Who are we?

Membership
Behind each member of our community there is a powerful story. Every Global Shaper represents the hopes and aspirations of a young person who is voluntarily investing his/her time to help solve some of the world’s most complex challenges.

Brussels Shapers 
Silvia Ainio
#HubCurator
Silvia is a Policy Officer at the European Commission, working on mobilizing financial sector actors from emerging markets on the fight against climate change. She is passionate about public innovation strategies, and an avid climate awareness advocate .
Martin Nera
#HubVicecurator
Martin is a platform builder linking people, knowledge and value(s) together. He joined the hub aiming to create connections and empower individuals to build collective projects improving the well-being of the citizens of our beautiful city of Brussels. Inclusiveness, a horizontal governance and a realistic ambition are key components of his conception of leadership and project success.
Anouk Hut
#ImpactOfficer
Anouk is Project Lead at an IT start-up, working on projects in emergency management and supply chains. She is striving to improve the way people work together, and make businesses more social and environmentally conscious. 
As leader of the Brussels Hub project Two Wheel Tuesday, her goal is to promote sustainable mobility in cities. 
#OutgoingHubCurator
David is the Global Communications Manager of Generation, a global employment program that both trains and places people in jobs. Having graduated from the University of Glasgow in Business and Management, and from the College of Europe in Public Policy, he has gained work experience in organisations such as the Council of Europe, the United Nations, L’Oréal and Google.  
David has also guest lectured and delivered keynote speeches at Cambridge University and the College of Europe, as well as for Google and the European Commission. He has been recognised as an Influential Leader by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), and included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List and Ashoka Social Innovators List for his work to equip young people with digital skills.
Marios Papanikolopoulos
#OutgoingHubCurator
Marios is the Managing Director of MoRo.tech and serial entrepreneur in the area of Mobility and Digital Technologies. He has founded and contributed to for-profit and social impact organizations in a range of domains aiming to bring technology innovation together with political thinking and social initiatives.

Oana Popescu
Oana is a Community Manager of EASME. She spent the last 7+ years working in strategic communication and marketing in private sector, government and non-profit jobs, running pan-European and Brussels based campaigns in the tech-startup and environment world.
Sevim Aktas
Sevim is a Policy Officer at the European Commission contributing to Green Deal by working on files connected to the energy transition. An engineer by background, she combines her interpersonal skills with her technical knowledge for strategically relevant and informed decision making. Sevim is passionate about making EU and Green Deal topics more accessible to the general public.
Stephan den Hartog
PhD Candidate at the SURF Group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in the field of electrochemistry,investigating the intermediate reaction products of fuel cells. A naturally curious person who enjoysworking between different fields in science and technology!
Sabina Ciofu
#Alumni
Sabina works as Policy Advisor in the European Parliament, focusing on tech-related legislation, trade and EU-US relations. She is also a PhD Candidate in Defence Studies at King’s College London, where she explores the relationship between A.I. and foreign policy decision-making. Sabina is the founder of the Gentlewomen’s Club, co-organiser of the Young Professionals in Digital Policy.
Federica Margheri
Federica is Operations Officer the EHMA. Passionate about education, she is also President of Project 668, a NGO helping young people bridging the gap between education and the world of work, and thus fighting against youth unemployment.
Nadine Khouzam
Nadine is an Olympian from the Belgian Hockey Team, a Partner Analytics Manager at Facebook Connectivity and the founder of CodeNPlay teaching kids computational thinking and programmation.
Antonella Vagliente
Antonella is cofounder and Director of Young Water Solutions, a NGO based in Brussels that supports young people in developing countries set up water and sanitation social businesses
Sandra Logani
Sandra Logani is a Project Implementation Manager, working in the field of international Development and Cooperation. She has 5 years of experience with the United Nations and European consulting companies in Tunisia and Belgium. She has worked in partnerships with the World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF, Tunisian National Ministries, European commission, US aid and the US Department of State.
Arjan Keijser

Arjan works for the Belgian Red Cross, where he runs an internal start-up focussed on accelerating the spread of First Aid knowledge in Sub-Saharan Africa. Outside of work, Arjan is passionate about politics, the arts and continuous education. 

Sandra Cánovas Alonso
Sandra is an Anthropology Master student at KU Leuven. Having graduated from Leiden University with a BSc in Psychology, she is an aspiring researcher and writer. Currently, she is conducting research on education, identity and multilingualism in Egypt, and she is also passionate about creative writing and design, photography, and art.
Maria Tinoco
Maria is a passionate Venezuelan who wants to make an impact in the healthcare sector. She has a deep interest in policy making & technology, and works at Johnson & Johnson in the EMEA department of Data & Analytics.
Aliyyah Ahad

Aliyyah is an Associate Policy Analyst at the Migration Policy Institute Europe, where her research focuses on European migration and integration policy. She previously worked for the Government of Bermuda before studying at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.


Cyrina Grimonprez

Cyrina works as Strategy Consultant for Deloitte, focusing on strategic, innovation and transformation projects for the public sector. She is passionate about education and is involved in a local NGO providing classes on philosophy, literature, psychology and sustainability.


Tordi Bari Kpalap

Tordi is a management professional at UPS, currently working on the EU regional revenue management and enterprise pricing team. With a background in finance, Tordi has a passion for the development of political and socio-economic landscape across Nigeria and Africa and as such, hopes to one day lead the African Development Bank (AfDB). Tordi is optimistic and believes in the power of collaboration for social good. He is a lover of technology, traveling, music, sports and dancing. His personal mantra is; “Nothing is impossible, even the word says I’m Possible”.

Jan Van de Vyver
Jan is an Enterprise Account Executive at Salesforce, demonstrating his passion for software as a computer science engineer. He is passionate about education, diversity & inclusion, and access to digital opportunities.

Celia Abchiche

Celia is currently an HR Business Partner within a manufacturing multinational industry; concerned about the world's issues, cultural diversity and equal value. Passionate about Volunteering work and bringing impact and value within communities.


Taraka Ramji Moturu

Taraka Ramji is a plant scientist and an entrepreneur, keen on using AI and data science approaches to disrupt the fields of agriculture and food tech. Alternatively, he is truly excited to work on formulating and analysing STEM policies that could influence researchers' career paths. He is a founding member of EuroSTEMPeers,  a NETWORK among scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs aiming to build an innovative ecosystem to bridge the gap of academia and industry. 

Sophie Karagianni

Sophie is an EU-qualified lawyer and is currently the Policy Lead for the Cleantech for Europe initiative. Previously, she worked on EU climate and financial policy matters with a leading US international law firm in Brussels. She is passionate about diversity and inclusion and has co-founded two initiatives focusing on women’s economic empowerment. 

Yulia Lapina

Yulia is a Development Operations Coordinator for Human Rights Watch, working on providing tools and data analysis to support the fundraising efforts of the organisation in Europe. She is also passionate about the human rights situation in Eastern Europe. Outside of work, you can find her on the dance floor dancing to latin tunes, or in a coffee shop sipping the largest available latte and reading a good book.

Chris Mbangala

Chris is a Senior Consultant at Ernst and Young working in finance strategy and digital transformation. He has graduated from Maastricht University and Queen's University in Canada. Chris has a strong passion for social impact, notably in the area of education and diversity & inclusion. He has founded a charity that aims at helping youth from minority backgrounds to thrive on their educational journey. 

Tommaso Alberini 

Tommaso is a Policy Officer at the European Commission, working to make EU labour markets fit for the challenges of digitalisation. In a previous life he worked as a journalist and translator. He is passionate about social mobility and is the co-founder of Poliferie, an Italian NGO bringing educational opportunities to underprivileged schools.

Besides all, we are a big group of friends!