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Julia Pallanch is senior program coordinator for GMF’s Indo-Pacific Program. Based in Berlin, her portfolio concerns the management of operations including the Stockholm China Forum, and Young Strategists Forum.

Prior to joining GMF, Pallanch received training as externalist (foreign policy expert) at the EU delegation in Beijing and supported the European Council on Foreign Relations’ Asia program in Berlin. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sinology from Ca’Foscari University of Venice, Italy, and is finalizing a master’s degree in modern East Asian studies at the University Duisburg-Essen, where she specializes in Chinese foreign policy and EU-China relations.

Pallanch speaks fluent Italian, English, and Slovak, and is proficient in Mandarin Chinese and German.

Binola Mehtaji is GMF’s director, people strategy.

Kate McCarry is GMF’s senior advisor, people strategys. She develops strategies and directs talent management for the organization, including its seven European offices. A generalist by practice, she has expertise in employee relations, organizational development, executive coaching, and recruitment. She is committed to establishing an environment in which GMF staff feel recognized, challenged, appreciated, and fairly compensated.

Prior to joining GMF, McCarry directed human resources programs and services at the National Association of REALTORS. She also served as the chief human resources officer at the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, the American Councils for International Education, and Counterpart International, and worked as an independent consultant for nonprofits and associations.

McCarry holds a master’s degree in human resource development from American University and a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from the Pennsylvania State University.

Hanna Kovhan is a Berlin-based senior program coordinator with GMF’s Leadership Programs team. She supports the organization’s work on fellowship and alumni programs for leaders from the United States and Europe, including the Marshall Memorial Fellowship, the Policy Designers Network, the Leadership Lab, and the Transatlantic Inclusion Leaders Network. She previously led the Transatlantic Information Media Program and served as GMF’s liaison to the Bundeswehr for the Manfred Wörner Seminar.

Her regional areas of expertise encompass the Commonwealth of Independent States and the EU’s Eastern Partnership countries.

Kovhan holds a bachelor’s degree in translation studies from V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University in Ukraine, a master’s degree in intercultural communication from European University Viadrina in Germany, and an executive diploma in the art of diplomacy from the European Academy of Diplomacy in Poland. She also spent a year studying international relations at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University in Georgia and a semester at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. 

Tijana Cvejanov is a senior program coordinator at GMF’s Balkan Trust for Democracy. She has extensive experience working in civil society organizations (CSOs), having served with them in multiple roles. Her background also includes project management and fundraising, with an emphasis on performance measurement and risk mitigation. Cvejanov joined GMF in 2017 and, since then, has worked on programs to strengthen civil society in the Western Balkans including those that address EU integration, the rule of law, human rights, gender equality, media freedom, education, and socioeconomic rights. She has conducted trainings on project cycle management and capacity building for CSOs throughout the Balkans.

Cvejanov holds a master's degree in economics and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Belgrade.