Youth Venture

I joined Ashoka and Youth Venture in 2005 and I work on strengthening our global network of young changemakers as well as growing our community. Competition, gatherings, summits, the Ambassadors programs are all initiatives that I'm working on. I completed myundergraduate work at Macalester College (Minnesota, USA) where I studied Political Science, International Studies, and Spanish, and I have an MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago. I grew up in Germany and Cyprus (this is where I'm originally from). Growing up in Cyprus, an ethnically divided country, I was motivated by a strong belief that young people can make a difference. Having recognized the importance of bringing together young Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots, I co-founded a youth group with some friends, in which participants could express their views and concerns regarding the Cyprus conflict and design strategies for re-unification.

When I'm not working on Ashoka Youth Venture stuff I work with an online web-portal, Technology for Peace where I primarily focuses on finding innovative approaches for young people’s participation in peace movements and I serve as a Board Member to the Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute (CNTI) a non-profit focusing on areas related to human brain-modern technology-social transformation and the repercussions of relevant research to humanity. I have also done extensive work using the Structured Dialogic Design Process (SDDP) approach for a variety of co-laboratories in Cyprus. I believe that breaking dialogue barriers is important for any healthy relationship whether this is with our family, our friends, our partners, our co-workers or our community. I enjoy writing and have published a few papers on the use of SDDP as a means to break down barriers and effective dialogue including on the state of affairs in Cyprus, and structured dialogue embedded within emerging technologies.

When not at work I enjoy reading, writing, swimming, cooking, traveling, and throwing pottery.

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Animals, Business, Children, Civic Engagement and Voting, College/University, Discrimination, Elderly, Health, HIV Prevention, Human Rights, Peace and Non-Violence