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Bogdan Cozma is a Bucharest-based program officer. He manages civil society and democracy programs in the Eastern Partnership region and organizes high-level policy convenings on regional security and defense industry cooperation. His research and writing focuses on Black Sea security, the European defense industry, and the Three Seas Initiative. His recent work has examined the implications of Russian aggression for Romania and the wider 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 Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies’ Doctoral School of International Affairs.

Iryna Khomiak is a program officer with GMF’s Ukraine: Relief, Resilience, Recovery initiative, 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.

Hannah Abdullah is a senior fellow with the GMF Cities program, leading its work on sustainable urban development and local climate resilience. She heads GMF’s Transatlantic Forum for Nature and Environment (TAFNE) and the Ukraine Cities Partnership for Sustainable Local Recovery (UCP), initiatives that foster cooperation among local leaders, communities, businesses, and experts across Europe and North America.

Before joining GMF, she was a senior research fellow for the Global Cities Program of CIDOB–Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, where she led the program’s research and other activities on urban climate action in close collaboration with Barcelona City Council. She also served as a program officer for the New York office of the Goethe-Institut, Germany’s cultural agency.

Hannah Abdullah holds a master's degree and a PhD in sociology from the London School of Economics (LSE). She has held research, teaching, and lecturing positions at LSE and at the University of Dresden, the University of Leipzig, and Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona.

Parker L. Nash is GMF’s government relations specialist. He manages the organization’s security and defense policy engagement with the US Congress on Capitol Hill and spearheads GMF's state-level work with US policymakers outside Washington, DC, engaging with local officials nationwide through transatlantic study tours, public diplomacy initiatives, and policy work, including the Across America initiative.

Nash previously served as a senior program coordinator for Transatlantic Security, helping to manage programs focused on geostrategic issues facing Northern Europe, the Baltic States, and the Arctic. He also contributed to the workstream’s research portfolio. His policy and research interests include transatlantic defense cooperation, NATO’s role in the Nordic-Baltic region, and US-German relations.

Nash holds a master’s degree in public administration from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, a master’s degree in international affairs from the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Findlay.

Simone Mangili is a visiting fellow in GMF’s Cities program. As executive director of the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance (CNCA), Mangili leads CNCA’s strategic development and initiatives aimed at supporting member cities in driving innovation and setting the course for climate-neutral cities worldwide. Mangili has over 20 years of experience across local government, nonprofits, and the private sector, having worked widely in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East on a broad range of initiatives aimed at securing just and climate-positive futures. He works with cities, stakeholders, and communities at the nexus of climate change and sustainability with an emphasis on social equity and regenerative approaches.

Prior to joining CNCA, Mangili served as aide to the mayor of Torino, Italy, and aide to the deputy mayor for environment and sustainability. In this capacity, he was responsible for managing strategic planning projects requiring cross-sector collaboration and for developing policy and delivering projects to realize an ambitious sustainability agenda for the 21st century. Prior to joining the mayor’s team, Mangili was head of projects and operations at Torino Internazionale, where he managed metropolitan strategic planning processes including the development of the metropolitan area’s strategic plan, Torino Metropoli 2025. His international experience ranges from real estate consulting and development management to designing public engagement processes to building private-public partnerships for the development of green infrastructure. In addition to his professional experience, Mangili has served as traveling faculty in World Learning’s Cities in the 21st Century study abroad program and developed World Learning’s Rethinking Food Security program. He is an external lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Turin in territorial and environmental planning. Mangili holds a bachelor's degree in community, regional and environmental studies from Bard College and a master's degree in regional planning from Cornell University.