A summary

For the past 15+ years, I have worked across cities, public institutions, international organisations, businesses and civil society to turn complex challenges into participatory strategies, programmes and initiatives that bring lasting change.

My work has transformed from grassroots civic engagement and placemaking to participatory policy design, city and public sector innovation, systems thinking and organisational development. Across these different contexts, one belief has remained constant:

lasting change requires us to bring different perspectives together, strengthen our collective capabilities and create the conditions for people to learn, co-design and move forward together.

In 2018, I founded the social innovation agency among, through which I developed participatory and systemic approaches to social challenges and collaborated with organisations across sectors in Greece and internationally.

A few numbers that reflect this journey:

Collaborated with 500+ public and private organisations
Engaged 600.000+ citizens through participatory and urban initiatives
From private companies like Deloitte & Cartier to Public Institutions and NGOs, I have trained 11.000+ people from 46 countries
Designed and facilitated programmes across 10+ countries

Examples of projects & trainings

learning_journey_european_programme_for_integration_migration

Learning partner & facilitator at the European Programme for Integration and Migration

Co-leading a 6-month learning journey for EPIM and their partners to move away from traditional monitoring and evaluation approaches, acknowledge the complexity of the environment EPIM's partners operate in, offer a common space for reflection, personal and collective growth, and connection among and with EPIM's partners.

We designed an online co-creation session, a kick-off webinar, one in-person summit, and a series of online trainings.

An online program to train 50 companies from around Europe on how to design a sustainable business plan and a go-to-market business model canvas with a more human-centred approach.

Learning designer of an online programme to support 50 entrepreneurs from 17 countries with COSME EU programme

The purpose of this online programme was to train 50 companies from around Europe on how to design a sustainable business plan and a go-to-market business model canvas. From the Value proposition to revenue streams, we designed an interactive learning programme that supported entrepreneurs with a more human-centred approach.

WORTH Partnership Project was funded by COSME Programme of the European Union for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs).

Conference Manager of the ''Future city conference''

A conference about the future urban environment, the trends and the best case practises.

700 participants, 10 international speakers, 6 workshops and 40 volunteers.

The conference was organised by parallaximag and Thessaloniki Allios project and it was supported by the Cultural Society of Entrepreneurs of Northern Greece, Goethe-Institut, British Council, Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry, USA Embassy, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Netherlands embassy.

Social Innovation expert, learning designer & facilitator for the Social Innovation Cluster of the Bosch Alumni Network platform

Together with ChangemakerXchange and Pocket Stories, we co-designed the strategy of the Social Innovation Cluster with 700 social innovators from around the world.

For 2 years we were implementing a programme by applying user-centered research, delivering trainings, providing opportunities for collaboration, designing learning material on social innovation and more.

Strategy Design for the re-design of the national service “Help at Home” with 3.000 employees in 300 Municipalities.

This human-centered project took place in collaboration with the London School of Economics, 4 Municipalities and the support of the TIMA Charitable Foundation.

Our goal was to understand what are the challenges that the users and the providers of this service face and re-design the touch-points and the process.

We introduced the human-centered methodology to the Public Sector employees of this service with trainings and focus groups.

Learning designer and facilitator for the Make Change Design Sprint of the ''All Systems Connect'' conference in Hague

What are some viable models for mobilising and securing a head-of-state level commitment to and mandate for, accelerated national progress on sanitation, water, and hygiene?

The goal was the Head of State/Government to identify and support water, sanitation and hygiene as a priority for the country, plan 1-3 significant and sustainable actions, and provide political steer for its inclusion in national planning and financing priorities.

Facilitator ''Understanding systemic change in an uncertain environment''

The importance of recognizing the dynamics of the system we operate in, before proceeding with a project.

A workshop on the importance of systemic change in Greece, at the invitation of the Actors of Urban Change program, which empowers urban change stakeholders in Europe, with the aim of collaborating innovatively for more sustainable, inclusive and equitable cities.

The purpose of our workshop was to reflect on our role in the system we operate, to learn practical tools for understanding a system and to wonder how our project becomes more ''systemic''.

Learning designer & facilitator of a 5-day empowerment bootcamp for 5 start-ups (European Institute of Innovation & Technology)

This interactive bootcamp for start-ups from Israel, Spain, the Netherlands and Greece, focused on strengthen business capacity, sustainability plan and resilient skills.

In collaboration with Industry Disruptors and the EIT Jumpstarter program of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology, that strengthens Europe's ability to innovate through entrepreneurial support.

Project manager of West Side Story tactical urban project

West Side Story was a project to document the needs of a neighbourhood in the western entrance of Thessaloniki.

This project aimed to get closer to the problems of an area neglected by the city and to initiate a public debate about its future. With the participation of creatives, artists, volunteers and more, we mapped the needs of the era and delivered a tactical urbanism project to highlight the history of the era through different means of creativity: Music, Theater, Image, Dance, Design, Architecture, Graffiti.

The project was part of the program Thessaloniki Youth Capital 2014.

Facilitator at COVID-19 Collective Action Summit

100+ changemakers of the largest Institutions from 50+ countries gathered digitally for 2 days (20-21 April 2020), in order to share good practices for dealing with COVID-19.

As part of the facilitators' team of ChangemakerXchange, we designed & delivered the summit for fellows from Ashoka, Obama Foundation, Yunus & Youth, Global Changemakers, Global Shapers, Bridge for Billions, Bosch Alumni Network, ChangemakerXchange, ChangeNOW and the Ginkgo Foundation.

Lead facilitator of Athens Climate Lab with 100 participants

Enhance the dialogue on climate change in Athens with 100 activists and policy makers from 20 organisations who spend 8 hours to design the system of climate crisis in Athens.

The topics were the impact of climate change in Athens, realistic and systemic study of climate change in Athens, vision of the ideal Athens and bridging the gap between the vision and the reality of climate change today.

On the media - a selection

Democratizing Cities panel (Reworks connekt forum)

All the above is a selection of projects and collaborations that have inspired me.

If you want to check more, you can visit my LinkedIn profile.

If you've reached all the way here, well, thank you! Contact me if you want to find a way to collaborate.

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