Elene Kintsurashvili is a Warsaw-based senior program coordinator on GMF’s Transatlantic Security team, focusing on research and convening activities. Her areas of expertise include NATO and EU engagement in the Eastern Partnership countries. She also follows the South Caucasus and Black Sea regions, Georgian domestic and foreign policies, and Russian hybrid warfare and its impact on European security and democratic resilience.

Kintsurashvili previously served as assistant to the deputy secretary-general of the Georgian parliament. Outside her professional work, she has been involved in civic initiatives advancing democracy and Georgian aspirations to integrate into the Euro-Atlantic community.

Kintsurashvili received her master’s degree in European interdisciplinary studies from the College of Europe, where she specialized in European neighborhood policy and the Eastern Partnership, and was awarded an honorary bachelor’s degree in international relations from Vistula University. She speaks fluent Georgian, Russian, and Polish.

Bogdan Cozma is a program officer at the Black Sea Trust. He supports the Pro-Elect project, which promotes participatory and representative democracy in the Eastern Partnership countries. He also writes policy briefs on electoral systems in the Black Sea area, the impact of geopolitics on Central and Eastern Europe, and the role of civic engagement in promoting democratic principles. He previously worked on grantmaking initiatives in Ukraine and Türkiye with funding from USAID, the European Commission, the Porticus Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

Cozma has additional expertise in the Three Seas Initiative, EU institutions and foreign policy, and the politics of the Black Sea region. 

Cozma holds a master’s degree in philosophy, politics, and economics and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Bucharest. He is a PhD candidate at the Doctoral School of International Affairs at the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies.

Iryna Khomiak is a program officer with GMF’s Ukraine: Relief, Resilience, Recovery program, based in Berlin. She works within the emergency response programming for support of Ukrainian civil society and independent media, especially in terms of the full-scale Russian war. Prior to this, she worked as a coordinator of the Master in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Program at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, and on judicial, police, and juvenile probation reforms in Ukraine. She has worked within international projects funded by USAID and Global Affairs Canada as well as on numerous projects of the British Council in Ukraine.

Inspired by the spirit of the Revolution of Dignity and her experience, Iryna decided to pursue her Master’s degree in human rights at the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. There, she focused mainly on peace and conflict resolution policies, women’s rights within this, and the right to education for national minorities. She also holds Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in the theory and history of literature and comparative studies from the National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla academy” in Kyiv, Ukraine. In addition to her native Ukrainian, she speaks English and German, and she has basic knowledge of Polish. 
 

Niklas Ebert is a program manager with GMF’s Transatlantic Security program. Based in Berlin, he works mainly on issues of deterrence and resilience as well as German security and defense policy.

Prior to joining GMF, Ebert worked as a research assistant at the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Defence and Military Analysis Programme in Berlin. Previously, he worked for the German Federal Foreign Office focusing on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. He gained additional experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers and the German Council on Foreign Relations.

Ebert received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and sciences from Maastricht University and holds a master’s degree in war and conflict studies from the University of Potsdam.

Irene Fam is finance analyst based in Washington, DC.

Sarah Jones is the Washington, DC-based managing director of GMF’s Leadership Programs. In that role, she leads five flagship leadership initiatives, manages a $2.4 million annual budget, supervises international teams across four countries, and oversees an alumni network encompassing 4,000 people in Europe and North America. Her work focuses on leadership development, organizational effectiveness, and democratic resilience, with an emphasis on aligning institutional values with strategy, talent systems, and measurable impact. She works closely with senior leadership and board committees on strategic planning and long-term organizational sustainability.

Jones is a global leadership development and organizational strategy executive with over 12 years of experience building and leading leadership initiatives across nonprofit, public, academic, and private-sector institutions. She previously served as GMF’s inaugural senior leader responsible for organizational inclusion and culture, and established the organization’s first institution-wide strategy focused on inclusive leadership capability and workforce sustainability. In addition to her executive leadership, she is an adjunct professor at American University’s School of Public Affairs, where she teaches leadership development in public and international affairs.

Jones holds a master’s degree in international education, is professionally proficient in Spanish, and brings extensive global experience from working in more than 30 countries.