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Louise Langeby is Managing Director of GMF’s Strategic Convening. She leads GMF’s annual flagship event Brussels Forum as well as directs the operations of the Brussels office. She has extensive project management, operations, and leadership experience, particularly focused on U.S. politics and transatlantic relations, having worked in the public sector and non-profit field for over 10 years. Louise is also a co-founder of the Brussels Binder, an online database of female policy experts. Louise has a master’s as well as MBA degree and studied at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, Uppsala University, Sweden, and Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Veronika Zimova is a Program Coordinator at GMF's Engaging Central Europe program in Berlin. She is responsible for the program's grantmaking activities and for fostering relationships with grantees.
Zimova is a highly experienced project manager. At the Adventist Development and Relief Association in Slovakia, she coordinated EU-funded projects that collaborated with grassroots organizations worldwide. She began her career as a volunteer Project Assistant at ADRA Albania, during which she was named SlovakAid Volunteer of the Year (2018–2019) for her field work with vulnerable groups.
Zimova holds a master's degree in international relations from Matej Bel University in Slovakia. She wrote her bachelor's thesis on the transition to democracy in the early 1990s in central Europe.
Irina Neagu is a Bucharest-based program manager. She oversees multi-country initiatives in the Eastern Partnership and Black Sea regions that focus on strengthening democratic governance, civil society resilience, and cross-border cooperation.
Neagu's portfolio spans grantmaking in the two regions for capacity-building programs that support civil society actors in the South Caucasus especially those focused on institutional resilience and cross-border dynamics in the Black Sea region.
Neagu serves as president of a Romanian NGO dedicated to civic education and youth engagement. She holds a master’s degree in comparative politics and a bachelor’s degree in international relations and European studies from the University of Bucharest.
Laurențiu Pleșca is a Bucharest-based program officer and a political analyst and researcher focusing on EU enlargement, European security, Russian influence in the Black Sea region, Moldova, hybrid threats, and countering disinformation. He co-manages a project on electoral integrity in the Eastern Partnership region.
Pleșca’s commentary has appeared on France24, Deutsche Welle, BBC, Radio France Internationale, TVP (Polish television), El Pais, Radio Free Europe, and other international and regional outlets. He holds a PhD from the University of Bucharest’s Doctoral School of Political Science, where he also earned a master's degree in international relations and European studies, and a bachelor’s degree.