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

Sonia is the Secretary-General of Young European Leadership. She joined in 2020 and since has held the posts of Communications Officer, Communications Director and Secretary-General. Sonia leads YEL’s policy work and institutional outreach.
Sonia is passionate about transatlantic relations, climate and innovation policy and furthering youth cooperation in those domains.
Sonia holds an Advanced Master’s degree in EU Politics and Policy from KU Leuven and a Bachelor’s degree in European Studies from Sofia University.

Josias Knöppler

SVP for Strategic Development & Treasurer

Coming from industry, Josias has already gained further experience in consulting. His focus so far has been on business administration as well as process and project management. He is currently completing a Master’s degree in Digital Business and is a working student at Salesforce. Josias is passionate about sustainability, democracy and youth participation. He combines a lot of experience from various roles, including Y7 Delegate 2022, ONE Youth Ambassador and UNA Germany.

Marko Milutinović

VP for Community Building

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.

Christian Neubacher

VP for Strategic Partnerships

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.

Marko Milutinović

VP for Community Building & 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

VP for Strategic Partnerships & 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.

Selma Zouairi

Programming Officer

Selma Zouairi is an Italia-Moroccan student currently pursuing a B.A. in Global Governance with a major in Political Science and about to start her semester at Sciences Po Lille.
Ever since she was little, her very big goal in life has been that of contributing to defining a relevant change in the reality she lives in, particularly considering young people as fundamental catalysers of the turnaround currently required. For this, she has been passionately involved in manifold experiences targeted to foster youth engagement and youth cooperation all of which paved the way to create her Nuova Casa Association, to join the S.U.S.I program in the U.S. and several EU opportunities.
Selma also maintains a fervent interest in civic engagement, refugees and democracy, all of which lead her to finally join the YEL team in March 2023, where she’s having the precious chance to dive into the organization of interesting programs and events.

Clara Bracken

Partnerships Officer

Clara is Irish/Spanish but Brussels born and raised, and has recently graduated from SciencesPo Paris where she majored in Political Humanities. She is passionate about international organisations and cooperation.
She has a strong interest in youth associations after working closely with other organisations such as PeaceJam, and she’ll be working as a partnerships officer at YEL.

Ciaran Ferrin

Partnership Funding Officer

Ciaran is a planetarian-focused sustainability advocate that has grown up in a post-conflict society, where his passions for conservation, sustainability research and system optimisation has led him to becoming a prominent youth ambassador for Northern Ireland in how sustainability and peace relationships can flourish together.
Ciaran has graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with a BSc in Chemistry and a MSc in Leadership for Sustainable Development, along with two DegreePlus awards. He’s chair of the Belfast Climate Commission’s Youth Working Group and delegate for the One Young World Summit in Belfast 2023. He has a colourful repertoire of experiences throughout a myriad of industries, representing Northern Ireland and youth voices on national and international platforms, relating to sustainability education. He’s helped start multiple social enterprises, has international experiences in conservation, science, leadership, business, teaching, societal relationship building, etc. and has even taught himself multiple languages.

Gregorio Vichi

Partnership Officer

Gregorio is a Partnership Officer in the YEL’s Partnership Team. His double Italian-French origin gave him a European outset which is now looking to deepen through an Erasmus Mundus Master in European Politics and Society.
Despite being a student, he has already conducted many experiences at the European associational level which have sparked his passion for youth engagement in politics. He is currently holding a position in the Nature Restoration team at Generation Climate Europe where he develops his interest for biodiversity and the sustainability field; while as a culture and education enthusiast he is a member of the UNESCO Global Youth Community.

Roza de Jong

Programming Officer

Based in Brussels, Roza is part of YEL’s Partnership Team as Programming Officer, focusing on event organisation and partner relations. With a passion for climate action and youth advocacy, she was part of various youth initiatives in the EU and South Korea – including World’s Youth for Climate Justice and Model United Nations for a Successful Corean Reunification. With a background in political economy, she currently works in the fields of strategic communications and stakeholder engagement in the EU climate and energy policy sector.

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.

Ana Elena Opre

Delegations Officer

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.

Augusto Gonzalez

Delegations Officer

Augusto is a final year student and is pursuing his masters in Global Development from the University of Copenhagen. He did his undergraduate degree in International Relations and South Asian studies at UC Berkeley and has a strong background in international relations having worked on Y20 and G20 activities across multiple presidencies since 2018. Moreover, he has a wide degree of international experience from across the globe including Europe, the United States, South Asia, and Argentina.

Afonso Morango

Delegations Officer

Originally from Portugal, Afonso Morango completed a Bachelor´s in International Relations at the University of Porto and a minor in European Studies at the University of Maastricht. Currently, he is pursuing a Master´s in Development and International Cooperation at the Lisbon School of Economics and Management. Afonso is deeply passionate about the European Project and vehemently believes that the European Union is a truly suis generis area in the world.

Federico Soattin

Delegations Officer

Federico is an ambitious Italian student who embarked on a journey to Germany at the age of 15 and is now on the verge of completing his studies in Business and Economics. Motivated by a lifelong desire to make a difference and foster meaningful connections, his experience in volunteering has ignited a passion to guide young Europeans in comprehending the profound value of the European Union and the abundant opportunities it offers.

Isabelle Pickett

Delegations Officer

Isabelle is a Chemical Engineering student from the UK with a passion for encouraging youth voice in policy. She is particularly motivated to improve diversity and social mobility within policy engagement. In 2022 she attended COP27 as part of the IET’s delegation and hopes to open opportunities for young people from all backgrounds to engage with international dialogue on important issues.

Maria João Nunes

Delegations Officer

Vincent Tadday

Delegations Officer

Interested in global politics and governance, Vincent graduated with a BSc in Global Studies (cum laude) from Maastricht University. He is a Young European Ambassador bridging the EU and its eastern neighbourhood. As part of a diverse range of organizations and networks, he is strengthening the voice of the youth in national, international, and global policymaking. Currently, Vincent is pursuing his master’s degree in public policy, studying in Paris and Berlin. As part of the Delegations Team, he eagerly supports young people from diverse backgrounds to navigate international politics and make their voices heard.