About Idea

IDEA Staff

IDEA Amsterdam

Yvonne Heselmans

Executive Director

Yvonne became Executive Director of IDEA-NL in February 2011, after having been a member of the IDEA-NL Advisory Board for two years. Her expertise is in the field of human rights and peace building in Africa. Previously she worked as a program manager at Pax Christi for Sudan and was a senior advisor at Plan Nederland.

Roos Keja

PROGRAM OFFICER
Roos joined IDEA NL in March 2012. Previously, she did participatory research with children and youth in Togo, India, Cameroon and Senegal. Roos holds Master's degrees in Cultural Anthropology and African Studies, specialised in child rights' discourse, Koranic education, social change and development.

Anne Valkering

Program Officer

Anne is a debate veteran who ran the European Debating Championship in 2010 and has been active in debating since 2002. She represented Bonaparte Amsterdam among others in the quarterfinal of the Berlin European Universities Debating Championships (Euros) in 2006 and won the English as a Second Language final at Thailand Worlds in 2008.

IDEA London

Marcin Zaleski

Executive Director

Marcin has been involved in educational debate programs since 1994 – serving as President of the Board of Directors of IDEA-NL. Marcin has developed debate curricula, implemented a number of international debate projects and conducted trainings in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Alexander Helling

Content Officer

Alex works mostly on the Debatabase. He is in charge of moderating the public elements and increasing the quality of debates on the site. Alex joined IDEA in January 2011, having previously worked for Debatewise for two years. He has an identical twin brother who sometimes appears in the office to confuse us. Alex holds a Master’s degree in Diplomacy from Nottingham University, UK.

Manos Moschopoulos

International Programmes Officer
Manos Moschopoulos has been a debate trainer and organiser since 2003, having conducted trainings in Central and Eastern Europe, organised large-scale debating events in the Balkans and worked as a Forensics instructor for two large high schools in his native Athens. For the IDEA network, Manos has been coordinating international debate programmes such as Debate@Europe and holding and coordinating trainings in Europe and Africa. Manos is an experienced debater, having won the Best ESL Speaker title at the World Universities Debating Championships and has been the Chief Adjudicator of numerous tournaments across Britain and Europe.

Kanstantsin Lashkevich

Russian Programs Coordinator

Kanstantsin has 10-year journalistic experience as a reporter, observer and news editor with the top independent media in his native Belarus.

Writing about politics, international relations, civil society, national-building processes, he was honoured with a number of awards for high-quality journalism, promotion of democratisation and Europeanisation of ‘the last European dictatorship’ from OSCE and EU delegations in his country.

Chevening Scholarship holder, he earned MA degree in International Politics from City University London and joined IDEA London in June 2012 to launch new IDEA’s website in Russian — ru.idebate.org.

Che Molava

Web Developer

Che joined the team at IDEA UK in 2012 to help with the development the idebate.org family of sites. He has been developing for the web for 8 years - mostly on projects with an educational, community-building or campaigning focus.

His core skills are in LAMP programming (Linux, Apache, MySql, PHP)  and Drupal. He has a MSc in Computer Science from Birkbeck University of London.

Giovanna Midgley

Programmes Manager

Giovanna is responsible for outreach in Western Europe, and supporting the implementation of IDEA-UK's national and international programmes. In 2012 most of her work will focus on the UK, Italy and France, building capacity and relationships across our network, with a particular interest in organisations working with young people and criminal justice. Giovanna holds a Masters degree in Human Rights from University College London and has worked as a teacher, project coordinator and manager before joining IDEA UK in 2012. She spent much of her upbringing in the DRC, Ghana, Sri Lanka and Austria, speaks 4 languages, and enjoys a mean game of poker.

Andrew Hardie

Lead Developer

Andrew Hardie is an international consultant with a thirty year record of managing, implementing, designing and delivering innovative and successful ICT solutions for public sector, commercial and NGO clients. After a fifteen year career in the industrial and military electronics and ICT industries, culminating as managing director of a software and consulting company, Andrew has since been consulting for twenty years, working for seven parliaments, eight UK Government departments, two Local Authorities, a major political party, the Royal Household and the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. Andrew is a Eur. Ing, a Chartered Engineer, a Chartered IT Professional, a Chartered Fellow of the BCS, a member of the BCS Elite Group, the Information Risk Management & Assurance group, the Information Security Specialist Group, the Project Management Specialist Group. He is also a Director & Governor of The Democratic Society (an NGO promoting democratic re-engagement in the UK) and provides mentoring support to entrepreneurs via the 3Cs Community.

Alexander Cavell

Debate Programmes Coordinator

Alexander Cavell holds a BSc in Sociology from the London School of Economics and is currently studying for an MA in History and Politics at Birkbeck College. Alex is an enthusiastic member of the UK debating circuit, spending his spare time speaking, judging and training novice debaters for the University of London Union’s debating society.

As a competitive debater, Alex won and topped the speaker tab at the 2013 Sciences Po Open, spoke in the final of the KCL IV in both 2011 and 2012, was a finalist at the 2012 Bristol IV, a semi-finalist at the 2012 UK Debate Challenge, the 2013 Manchester IV and the 2011 Utrecht Open (among many others).

Alex designs and delivers training programs for IDEA’s Youth and Media and Debate in the Neighbourhood projects. He also coordinates IDEA's public debating events within the UK.

Alex’s academic interests include the history and politics of Central Asia, the history of Russia, the history of England in the seventeenth century and social theory.

Talmud Bah

Debate in the Neighbourhood Coordinator

Talmud was the Associate Director for Second Wave Centre for youth Arts based in Deptford London for seven years, Lead Facilitator and programme designer on the Critical Encounters project for four years and is the lead facilitator/ programme designer on the My City Real World project in partnership with the Open Society Institute. Talmud has presented, run workshops and delivered training to debate coaches for IDEA in Rotterdam at the 2010 Together in Europe conference and at the Youth Forum in Istanbul July 2011

Steven Nolan

Youth Forum Director

Steven has been involved in debating for over ten years, as a speaker, coach and judge. He has a masters in Criminal Justice, and prior to joining IDEA he worked with the English-Speaking Union as the Youth Education and University Programmes Leader, and in politics in his native Ireland. 

IDEA New York

Irena Kotikova

Executive Director

Chirada Na Suwan

Southeast Asia Program Coordinator

Chirada manages regional debate programs and creates debate networks in Southeast Asia. She completed two Master's degrees, one in Public Administration at the University of York and one Public Policy at the Central European University. Prior to joining IDEA, she conducted policy research at the Bank of Thailand and the Hungarian National Development Agency.

Radley Glasser

Assistant Debate Trainer

Radley graduated with a B.A. in Political Studies from Bard College in 2011. As a student, he founded Bard’s Parliamentary Debate team and went on to coach the team after graduation. He has debated across the Northeast and the U.S. in several styles of debate. Radley also founded and served as the director for Bard College’s Debate in Schools Program, recruiting and training college volunteers to teach debate and public speaking in middle schools.
 

Jackson Tucker

Publishing Associate

Jackson Tucker has worked in publishing for five years, first as managing editor of the literary journal Arts and Letters while earning an MFA in fiction at Georgia College, then as an editorial assistant at Neal-Schuman Publishers in New York. After working at Macmillan Higher Education editing mathematics and statistics textbooks, Jackson began working with idebate Press, where he publishes the biannual iDebate magazine, the academic journal Controversia, and the press's front list, which includes books on debating and its various formats, contemporary controversies and topics related to young people.

Zachary Israel

Assistant Debate Trainer

Zach graduated with a B.A. in Political Studies from Bard College in 2012. He participated in the Bard Debate Union for four years, debating across the Northeast and the U.S. in the British Parliamentary style. He debated for the Central European University Debate Society when he studied abroad in Budapest, Hungary in the Spring of 2011. He also served as the Executive Director of the Red Hook Debate in Schools program in Red Hook, NY teaching middle schools students debate and public speaking skills.

Aditi Naik

Program Coordinator

Aditi coordinates Debate in the Neighborhood, a program aimed at bringing together immigrant and first-generation students in New York to participate in debate. The program aspires to foster understanding, cooperation, and a free exchange of ideas among students from a diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and religious traditions. Before joining IDEA, Aditi worked in study abroad and international education and is completing her Master's degree in International Education from New York University. 

Jessica Murray

Assistant Editor, the Debatabase Book, 6th edition

Jessica Katharine Murray has worked as a writer and editor for the past three years. She has an MSc in Social and Political Theory from Birkbeck College, University of London, and a First Class Honors BA in Media and Modern Literature from Goldsmiths College, University of London.

While earning her MSc, Jessica worked as a press assistant at Macmillan Publishers. In 2010, Jessica graduated from Birkbeck and moved to the US. She worked as an editorial intern at Zyzzyva Literary Journal in San Francisco, before moving to New York to work at Dissent Magazine in 2011. Since then, Jessica has written and edited for numerous publications, both online and in print. She is currently working on the Sixth Edition of IDEA’s Debatabase book.

Kera Weishaar

Administrative Assistant

Kera joined IDEA-US in 2011 and handles all administrative and accounting functions for the office. Prior to joining IDEA-US, she worked for 11 years as an administrative assistant to the Controller and General Manager of a manufacturing company.

IDEA Southeast Europe

Marjan Stojnev

Executive Director

A competitive debater since the age of 17, Marjan has a long history working as an ICT Consultant and a Software Developer for the OSF Youth Initiative. Over the past ten years, Marjan has worked extensively within the IDEA and OSF networks to help join the worlds of debate and ICT, producing tools and packages that enable and develop communication and critical thinking.

Under the IDEA banner, Marjan created the desktop edition of the critically acclaimed Debatabase, as well as the Easy Tournament tabulation software for debate tournaments. Marjan has been with IDEA Southeast Europe since its incorporation, and has been one of the driving forces in its establishment, currently serving as its executive director.

Mite Kuzevski

Media and Online Community Manager

Mite has had a long history of working as an Online Media Consultant and a Social Media Strategist for the OSF Youth Initiative. Over the past five years, Mite has worked extensively within the IDEA and OSF networks to make world of debate close to the people outside of debate circuit and debate communities through innovative use of online tools and media.

A noted social media expert, Mite is currently serving as the Media & Online Community Manager.

Daniel Janev

Design & Branding

Active in the field of freelancing and full time engagement for more than 8 years. Worked in many marketing agencies for biggest Macedonian brands, and for clients worldwide. Recent years specializing in logo design, corporate branding and visual identities.

Vasil Grozdanoski

Web Developer

As a soon to be master of software engineering, he has been working on many different positions and projects in web and application development, computer administration, ITSM, lifelong learning and e-learning implementation.  Over the past years he has been working in various local IT companies and organizations, as well as with worldwide known web portals like worldcrunch.com.

Filip Dzukleski

Web Developer

Filip has working experience with System Administration, Database Design and Administration, Web Development Software Development (mainly Java and Android), Security Consultant, Configuring and maintaining servers (Apache, pg/mySQL, Samba, FTP, Asterisk, etc.), Windows and Linux server installation and configuration, etc. Since his High School days he has started working on Web projects mainly like Freelancer. After graduations was included in several big projects, like Software Development for City of Skopje, planning, coding and implementing a custom made CMS for world known news aggregator, making of first Macedonian business social network and several others. Looking forward to get Master degree in Software Development this year.

Goran Igic

Content Officer

Goran has a long history of working as a Journalist, Editor and Project Manager. For a period of five years he has been working as a journalist for several national print and electronic media in Macedonia. After leaving journalism, he continued to write for several online local and regional media and worked for five years as a Project Manager within the NGO Habitat for Humanity Macedonia. He has more than four years of experience working with youth within the Youth in Action Programme and he is a member and founder of several youth and youth umbrella organizations in the country and abroad.

In 2012, he was a Digital Storytelling trainer at “Youth in 21st Century: Debating and Producing Media, Aghveran, Armenia” Camp, organized by OSI Armenia.

Tamara Milosavljević

Volunteer
As a journalism student, Tamara was a co-founder and a member of a Journalism Student Organization "Žurnalist", involved in working of its web-magazine. Through that organization she worked on several projects like organization of Media Campaign "Petica u indeks", based on research conducted among students in the city of Niš, Serbia, regarding their knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases and organization of humanitarian concert for Ivan Petrović (a student who needed money support for an expensive surgery), with local music band "Neckbone Blues Quartet" and art organization "Čaj...odličan"; 
 
Currently working as a journalist for a regional portal and web-magazine tattooportal.org and as a volunteer for debata.idebate.org

IDEA Central

Sandra Moreau

Executive Director

IDEA Central serves as an umbrella for the IDEA network. Sandra is responsible for coordinating the Network’s activities and policies; her immediate task is to coordinate the development and implementation of a long-term strategy for IDEA – with a special focus on policies, branding, promotion and sustainability.

Sandra has spent most of the last seventeen years working mostly on economic development aid programmes. Before joining IDEA, she worked as Executive Director of a Brussels-based European microfinance network; prior to that she was a programme evaluation consultant in Toronto, Canada. Her economic development experience took her from Russia to the UK, followed by ten years managing development programmes in three different Balkan countries, punctuated by a brief sojourn privatising companies in Egypt. Both her work and her preferences have made her a strong advocate of the empowerment of women as a driver of development.

After graduating from the Sorbonne, Sandra gained a Masters in Communications in Paris, followed by an MBA from a French college in Bulgaria and a Masters in International Development, a decade later, in Canada. She is bilingual in French and English, and fluent in Russian with a smattering of Bulgarian and Serbian.

Rhiannon Butlin

Communications Manager

Rhiannon joined IDEA Central in December 2012 and is responsible for coordinating and implementing external communications for the IDEA network.  Originally from Hong Kong, she has a Masters in International Public Relations and over 10 years experience in developing marketing and communications strategies and activities in the not-for-profit sector, both in the UK and Nepal.

Jeremy Mulders

Network Associate

Jeremy’s mission is to assist the Executive Director within IDEA Central Office. His tasks are to help to coordinate the Network’s activities and projects.

He has a Masters in Communication and Public Relations and has spent a year as a consultant’s assistant in the music industry in New York City.

He is bilingual in French and English, with good knowledge in Dutch.

IDEA Mexico

Roberto Carlos Gutiérrez

Executive Director

Roberto is in charge of the office management, sustainability, development of short term and long- term strategies.  He is also the main contact with other IDEA offices, government agencies and international organizations. He is charge or overviewing the events logistics, funding strategies, government relations, NGO alliances and marketing, among other activities. Roberto studied International Relationships in the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, and has a Master’s degree on the University of Georgetown.

Lilian Allende

Marketing & Alliances Manager

Marketing management, branding and promotion of IDEA events and training programs, update and supervise the Spanish IDEA website and Facebook account, develop strategic alliances in order to develop new debate programs. Lilian holds a major in Tourism Management at the Universidad del Valle de México, a Hospitality and Human Resources Management at the Glion Institute of Higher Education at Switzerland.  She has over six years of work experience.

Juan M. Mamberti

Debate Manager

He is in charge of the development of training programs, develop new ways of debating for different markets, generate debate articles, and creating debate materials for website and publications. He will also coordinate the academic components of the events in the region. Juan holds a major in Business Economy and a master in Public Affairs. Since 2004, he has been leading debate initiatives in Argentina and other Latin American countries in coordination with local and international organizations.

Geovanna Dávalos Alvarez

Fundraising leader

She supports with the office needs for information and the administrative work, such as grant proposals and research on sources of funding, data base research, logistics event support like visas arrangements, suppliers attention. Geovanna is currently a student of International Relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana.

Bere De La Rosa

Account Intern

She support the administrative work of the office, such as grant update, office expenses and staff payroll. Also is in charge of the control and verify all the expenses to be send to the controller. Bere is currently a student of Foreign Trade and Borders at Universidad Iberoamericana León.

Erika Velazquez Del Rio

Events Leader

She manages special and annual events, training of trainers, seminars, and courses; also she coordinates and supervises event suppliers, venue arrangements, and special requirements before, during and after the events. She has a Major in Foreign Trade and borders at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Manage Mentor Certificate from Business Harvard School, and half term of Tourism Manager Major. She has over four years of work experience in important events logistics, PR, and Customer service on different sectors.