by the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Aleesha serves on the boards of Philanthropy Northwest, the Foraker Group, and the University of Alaska Foundation. Prior to working in philanthropy, Aleesha was the editor of the Crested Butte News, a weekly newspaper in Western Colorado. Aleesha has a Bachelor of Arts with concentrations in journalism and Native American studies from The Evergreen State College in Washington State and a Master of Arts in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia

Shauna Hegna

Shauna Hegna currently serves as President for Koniag, an Alaska Native Regional Corporation representing 4,100 Alaska Native shareholders from Kodiak Island Alaska. Prior to joining Koniag, she was the Chief Administrative Officer for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, the Vice President of Shareholder Services for Afognak Native Corporation, and the Deputy Director for RurAL CAP. She is a 2010 Native American Top Forty Under 40 and a 2007 recipient of Alaska’s Top Forty Under 40. Shauna holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Alaska, a graduate certificate in Alaska Native Executive Leadership from Alaska Pacific University, and is a 2009 participant of Harvard Business School’s High Potentials Leadership Program.

Atlanta, Georgia

John Eaves

John Eaves, Ph.D., Chairman of the Fulton County Commission, now serving his third four-year term in office, leads the most populous and dynamic county in Georgia, with 1.1 million residents and 14 municipalities including the City of Atlanta. His distinguished career encompasses the academic and educational worlds, the international arena, business spheres, and significant community service. Chairman Eaves is a graduate of Morehouse College. He is the recipient of a master’s degree in religion from Yale University, and he obtained his Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of South Carolina. Under Chairman Eaves’ aegis, the young Global Ambassadors have exported American concern for human rights, social justice and economic improvement to South Africa, Germany, Turkey, Brazil, China, Mexico, and Costa Rica. An international specialist who has visited and met with citizens of more than 50 nations around the globe, John Eaves received the American Marshall Plan Memorial Fellowship-German Marshall Fund and two Fulbright scholarships: the Fulbright Senior Specialist Grant and participation in the Fulbright International Educators Administrators Program. As Regional Director of the Peace Corps for seven years, he helped to bring educational and healthcare assistance to the people of South Africa, Sierra Leone, Paraguay, Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Most recently, John Eaves has worked in partnership with the Brazilian state of Bahia to structure a bilateral cooperative agreement in economic development, healthcare, education, the arts, and human rights.

Baltimore, Maryland

Patrick Murray

Pat Murray is an independent communications consultant. He served as campaign manager for U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen in the 2016 general election and as executive director of the Maryland Democratic Party from 2015 to 2016. He was the director of state affairs for Johns Hopkins University and Medicine from 2011 to 2015, where he managed state government relations for the state’s largest private employer and a globally recognized research institution. He served previously as deputy chief of staff to Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., and senior advisor to Maryland House Speaker Michael E. Busch. He has taught at the University of Baltimore School of Law and McDaniel College. He earned his BA from Swarthmore College and his JD from the University of Maryland School of Law and is a member of the Maryland Bar.

Boston, Massachusetts

Kerry Thompson

Kerry M. Thompson (‘AMMF 2014) is the Founder & Executive Director for Silent Rhythms, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to achieving inclusion in the arts while conversely using the arts to promote inclusion in society. She is a renowned dance instructor and has performed worldwide including in Paris and Havana. Since 2008, she has worked to advance human rights and United Nations treaties in developing countries as the Inclusion and Analytics Officer for the Disability Rights Fund. She is the co-author for Human Rights and Adolescence (2014. University of Pennsylvania Press) and has written several blogs. She currently serves as the Vice Chair on the Massachusetts Statewide Advisory Council. She completed a Master’s degree in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University with a focus on international law and human rights.

Chattanooga, Tennessee

Lori Quillen

Lori Quillen is a program officer at the Benwood Foundation, a private foundation focused on supporting education, culture, community development and sustainability in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Lori helps implement the foundation’s strategies related to public education and civic innovation. Prior to her role at Benwood, Lori was a policy analyst for the Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies, a non-profit community research organization, where she authored policy and research reports focused on public safety, education, and healthy food access in Chattanooga. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee and a master’s degree in Public Administration and Community and Regional Planning from the University of Oregon.

Stephanie Hays

Stephanie Hays currently works at the Chattanooga Area Convention and Visitors Bureau where she oversees visitor experience. She also serves as a freelance trip organizer and leader for a week-long trip to Mumbai, India for students from Girls Preparatory School and recently founded Free Walk Chattanooga, which provides free, historical walking tours of Downtown Chattanooga. Prior to living in Chattanooga, Stephanie lived in Mumbai, London, Shanghai, Amsterdam, and New York where she worked for a variety of tourism initiatives. Stephanie volunteers as a Board Secretary for A Step Ahead Chattanooga, organization which provides long-term, reversible birth control to any woman living in Southeast Tennessee who wants it for free. Stephanie completed her Bachelor of Arts in Intercultural Studies from New York University and Master of Arts in International Tourism Development and Management from the London Metropolitan University.

Cleveland, Ohio

Carrie Carpenter

Carrie Carpenter is the President and Executive Director of the Gordon Square Arts District, a Cleveland neighborhood that leverages arts and culture for economic development and revitalization. She is the co-founder and director of the Women’s Networking Group-Cleveland, with more than 10,000 members focused on gender equality issues and empowering women in the workplace. Carrie was previously senior vice president and director of Public Affairs at Citizens Bank (RBS) for 11 years, where she directed the Mid-States charitable foundation, government affairs, media/public relations and strategic initiatives. Carpenter served as the national communications director for Children’s Rights in New York, as a lobbyist for the Centers for Families and Children, and worked for U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. Carrie is a Leadership Cleveland 2009 graduate, was named to Crain’s Cleveland Business Forty under 40 in 2007 and received the German Marshall Memorial Fellowship in 2010. She earned her bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Kent State University in political science and women’s studies, and her master’s in strategic public relations from the George Washington University. She serves on the boards of the Cleveland Foundation, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank as Vice Chair, chairs the Leadership Cleveland committee and volunteers for the Animal Protection League.

Joe Cimperman

Joe Cimperman is on a mission to make Cleveland the most welcoming city in America. As president of Global Cleveland, he leads efforts to welcome immigrants to Northeast Ohio and to connect them to opportunities to revitalize neighborhoods, create jobs and succeed as new Americans. Joe, an immigrant’s son, grew up in a Slovenian-speaking household in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood of Cleveland. He is a proud graduate of St. Ignatius High School and John Carroll University and served two years in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. In 1997, he began the first of seven terms on Cleveland City Council, where he distinguished himself as a champion of diversity and international cultures. In 2003, he was selected as a Fellow for the prestigious German Marshall Memorial Fellowship, a program of the German Marshall Fund. In April of 2016, Joe assumed the leadership of Global Cleveland. He lives in Ohio City with his wife, Nora, and their two young children.

Dallas, Texas

Vicki D. Blanton

Vicki D. Blanton is the Assistant Vice President - Senior Legal Counsel for AT&T, Inc., with primary responsibility for the legal compliance of the domestic and international retirement benefit plans, with over $52 billion in assets. She has handled complex retirement plan and health and welfare benefit plan issues for several Fortune 50 publicly traded companies and for large governmental employers. Ms. Blanton brings the real world practical perspective of implementing legal changes with each change’s ripple effects in benefit plan administration and to other areas of business operations. Ms. Blanton has been a frequent speaker on a variety of topics, including substantive legal issues, diversity topics, and career development panels. She is a Past President of the J.L. Turner Legal Association, winning accolades from the State Bar of Texas and the National Bar Association. Ms. Blanton has been named as a Dallas Business Journal Best Corporate Counsel, D Magazine’s List of Best Lawyers, and Eclipse Magazine’s Dynamic Lawyers. Additionally, the National Bar Association Women Lawyers’ Division recognized her as an Outstanding Corporate Counsel. Vicki is an American Fellow of the German Marshall Memorial Fund and was a Barrister in the American Inns of Court. Vicki has served on and been appointed to a variety of nonprofit, charitable, municipal and state boards; currently serving on the boards of the J.L. Turner Legal Foundation (current Chair), the Dallas Bar Association, and the Dallas Chapter of the American Red Cross and a past board member of the Dallas Bar Foundation. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and Southern Methodist University School of Law. Additionally, she has a Certificate of Study from Georgetown University’s Executive Development Program at the London School of Economics. Vicki has two daughters and loves to travel.

Joanna Ridgway

Joanna Ridgway currently serves as the Southwest Region Corporate Market Director at Santander Bank, delivering global banking and capital markets solutions to mid and large corporate U.S. based companies. Prior to this, she was the Fiddler and co-founder of June Blount, a DFW fiddle duo for events in DFW. Ridgway is also an active community volunteer supporting education and financial literacy. Her professional experience includes corporate and commercial banking, asset management, corporate debt underwriting, real estate development and project management and client management. She received her BBA in Business Administration, Theater, and Spanish from Rhodes College in 2005.

Detroit, Michigan

Ahmad Ezzeddine

Ahmad is associate vice president for Educational Outreach and International Programs at Wayne State University (WSU). In this capacity, he leads the university’s academic, global, and corporate educational outreach programs. In addition to this role, Ahmad was appointed senior associate to the president for special initiatives. A firm proponent of the crucial role that universities play in driving economic development, he is aggressively forging linkages with organizations in the City of Detroit and the region and supporting community engagement and economic development initiatives. Prior to his current position, Ahmad served as the assistant dean for Executive and Professional Development in the School of Business Administration. He received a bachelor’s in computer information systems and an MBA and Ph.D. in business and industrial engineering. Fluent in English, Arabic, and French, Ahmad enjoys running, traveling and spending time with his wife Colleen and three young children, Taima, Hassan, and Nadim.

Margaret Hall

Margaret Hall graduated from Wayne State University (WSU) in Detroit, Michigan with a degree in Cultural Anthropology and a minor in Peace & Conflict Studies in 2015. She also joined the WSU Office of International Programs (OIP) in 2015 as a program assistant. Currently, she serves as a Project Coordinator in the Offices of International Programs and Educational Outreach at WSU. In this position, she provides program support across all OIP initiatives, particularly with international student recruitment and outreach, as well as various Study Abroad and Global Programs projects. In addition, she is currently pursuing her MBA at the Wayne State University Mike Ilitch School of Business with concentrations in Management and Global Supply Chain Management. In her spare time, she serves as a Member Trainer for Amnesty International USA.

Durango, Colorado

Janelle Doughty

Janelle F. Doughty has been a professional consultant on law enforcement training and professional development, victim's services, and criminal justice issues in Indian Country. She has held senior leadership positions within the Southern Ute Indian Tribe over more than a decade of public service, including Advocate; Executive Officer; Director of the Tribe's Department of Justice and Regulatory. She has also worked for the Ute Mountain Ute Indian Tribe as the Director of the tribe's Department of Social Services until 2014. Prior to this, Ms. Doughty was appointed to the U.S. Department of Justice's Advisory Committee on Native American Issues and to the Colorado Commission on Civil Rights, the first Native American ever to serve in this position. In recognition of her professional achievements, Ms. Doughty received the Outstanding Public Safety Director of the Year Award from the National Native American Law Enforcement Association in 2008. Ms. Doughty graduated from New Mexico Highlands University and hold a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Denver. She is also a graduate of the State of New Mexico Police Academy.

Houston, Texas

John Boerstler

John is executive director of NextOp, a non-profit organization in Houston, Texas. John was born in Houston, Texas, into a family with a strong history of military service. In 1999, John enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he earned the rank of Sergeant. During his time serving our country, John’s overseas assignments took him to Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Jordan, Djibouti, and Kenya. After being honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps in 2007, John completed his bachelor’s degree at Texas A&M University and a master´s in public administration from the University of Houston. In 2009 John helped found the Lone Star Veterans Association (LSVA), which has become the largest network of Post 9/11 veterans in the State of Texas and provides free, innovative services to this generation of service members and families. In 2011 John was a recipient of the prestigious Marshall Memorial Fellowship. Today, John is a strong advocate for veterans and worked for a United States Congressman, two Mayors of Houston, the Wounded Warrior Project and Veteran Energy. John is continuing his career in public service by serving on the Board of Directors for the Lone Star Veterans Association, the Texas Veterans Commission Advisory Committee and Family Services of Greater Houston.

Los Angeles, California

April Tam

April is the associate director of development for the Reunions program with the Alumni Association at the University of Southern California. Her duties include engaging alumni with the university and securing major gifts. Her goal is to help a donor make an impact through the power of philanthropy. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College and a master’s degree in social entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California. She is fluent in Cantonese and conversational in Spanish. Her hobbies include traveling, scrapbooking and event planning.

Grace Park

Grace currently serves as President of Nuleep, a career mobile application startup based in Los Angeles and Phoenix. She also consults on strategy, communications, and community engagement for companies and nonprofit organizations to provide innovative solutions. She serves on various nonprofit boards, including One Light Foundation and the Holliston Foundation. Prior to this, she worked at an angel investments boutique firm with private investors that focused on consumer products, banking, and a diverse portfolio of assets. Park performed as the lead financial controls for a $350M real estate portfolio while at The Walt Disney Company. She also worked for the International Labor Standards Group of Disney developing and implementing audit plans and trainings.

Miami, Florida

Saif Ishoo

Saif Y. Ishoof, Esq. serves as Vice President for Engagement at Florida International University (FIU). The purpose of the office is to tackle the community’s most pressing needs and unlock awesome opportunities by building transformational partnerships that are fueled by the scholarship of FIU faculty and talents of FIU students. Ishoof guides the university’s participation with K-12 partners, economic development agencies, industry partners and social enterprises. He is also a Senior Fellow in the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, where he is working to accelerate a key group of priorities for founding Dean, John Stack. Previously, Ishoof served as founding Executive Director at City Year Miami, which provides 17-24-year-olds an opportunity to serve one year in high-need schools as tutors, mentors and role models to address the opportunity gap. Under Ishoof’s leadership, the organization more than doubled in size and scope, with an expansion from 8 to 18 schools and from 82 to 200 AmeriCorps members. Ishoof’s professional career includes being a startup technology entrepreneur and an executive in agricultural and engineering companies. Prior to City Year, Ishoof served as CEO of FCT Technologies Corp., a firm involved in renewable energy, crop science, and water resource management. Ishoof earned his bachelor’s degree in foreign service from Georgetown University and his Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami School of Law.

New York, New York

Nathan Sheridan

Nathan Sheridan is a Program Assistant for Leadership Programs at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS) where he plans and implements the Marshall Memorial Fellowship amongst other program projects. Prior to joining GMFUS, Nathan was a Joseph S. Nye, Jr. Research intern for the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security where he provided research and analysis, as well as programmatic support, on NATO and other contemporary U.S.-European security issues. Previously, Nathan also was a Robert Schuman trainee with the European Parliament’s Liaison Office with the U.S. Congress as well as interning with the U.S. Department of State in the Economics Section of the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark. In both of these roles, Nathan researched relevant topics towards understanding and strengthening transatlantic relations. Born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Nathan has a Master of Arts in International Studies from Aarhus University in Denmark and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Wheaton College, Massachusetts.

Phoenix, Arizona

Lizabeth (Beth) Thomson-Gorman

Beth is responsible for managing the daily functions of the ACLU of Arizona office in addition to providing support to the Board of Directors. She has been working in the field of non-profit management for over 30 years. Prior to joining the ACLU staff in July 2011, Beth worked for Valley Leadership as the Business/Program Manager and with the Valley of the Sun YMCA, (West Valley and Chris-Town Branches) as Business Manager. Beth is an alumna of the University of Minnesota-Duluth where she studied business administration.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Mark Houser

Mark is director of news and information at Robert Morris University, a private institution with 5,000 students in suburban Pittsburgh. He is regular contributor to Pittsburgh Magazine and a former investigative reporter for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. His stories exposing systematic racial bias in Pittsburgh criminal jury selection led to statewide reforms, and received both state and national journalism awards and the Texthauptpreis from the Hamburg-based Koerber Foundation. Houser is a Marshall Memorial Fellow since 2002 (Hamburg/Turin/Warsaw), and he received a GMF Journalism Fellowship in 2005 to report on European counterterrorism and Muslim integration (Rotterdam/Paris/Madrid). He has a master’s degree in Slavic and Eastern European studies from Ohio State University and spent time as a student in Sarajevo, Kharkiv, and Novokuznetsk.

Portland, Oregon

Amanda Hoey

Amanda Hoey is the Executive Director for Mid-Columbia Economic Development District (MCEDD), a bi-state regional economic development entity supporting the Columbia Gorge region of Oregon and Washington. Under Amanda’s leadership, MCEDD has diversified regional economic initiatives to include additional opportunities for access to capital and enhancing private-sector led regional industry sector development. She has also led the organization’s growth, expanding the regional transportation division and project management team. Prior to MCEDD, Amanda worked in small business development, developing youth entrepreneurship opportunities. She returned to the Gorge, where her family is involved in wheat production. Amanda graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Whitman College. She serves on the boards of the 35 National Association of Development Organizations and The Dalles Riverfront Trail. She is a Marshall Memorial Fellow ('17), American Leadership Forum of Oregon Senior Fellow and past president of the Oregon Economic Development Districts Association.

Rapid City, South Dakota

Dan Schenk

Dan retired as director of human resources and judicial education for the South Dakota Supreme Court. His wife Rebecca is an art teacher in the Pierre Jr. High School. Dan has a varied past as a Rodeo participant, Polo Player, hunter, fisherman, motorcyclist (big Harley), and traveler with his wife (mostly in Southeast Asia). He is a Vietnam veteran who served there as a special agent in counterintelligence. You will find him to be very open and very welcoming with a good sense of humor. He and his wife have two dogs, Philip and Steve.

San Antonio, Texas

Iñigo Arzac

Iñigo Arzac oversees International Business Development for VYSK, a secure communications company based in San Antonio whose mission is restoring privacy and control to our mobile phones. Over the last eight years he has worked in the international area in positions including: Business Development Director for Latin America and Spain for Globalscape Software and in the public sector as International Affairs Manager for the City of San Antonio, Texas where he led the programs and initiatives charged with attracting investment and jobs to the region. He also managed the city’s foreign trade offices and municipal representatives in Monterrey, Guadalajara and Mexico City. Currently, he serves as Advisor to the Chairman of SABEResPODER, and on the boards of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, The World Affairs Council of San Antonio and the Brooks Development Authority Board of Directors. In 2013 he received the Marshall Memorial Fellowship, is an alumnus of Leadership San Antonio Class 34 and Co-Chair of Class 35 and was recognized by the San Antonio Business Journal with the “40 under 40” award in 2012. Arzac obtained his bachelor’s degree in management and international business in 2005 from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Eduardo Parra

Eduardo Parra currently serves as the CEO of Parra & Co., a business and engineering consulting firm focused on business strategy and implementation, globalization, positioning for new and existing markets, client’s life cycle management, and transatlantic relations. Parra & Co has a strategic partnership with Overland Partners, an award-winning design firm dedicated to making the world a better place by creating transformative projects thru the practice of architecture. Prior to this, he was a principal engineer for a $1.5 billion consulting, engineering, construction, and operations global firm, where he provided solutions to large and complex problems both for the public and private sectors and in various markets. Eduardo is on the board of OPERA San Antonio and the executive board of the World Affairs Council of San Antonio. He is also an alumnus of Leadership San Antonio Class XXXIX, a former board member of the U.S. Green Building Council in Central Texas, and former chairman of the Energy & Sustainability Committee for the Greater Chamber of Commerce in San Antonio. Eduardo was recently honored with the San Antonio Business Journal’s 2016 40 under 40. He completed his Master of Science in engineering from Penn State University in 2001.

Francisco Gonima

Francisco Gonima is an International Coach Federation Professional Certified Coach, strategist, facilitator and motivational speaker who serves clients in Texas, Colorado, and nationally. Prior to this, he was the President of Blacktie San Antonio, providing powerful and easy to use fundraising tools to help non-profits support their missions. Gonima also worked as a senior consultant for The National Civic League, promoting democratic innovation through the facilitation of public dialogues for community-based decision making, conference planning, and community relations representation on the league’s behalf. Gonima received his Bachelor of Arts in Latin American Studies and Government from The University of Texas at Austin, his Professional Certified Coach (PCC) from the International Coach Federation, and The Ontological (Identity-Based) Coaching Certification Program from Newfield Network Ontological Coaches Training Program in 2013.

Emily Calderon-Galdeano

Dr. Emily Calderón-Galdeano currently serves as the Legislative Director for a Texas State Senator and Executive Director of the Texas Senate Hispanic Caucus. She owns Elevate Consulting and works with clients in utilizing data storytelling and conducting program evaluations. She has fifteen years in educational policy at the federal, state, local, and institutional levels. Previously, Emily has served as Director of Research for two national organizations and a university faculty member. Calderón-Galdeano’s leadership has been recognized locally through Leadership San Antonio and San Antonio 40 Under 40. Nationally, she serves as Chair for the Council of Public Policy in Higher Education. Internationally, she has been selected as a German Marshall Fund Memorial Fellow, United States-Spain Young Leader, and British-American Project Delegate. She has published research on higher education topics and is co-editor of an international award-winning book, Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Advancing Research & Transformative Practice. Recently, Emily co-founded Fiesta Wishes, a nonprofit that provides birthday parties for children in foster and homeless care to provide smiles, memories, and hope.

San Francisco, California

Austin Arensberg

Austin Arensberg is currently a principal at Scrum Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm based in San Francisco, California that has invested in over 40 startups related to e-commerce, healthcare, software, video, and transportation. Prior to joining Scrum Ventures, Austin served as a manager in Samsung’s Global Strategy Group in Seoul, Korea where his work focused on electric vehicles, energy storage, corporate restructuring, and research and development. Austin’s previous professional experience included serving as M&A manager at PTT (the national oil company of Thailand) and Business Development Manager of Nollen Group, a renewable energy fund. Austin has been published by the Global Private Equity Initiative for his research on private equity fund management and has served as a clean energy advisor for USAID. Austin is a grantee of the U.S. National Science Foundation, a former Princeton in Asia Fellow, and a graduate of INSEAD Business School.

Seattle, Washington

James Keblas

Throughout James’ career, he has worked to bring together creatives, commerce, and communities to generate cultural and economic value. He has been doing this the past two years as the Head of business development for ShareGrid, a first-of-its-kind camera rental marketplace that has grown to support over 60k production members and manages $600m of gear inventory, making it the largest peer-to-peer production marketplace in the country. James sharpened his entrepreneurial skills as a consultant and media producer through a platform he created called City Inspired, where he helped brands, nonprofits, and governments build creative solutions and programs. City-Inspired also published a weekly podcast and newsletter of the same name, which examined the effectiveness of creative solutions to community problems like homelessness, literacy, environmental protection, etc. Before that, he served for nine years as the Director of the City of Seattle’s Office of Film, Music + Special Events, where he contributed to the growth of the city’s creative economy. He got his start in the music business in the early 90s promoting Sir Mix A Lot at NastyMix Records and later opening music venues like the Velvet Elvis Arts Lounge and The Vera Project, a music-arts center run by and for youth.

Spanish Fork, Utah

Tyler Jacobson

Tyler earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Utah Valley University in 2007 and a master of business administration from Utah State University in 2009. He became a certified public accountant (CPA) in 2011. In 2007, Tyler began working for Spanish Fork City and has served as their accountant, treasurer, and is currently serving as their assistant city manager. As the assistant city manager, his primary responsibilities include the management of human resources, risk management, and public information. Tyler has been married to his sweetheart Whitney for 11 years. They have two beautiful daughters ages eight and two. Tyler’s hobbies include spending time with his family, participating in or watching sports (basketball, baseball, golf), and serving in the community.

Washington, District of Columbia

Corinna Hörst

Corinna Hörst is a senior fellow and Guido Goldman director of GMF's Leadership Programs. In this capacity, Dr. Hörst leads GMF’s diverse portfolio of leadership development initiatives. She is also a member of the DE&I Advisory Group at GMF which is guiding the organization’s diversity and inclusion performance. She regularly speaks or writes on European affairs and transatlantic relations as well as leadership, diversity, gender, and women.

She is a member of the steering committee of the Brussels chapter of Women in International Security (WIIS) and co-founder of The Brussels Binder, an online database of female policy experts. In 2017, she co-authored the book “Women Leading The Way in Brussels,” with Claudia de Castro Caldeirinha (John Harper Publishing) which looks at women leadership in Europe and Brussels, including vignettes of women who exercise leadership across different sectors in Brussels.

Before coming to GMF in 1999, she was a teaching associate at Miami University, teaching American and world history and worked as an assistant project manager at a publishing company in Germany. Hörst has a Ph.D. and master’s degree in history and studied at Miami University in Ohio, the United States, the University of Heidelberg in Germany, and St. Andrews University in Scotland.

Europe

Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Mei Ling Liem

Mei Ling Liem is Strategic Advisor to the City Board of Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Amsterdam. She currently works on spatial planning, which encompasses issues such as developing strategies for the city to expand and meet housing demand and providing the infrastructure needed in a growing city, such as a bridge over the IJ. She previously worked on citizenship, social inclusion and integration, and other topics. Before joining the City of Amsterdam she worked as a lobbyist for a development organization, influencing policies of the Netherlands and the European Union on issues such as human rights and the position of women in post-conflict countries. She is an MMF Alumnus of summer 2012.

Ankara/Istanbul, Turkey

Ozgur Ünlühisarcıklı

Özgür Ünlühisarcıklı is the director of GMF's office in Ankara, Turkey. Prior to joining GMF, he was the manager of the Resource Development Department of the Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey. Previously, Ünlühisarcıklı worked as the director of the ARI Movement, a Turkish NGO promoting participatory democracy, and as a consultant at AB Consulting and Investment Services. After graduating from Robert College (Istanbul), Ünlühisarcıklı received his bachelor's degree in business administration from Marmara University and his master's degree from Koç University. He speaks fluent English in addition to his native Turkish.

Ceylan Akman Canbilek

Ceylan Canbilek joined The German Marshall Fund of the United States in 2005 and is currently a senior program officer in the organization’s Ankara office. Prior to joining GMF, she worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration, and the World Bank in Turkey. Canbilek received her bachelor’s in political science and international relations from Istanbul BoğaziçiUniversity and holds a master’s from Essex University in political economy.

Athens, Greece

Elizabeth Phocas

Elizabeth Phocas is Deputy Director at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP). She is also General Coordinator of the Halki International Seminars. She received her BA in political sciences and public administration at the University of Athens and MA in European politics at the University of Essex, where she was also Research Fellow at the East European Studies Department. She was Activities and Development Coordinator before assuming the position of Deputy Director at ELIAMEP. She has knowledge of academic institutions, as well as the NGO and think tanks map in Greece, the Balkans, the EU member states and the US, a strong background focused on NGO management, and knowledge of the political, economic and technical situation in Eastern Europe. She created successful international project teams that worked efficiently and were action-oriented. She is also the Greek coordinator for both the European and American Marshall Memorial Fellowship Programs. Since 2007, Elizabeth Phocas is Senior International Fellow at the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, the City University of New York.

Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Mateu Hernandez

Mateu Hernández is the chief executive officer of Barcelona Global. Mateu is a member of the International Advisory Board of the 4th New York Strategic Plan, secretary of the International Advisory Board of the Smart Cities Expo and Congress, a regular advisor for economic development and strategic plans for cities, and is senior advisor of SONAR, the advanced music and technology festival. Previously, he was the chief executive officer of the Economic Development Agency of the City of Barcelona, where he coordinated policies and programs in Barcelona on employment, entrepreneurship, business, attracting foreign direct investment, the city’s brand, technological innovation, promotion and trading standards, city markets, and tourism. Mateu graduated from executive programs in Business Administration from IESE, and he also graduated in law from the University of Barcelona and has a master’s in public and social policy from the Pompeu Fabra University and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. He has also taken part in various OECD studies on local economic development. In 2006, he participated in the Marshall Memorial Fellowship program in the United States and teaches courses on public policy and local development.

Belgrade, Serbia

Snezana Vukovic

Snezana is a program coordinator at the Balkan Trust for Democracy, a project of German Marshall Fund, United States Agency for International Development, and Charles Stuart Mott Foundation. Her responsibilities include grantmaking and the Marshall Memorial Fellowship. Snezana graduated from the Department of International Relations at the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Belgrade, where she also obtained her master’s degree in International Politics. During her studies, she took part in several competitions and has been active in the UN Association of Serbia, as a member of the organizing committee for the Belgrade International Model United Nations.

Berlin, Germany

Melanie Whittaker

Melanie Whittaker is a senior program officer in GMF’s Berlin office. In this capacity, she works on Transatlantic Leadership Initiatives managing and implementing selection processes for various fellowship programs, the Alumni Leadership Action Projects, as well as European alumni outreach. Previously, she worked on a broad spectrum of events for Berlin. Prior to joining GMF, she held various managerial positions in the hotel industry in Germany, England, and the United States. Her expertise includes leadership, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, public diplomacy, transatlantic relations, and German politics. She obtained a bachelor of science in politics and international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She also holds a certificate for human resources management from Cornell University. For the period from 2014–2018, she was selected as a lay judge at the Regional Court for Berlin. She is fluent in German and English.

Bilbao, Spain

Alazne Zugazaga

Alazne is a technician for Bilbao International and GMF representative in Spain. She has led the European and Asian international relations efforts of Bilbao International, an extension of the Bilbao City Government, since 2011. In this role, she has focused on the internationalization opportunities for Bilbao and the region through the participation in networks such as UCLG and Eurocities. She also coordinates visits of institutional and professional delegations visiting Bilbao with the aim of exchanging good practices in several areas of activity: design, health, urban issues, housing, and tourism. From 2004 to 2011, Alazne carried out activities for Bilbao Tourism and from 2000 to 2004, she served as a technician at the Bilbao Airport for Bilbao Tourism. Alazne studied as a technician in Touristic Business and Activities (T.E.A.T.) at the University of Deusto and she is fluent in Basque, English, and French.

Bratislava, Slovakia

Andrea Lelovics

Andrea Lelovics is City Coordinator of the Marshall Memorial Fellowship program since 2018. As founder of DCI s.r.o., she has been planning, fundraised for, and managing international projects for 20 years. She is also an experienced lecturer, trainer, and facilitator of social innovations and collaborations, project management, and managing intercultural virtual teams. Andrea works as Program Manager in Pontis Foundation, contributing to the development of the ecosystem of social innovations in Slovakia. In 2015-2018 she supported the development of European social entrepreneurs while working with the global team of Impact Hub. Prior to founding DCI, Andrea worked for Forum Institute on research of minorities, NGO capacity building, and regional development. In 1999-2000 she coordinated the national EU pre-accession Phare projects for minorities at the Government Office of the Slovak Republic. Andrea holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (WU Executive Academy, Vienna), and an MA in International Relations (the University of Economics in Bratislava). Her working languages are English, German, Slovak, and Hungarian.

Brussels, Belgium

Corinna Hörst

Bucharest, Romania

Ana Aelenei

Ana Aelenei is the deputy director of the GMF Bucharest office and oversees Black Sea Trust’s (BST) grantmaking operations. She also manages BST’s programming in Ukraine and the newly established Leadership Hub under GMF’s Leadership Programs (LP) pillar. Within the Leadership framework, Ana actively works with the LP team on the implementation of selection processes for GMF’s key fellowship and alumni programs for Europe’s east, such as the Marshall Memorial Fellowship, the Alumni Leadership Action Projects, and the Marshall Seminar. Ana has a master’s degree in security studies and a certificate d’Etudes Politiques from the Institute d’Etudes Politiques de Lyon. Ana is also an alumna of the Japan Foundation. She is fluent in English, French and Spanish, has basic knowledge of Italian and Dutch, in addition to her native Romanian.

Maria Florea

Maria Florea is Black Sea Trust’s and GMF Bucharest office’s Program Coordinator. She assists in grant-making for the wider Black Sea area projects and in the Marshall Memorial Fellowship programming for the Black Sea. Maria has a Master in European Governance from the University of Bristol and a Degree in Political Science from the University of Vienna. She is fluent in English, French and German in addition to her native Romanian.

Budapest, Hungary

Enikő Pap

Enikő is a program manager at the Active Citizenship Foundation and Vice President of the Hungarian Women’s Lobby, a member of a broader umbrella organization, the European Women’s Lobby, which works on promoting women’s rights and gender equality across the continent. Enikő works on issues of violence against women, especially awareness raising and prevention. Her career includes a consultancy for the United Nations and the European Commission. Enikő graduated in law from the ELTE University in Budapest and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program of the U.S. Department of State.

Cologne, Germany

Friederike Hofmann

Friederike Hofmann is an editor, reporter and consultant to the Editor-in-Chief at the main editorial office of WDR/ARD, the largest public TV-station in Germany. Her department is responsible for the coverage of politics, foreign affairs and business, and producing news and longer documentaries. Her job responsibilities comprise – besides human resources and strategic planning – the coverage of elections in Germany, the monthly opinion polls, the political talk show ‘Presseclub’ and other special broadcasts. She is also strongly engaged in the question of how social networks influence media consumption and how to react. Previously Friederike Hofmann worked as a TV editor in the economic department and for several newspapers. She studied economics and international management in Hamburg, Cologne, and Paris and is a member of the Young Leaders Program of ‘Atlantik Brücke’.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Peter Ernstved Rasmussen

Peter is a Danish journalist, media entrepreneur, and the owner of the niche media, OLFI, covering Danish defense and security politics. OLFI was established in February 2016. Since then, OLFI has become the most important source of media covering the Danish defense forces raising a wide, open, and fairly outspoken debate about the armed forces and national security. In October OLFI uncovered a story about nepotism in the armed forces, resulting in the Chief of the Danish Army being exempted from duty and under investigation by the Military Prosecutor for abuse of power. Before OLFI, Peter worked for eight years at the National Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten. In 2008, he received the “Digger Prize” by the Danish Association of Investigative Journalists (FUJ) for the best example of investigative journalism in the newspaper category. He is the author of the book, “Soldier for Denmark”, published in 2006. Peter was an officer of the reserve with the Royal Guard and spent almost six years in the Danish Army. In 1993 he served the Danis forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina (Sarajevo) and in 2004-2005 he was the head press and information officer for the Danish battalion in Iraq (Basra) consisting of more than 500 soldiers and employees. Peter is a 2010 Marshall Memorial Fellow.

Freiburg, Germany

Wiebke Küpper

Wiebke is the director of the National Building Agency Headquarters. Prior to joining the National Building Agency, she worked as head of division South for the Department of City Planning of the City of Freiburg. She was responsible for the land use plan, zoning planning, and presenting several major department initiatives before the Freiburg City Council. After her studies, Wiebke worked as a project architect in several architectural bureaus. She graduated in Architecture and City Planning from the Technical University of Karlsruhe and holds “Staatsexamen” and “Bauoberrätin” titles of the Federal Government of Germany. She is fluent in German and English and proficient in French and Spanish. Wiebke was a John McCloy Fellow in 2004 and has been a Marshall Memorial Fellow since 2008.

Hamburg, Germany

Tatiana Matthiesen

Tatiana Matthiesen is the head of Education and Training at the Hamburg-based foundation ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius. Previously, she served as project coordinator for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ, former GTZ) GmbH in Colombia and Venezuela. Tatiana is fluent in German, English, and Spanish. She has a master’s degree in Political Science from the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel and holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the New School for Social Research, New York.

Kyiv, Ukraine

Igor Goncharenko

Igor Goncharenko is a Senior Project Manager at the Reforms Delivery Office, created under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Igor is responsible for the improvement of the business climate in Ukraine and provides general coordination of the social block (education, healthcare, social care, and labor). Igor is an expert on Strategic Planning and Project Management, Competitiveness and Regional Development. He has more than 10 years of experience in senior management positions in development and reform projects in the public sector. Previously, he worked as the Chief of Staff of the Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine, headed the Project Office of the National Reforms Council. For three years he has been involved in the planning and implementation of anti-corruption reform in Ukraine. Prior to that, he was the manager of three regional development projects, namely preparation of a comprehensive development strategy of Kyiv, as well as cluster strategies of Lviv city and Donetsk Oblast. He led and co-authored the study of competitiveness of 27 regions of Ukraine according to the methodology of the World Economic Forum. Igor obtained a magister degree in management with honors at the Faculty of Management and Marketing of the National Technical University of Ukraine "KPI". He also finished an annual modular program at the International Management Institute (MIM-Kyiv). Igor is a Marshall Memorial Fellow of 2016. With his help, Kyiv became the first Ukrainian city to be included in the MMF agenda.

London, England

Sophie Dembinski

Sophie is head of policy in the U.K. and responsible for the management of relations with business, government, civil society and international organizations to shape the conditions for UK business to thrive in sustainability and promote peace through trade. She oversees 12 high-level policy committees with a specific focus on the legal sector and issues relating to banking, trade & investment, CSR and anti-corruption, energy and environment. Sophie is also responsible for the management of three teams covering advocacy, policy research, major campaigns, events, publications, partnerships, and communications. Previously, Sophie worked at The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) in Brussels, where she covered EU–Asia relations and coordinated its trilateral dialogues between American, European, and Asian leaders. She continues to serve as GMF’s UK coordinator for its flagship leadership program, the Marshall Memorial Fellowship (MMF). Sophie has authored a number of blogs and op-eds, is co-founder of ValuableWorld and has work experience at the Eurasia Group and Proméxico. Sophie is a graduate of the London School of Economics and KU Leuven and is a Rotary humanitarian ambassador of goodwill.

Lübeck, Germany

Metchild Mäsker

Meggie has been head of the regional office of public radio and television broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) in Lübeck since 2006. She is responsible for a staff of 20 and reports on issues and events in Lübeck and the surrounding regions of Ostholstein and Herzogtum Lauenburg. Prior to taking up this position, Meggie lived in Kiel and worked as a reporter for the NDR (1998-1999 and 2001-2006), a private television station SAT.1 (1997-1998), and a private radio station R.SH (1991-1995). She was also an assistant to the director of NDR Schleswig-Holstein (1999-2001), as well as the chief executive officer of R.SH (1995-1997). Meggie studied journalism, publishing, German philology, and sociology at the Christian Albrechts University in Münster and got her Ph.D. at an early age of 25 in 1989. She volunteers for the German Journalist Trade Union – DJV, for which she served as second head of the National Board and still serves as head of the Commission for Equal Opportunities and Work-Life-Balance. Meggie is a board member of her congregation at the Catholic Herz Jesu Kirche in Lübeck and has been a Marshall Memorial Fellow since 2002 and an MMF coordinator in Lübeck and Kiel since 2005.

Madrid, Spain

Carlos Matilla Codesal

Carlos Matilla Codesal defines himself as an entrepreneur and engineer. Currently, he is learning every day as the CEO and co-founder of FuVeX, a start-up with the goal of enhancing the access of institutions and big companies to aeronautics through long-range drones. Prior to this venture, Carlos founded FuVe, a cross-university association where students could create their own projects in order to participate in student competitions. In this association, he founded and managed Autonomous Underwater Vehicle “Isaac Peral y Caballero” and Unmanned Gyrocopter “Juan de la Cierva,” entering both vehicles in international competitions in the US organized by the US Navy. Carlos has studied aerospace engineering and naval architecture simultaneously, and currently, he is studying in an executive MBA program. He is also a member of Celera, the first Spanish talent accelerator.

Münich, Germany

Hans Maria Heyn

Hans Maria Heyn is the Co-Founder and Business Lead at DX-Labtrack, the winning Startup of the EIT-Health Wildcard. Prior to this, Hans Maria was the Corporate Head for Strategy Development and Planning in Berlin from 2009 to 2017 and the Head of Corporate Development and Strategy at TRIGA-S from 2017-2018. Hans Maria studied Theology, Political Science, and completed a Ph.D. in Governance at the Free University of Berlin and an MBA from the Berlin School of Economics.

Naples, Italy

Giovanni Farese

Giovanni Farese is Associate Professor of Economic History and History of Economic Thought at the European University of Rome, Italy. He is also Adjunct Professor of Economic History at LUISS Guido Carli University, Rome, where he completed his Ph.D. He is managing editor of The Journal of European Economic History, a scholarly publication founded in 1972, and of Economia Italiana, a policy-oriented publication founded in 1979. Prior to this, he was managing editor of the Review of Economic Conditions in Italy, founded in 1947 to foster Italy-US cooperation after the end of WWII. He is a Former Aspen Junior Fellow of the Aspen Institute Italia, and serves as assistant moderator of the annual Aspen Institute Italia Seminar on “Globalization, Leadership and the Quest for Common Values”. His publications include “Il banchiere del mondo. Eugene Robert Black e l’ascesa della cultura dello sviluppo” (written with Paolo Savona, 2014), a biography of World Bank President Eugene Robert Black (1898-1992). He edited “The rise of the dual culture of world development and world government in International Affairs, 1930-1950”, the October 2015 virtual issue of International Affairs (Chatham House-The Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, 2015). He is Fellow of the European Society for the History of Economic Thought.

Paris, France

Corinna Hörst

Podgorica, Montenegro

Daliborka Uljarević

Daliborka is the executive director of the Centre for Civic Education and a part-time consultant at various domestic and international organizations. Previously, she worked as the political and media adviser at the Office of the Council of Europe in Montenegro, and a local producer for BBC World. Her career also included a post at the OSCE Mission in Montenegro and International Foundation for Election Systems from Washington, DC in Serbia and Montenegro. During her undergraduate studies, Daliborka was a participant and spokesperson for the student protests in Serbia in 1996 and 1997 which were triggered by allegations of mass electoral fraud. She graduated in international relations from the Faculty of Political Sciences at the University of Belgrade, attained her master’s in European and East European Studies from the University of Montenegro and is currently pursuing her MLL. Daliborka has been Marshall Memorial Fellow since 2007.

Rome, Italy

Giovanni Farese

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ševko Bajić

Ševko is a project manager for EU funded projects within Care International. His current focus is supporting the implementation of the national action plans for Roma inclusion. Previously, Ševko worked in civil society as a public relations manager for GROZD, the state’s biggest campaign for citizen activism. Prior to this, he worked for many years in media (OBN TV, Radio ZID) as a journalist, news editor, presenter, and head of a documentary project. Ševko has been a Marshall Memorial Fellow since 2007 and has been hosting Fellows in Bosnia since 2008.

Sheffield, United Kingdom

Ben Curran

Ben currently serves as Councillor for Walkley Ward and as the Cabinet Member for Planning & Development on Sheffield City Council. Ben was first elected as Councillor for Walkley Ward in 2010. He has held a number of senior roles including as Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources where he led on setting the council's budget, secured the creation of an inclusive employment agency and committed the council to not investing in fossil fuels. Prior to entering politics, Ben worked as a lawyer with a trade union law firm. He has served on a number of boards within the city including Sheffield Theatres Trust, Upperthorpe Healthy Living Centre, and South Yorkshire Pensions Authority.

Sofia, Bulgaria

Yasen Georgiev

Yasen Georgiev is Executive Director of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). Yasen has been with the EPI since 2006 where he was first appointed Research Fellow and then Head of the International Projects and Programmes unit. Prior to that, he worked at the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria and Beiersdorf Bulgaria. In 2010-2011 Yasen was a visiting fellow at the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry and at the European Policy DG of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology of Germany. Yasen has been the Bulgaria-Coordinator of the Marshall Memorial Fellowship since 2008. Currently, Yasen Georgiev is also a member of the National Advisory Board of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute and the Public Consultations Council within the Committee on European Affairs and Oversight of the European Funds of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria. Yasen is 2017 fellow of the Aspen Institute Romania within its Young Leaders Program and 2010/2011 fellow of the Robert Bosch Foundation (Germany) within the Carl Friedrich Goerdeler-Kolleg nine-month residence fellowship program. Yasen graduated from the International Economics and Politics Faculty of the University of National and World Economy, Sofia and the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of the Sofia University” St. Kliment Ohridski”.

Mariana Trifonova

Mariana Trifonova is a Senior Analyst with the Economic Policy Institute, Sofia (EPI). Mariana joined EPI in 2009 and since then has spearheaded a variety of projects on economic competitiveness; human capital development and non-formal education methods. Most recently she has worked on initiatives promoting digital transformation, e-government, and contemporary good governance tools. Mariana holds a BA in International Relations from the University of National and World Economy (Sofia) and an MA in International Commerce from Korea University (Seoul). She spent a year taking postgraduate courses in Chinese Economy and Finance at Fudan University (Shanghai) and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in International Economics at her alma mater in Bulgaria. Mariana’s research interests revolve around international trade and the EU-US-China nexus. She is a 2012 Black Sea NGO Fellow of FOND Romania, 2015 EU Youth Ambassador with the KU-KIEP-SBS EU Center in South Korea and a 2018 Young Leaders Program Fellow of the Aspen Institute (Romania). She is fluent in English and Korean, an independent user of Russian and has rudimental knowledge of German, French and Chinese.

Stockholm, Sweden

Ebba Martensson

Ebba is the city coordinator for the Marshall Memorial Fellowship in Stockholm, Sweden. She holds an LL.M degree from Lund University in Swedish and International Criminal Law. Ebba is currently working for the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP) in Stockholm and has previously worked on security sector reforms in India as a program officer at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) in New Delhi, India.

Stuttgart/Saarbrücken

Mergime Mahmutay

Mergime Mahmutaj has been employed in administration in the City of Stuttgart since 2012. She currently works in the Department of Integration, which is part of the Deputy Mayor‘s Policy Office. Ms. Mahmutaj has been establishing integration measures for international students in cooperation with the universities in Stuttgart. During recent years, the City of Stuttgart has become a national trailblazer in this field of action. She holds an M.A. in “Planning and Participation” and a B.A. in History and Political Science. She also teaches a “German Society and Culture” seminar at the University of Technology in Stuttgart.

Thessaloniki, Greece

Elizabeth Phocas

Elizabeth Phocas is Deputy Director at the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP). She is also General Coordinator of the Halki International Seminars. She received her BA in Political Sciences and Public Administration at the University of Athens and MA in European Politics at the University of Essex where she was also Research Fellow at the East European Studies Department. She was Activities and Development Coordinator before assuming the position of Deputy Director at ELIAMEP. She has knowledge of academic institutions as well as the NGO and think tanks map in Greece, the Balkans, the EU member states and the US, strong background focused on NGO management and knowledge of the political, economic and technical situation in Eastern Europe. She created successful international project teams that worked efficiently and were action-oriented. She is also the Greek coordinator for both the European and American Marshall Memorial Fellowship Programmes. Since 2007 Elizabeth Phocas is Senior International Fellow at the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, the City University of New York.

Tirana, Albania

Andi Pinari

Andi Pinari is a lecturer in the Department of History, Faculty of History and Philology, University of Tirana, since 2005. Andi received his BA in history at the University of Tirana (2003), his MA in European studies from the University of Geneva (2005) and his Ph.D. in history from the University of Tirana (2011). He also holds a BA in law from the University of Tirana (2006). In 2016, he was appointed Vice Dean of the Faculty of History and Philology of the University of Tirana. He is the recipient of scholarships from the University of Geneva and the German Marshall Fund of United States. Andi’s teaching activities at the University of Tirana have ranged over numerous topics dealing with the history of Western Europe, the US, the Balkans, etc. Andi is an expert in European modern history and civilization. His first book is “Introduction to the history of Europe and the U.S. from 1500 to 1800” (Ideart, 2007). His most recent book is “The call for freedom: Studies in totalitarianism and transition in Albania”, (Maluka 2016). The topic of his Ph.D. is “The foreign politics of Italy in the Balkans 1878-1912: Albania’s case”. He has made an important contribution in national and international conferences on topics related to Euro-Atlantic Integration (Szeged, Hungary, 2006), the security challenges in the Balkans (Budapest, 2007), and Albanian history between myth and reality (Macedonia, 2008).

Turin, Italy

Maria-Elena Gutierrez

Born in Mexico and raised in California, Maria Elena first studied at the University of California in Santa Cruz and then at Stanford University, where she received her master’s in 1990 and her Ph.D. in 1995. Since then she has taught Italian literature and cinema at the State University of New York SUNY in Buffalo. She began as an assistant professor from 1994 to 2000, and then in 2000, she became an associate tenured professor. Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards and acknowledgments, including the Cesare Pavese award for her doctoral thesis and the Milton Plesur Award of Excellence for university teaching. Her area of research in literature is surrealism, a theme about which she has published many articles, including a book dedicated to the work of Alberto Savinio. Maria Elena spends part of her year in Turin, where she teaches film at the University with the program known as “Re-entry of the Brains/Brain Re-entry.” She is also the artistic director of the View Conference and directs the Turin edition of Resfest, the international festival of avant-garde cinema.

Warsaw, Poland

Aleksandra Przygoda

Aleksandra (Sasha) is the operations manager at the Forum for Energy, a think tank focused on forging the foundation for an innovative and efficient energy sector based on data and analysis. She has previously worked in public affairs focusing on the ICT/education and energy sectors, and at The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) in Warsaw, where she was engaged in various foreign policy projects, including the MMF program for Poland. Sasha is fluent in English and Polish and proficient in French and Spanish. She is also a member of several alumni networks.

Zagreb, Croatia

Petra Despot

Petra Despot Domljanovic is a Senior Brand Consultant for Fabular, the leading branding consultancy in South East Europe. Prior to this, she was a brand consultant for Brandoctor, the first specialized branding agency in Croatia. Domljanovic has over twelve years of experience in analytical research, brand development and strategic communications. Besides her work on numerous branding strategies, she developed a number of communication strategies for presidential, parliamentary, local and EU electoral campaigns in Croatia. She received her M.A. in European Studies and Political Science from the University of Zagreb. Domljanovic is a 2014 Marshall Memorial Fellow.

If you would like to get in touch with an MMF City Coordinator in your location, please do so at GMF’s alumni platform, GMF Connect, where you will be able to browse the entire network of GMF’s Leadership Programs.