TEAM

Eloïse Ryon

President

Eloïse Ryon is a French young graduate and President of Young European Leadership since April 2021. She was previously the head of the Delegations team and CEO for 3 years.

Eloïse Ryon is a law and political sciences graduate from the College of Europe and SciencesPo Paris. She has dedicated most of her extracurricular time to supporting the voice of the youth on the European stage. She intends to continue and further this ambition with the growing and development of YEL.

All of her studies have been oriented towards the European Union. She is a firm believer in the potentiel of the project and if its positive outcomes. However, tomorrow’s EU cannot be built without its youth. YEL intends to contribute to their voices being heard.

Sonia Stoyanova

Secretary General

Pauline Kühlwein

VP Strategy

Josias Knöppler

Treasurer

Coming from industry, Josias already has gained further experience in consulting. His focus so far has been on business administration as well as process and project management. He is now pursuing a Master’s degree in Digital Business and is employed as a working student at Salesforce. Josias is passionate about sustainability, democracy and youth participation. In this respect, he serves as a G7 youth delegate and as a ONE Youth Ambassador, the fight against global inequality is an important issue to him.

Marko Milutinović

Communications Director

Marko Milutinović is the Director of Communications for the Young European Leadership. He has graduated from Law School at the University of Belgrade but has soon shifted his focus to the Communications sector.

In addition to being the Director of Communications at the YEL, he leads the Communications for various non-governmental organizations, both domestic and foreign.

Marko is proud of the fact that he is an environmental activist, the Young European Ambassador for the Western Balkans and the Ambassador of the European Climate Pact.

Alisha Houlihan

Communications Officer

As a Communications Officer Alisha Houlihan supports the strategic planning of the YEL social media activities, including the planning of impactful digital campaigns using various platforms to spark new ideas for content creators.

Alisha has run social media accounts for renowned European organisations and she developed the campaign to promote voting to young people before the elections for the European Parliament in 2019.

Christian Neubacher

Partnerships Director

Christian is part of YEL’s Partnership Team. He is a Swedish-American currently pursuing a Master of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

Previously Christian has interned for the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and worked as a teacher in Sweden. He holds an MA in European Politics from Columbia University, and is passionate about furthering the European project and the transatlantic relationship.

Inês Costa Gomes

Partnerships Officer

Inês Costa Gomes is from Lisbon, Portugal. She has a Bachelor degree in International Relations and is currently taking her first Master’s in International Studies with a specialization in European Political Systems and Societies.

Inês works in YEL as a Partnerships Officer with the regional focus on the Iberian Peninsula, helping to empower the Portuguese and Spanish youth voices in the international arena is something that she is passionate about.

Since Inês was a student she felt that international opportunities were unattainable. I love international organizations and believe that international cooperation is the only way forward. She has just finished her Blue Book Traineeship at the European Commission.

Jakub Zientala

Partnerships Officer

Tamara O’Chieng

Partnerships Officer

Pia Zekay

Funding Officer

Elizabete Rēzija Nīmante

Funding Officer

Elizabeth has enrolled in the financial sector by studying in a Dual Bachelor Degree Program of International Finance and Business Administration conducted in a successful collaboration between Latvia and Switzerland as well as starting the development of her professional career in the field of Risk Management.

Moreover, she has a strong interest in International Relations, Security, and Defence that has also been represented in an extensive volunteering experience obtained while taking part in and organizing high-level conferences and events as well as a significant passion for human rights and sustainability.

Berenice Areso

Delegations Director

Berenice is a young Spanish professional, currently working as a Junior Policy Analyst in Foresight, Outreach and Policy Reform at the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD), based in Paris.

Her interest in International Affairs led her to conduct her undergraduate studies abroad, in both the United Kingdom (University of Warwick) and France (Sciences Po Paris, Reims Campus). Outside of work, Berenice is passionate about increasing youth engagement opportunities, especially in the political domain, and building a more inclusive Europe, one which ensures that all voices are heard and taken into account.

She accordingly joined Young European Leadership (YEL) in August 2021 where she leads a team of 5 delegates and manages European Union representation in delegations such as Y7 and Y20.

Konstantin Solarski

Delegations Officer

Konstantin is a YEL Delegation Officer since March 2021. As an International Relations student, he is a Macedonian ambassador at two organizations that work on European and global political developments. With his experience in civil societies and the volunteering, he has been a founder, organizer and trainer of many events, activities and conferences. Besides, he is passionate about globalization, economic development and ecological sustainability. As a Delegation Officer, Konstantin works to bring all events and the organization itself closer to the delegates and to help them to reach their full potential.

Lucy O’Connell

Delegations Officer

Lucy is a final year student studying Politics and International Relations with French at University College Dublin. She also took the opportunity to study abroad, where she studied Politics, Governance and International Relations and at Sciences Po Saint Germain En Laye, Paris.
Her passions for youth engagement in politics, global development and diversity, equity and inclusion led her to begin her work with YEL in June of 2021. Her work with the organisation has allowed her to engage at a professional level with diplomats and politically motivated young people alike, sparking her passion for creating a better, more integrated and aligned Europe. As a European Youth Parliament alumna with a strong background in the volunteer sector, she hopes to move her career forward into the European and international diplomacy sector following her degree.

Zofia Borowczyk

Delegations Officer

Zofia, is a final year Social Policy student at the University of Bristol, UK. She is particularly interested in issues concerning our societies, such as climate change, democracy and youth empowerment. Previously, she has interned at the Senate of the Republic of Poland and EU Parliament. Moreover, she is a European Union 2022 Youth G20 Delegate and has participated in a youth policy dialogue with Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, at both of which she focused on the topic of Youth Employment.

Taha Benjelloun

Delegations Officer

Ana Elena Opre

Delegations Officer