Meet the TRAINERS
Quentin Ariès
News Researcher @ereb
Quentin Ariès
News Researcher @erebQuentin Ariès has been a journalist in Brussels since 2014. After learning his craft at Politico Europe, where he followed Brexit and lobbying and where he contributed to the ‘Brussels Playbook’, he now works as a freelance journalist. Current publications include The Washington Post and Contexte. He is also Chair of Cafébabel, the participatory European magazine. He graduated from Sciences Po Grenoble (Grenoble Institute of Political Studies) and University of Kent.
Ljiljana Simic
EU institutional anthropologist, interculturalist
Ljiljana Simic
EU institutional anthropologist, interculturalistPhd researcher in the field of international scientific multidisciplinary studies on intercultural EU image and its branding. Organisational Development consultant and trainer for EU institutions, EU Agencies, EU Delegations. Cross cultural and diversity advisers for private, public sector and NGO sector. As a trainers and consultants she has experience from many countries in team development strategies, intercultural communication, change management etc. Long - term experience with EU institutions positioned to advise, anticipate and evaluate working in multicultural teams and diversity issues. Co-author, editor in several academic books on Cross cultural Management, Cultural diversity and Cultural policies.
Selena Doukhan
Selena Doukhan / French-American Content & Social Media Strategist
Selena Doukhan
Selena Doukhan / French-American Content & Social Media StrategistAfter having majored in Scandinavian studies and EU project management, she began working in communication after managing a major European online consultation in 2008 for the European Commission. She then continued in that field and gained solid experience in designing and implementing corporate and institutional strategies, both offline and online. In addition to crafting tailor-made Content and Social Media strategies, she also developed training programs for a diverse audience (from French senators, to Head of Marketing/Communication in Top companies or young Social Media Managers in Parisian hospitals, etc.). A few references: the European Commission, the European Parliament, the French Senate, the French Institute, the City of Paris, the French Ministry of Defense, UNESCO-IIEP, C-40 Cities, Eurosport, ENGIE, Sephora, AXA…
Antoine Rivet
Managing Director @ GOPA Com
Antoine Rivet
Managing Director @ GOPA ComAntoine Rivet is GOPA Com.’s Managing Director and a communication enthusiast. After working in the development and cooperation world, he embarked on a career change to specialise in public sector communication, and quickly grew from consultant to Managing Director of the cosmopolitan Brussels-based agency today. Antoine and the people at GOPA Com. are passionate about the European project and focus their work with European institutions to develop solutions to build bridges between citizens.
Paul Shotton
Co-Founder Advocacy Strategy, Owner at Shotton Consulting & Principal Lecturer THUAS
Paul Shotton
Co-Founder Advocacy Strategy, Owner at Shotton Consulting & Principal Lecturer THUAS
‘My passion is gathering and structuring advocacy best practice to promote professionalisation of advocacy practice. I strive to innovate in order to bridge advocacy research and practice. I am passionate about furthering our understanding of the policy-making process, acquiring advocacy tools and skills as well as defining advocacy strategies. For over twenty years I have worked in Brussels, London and The Hague for media, trade associations, companies, non-governmental organisations and in academia. Each provided new challenges, knowledge and skills. Exploring advocacy with students and professionals drove my work structuring the advocacy process as well as gathering advocacy knowledge, best practices and tools. I believe we can improve public affairs standards and advance our profession. ‘
Laura Leprêtre
Programme Coordinator of the Executive Master in European Public Affairs and Communication
Laura Leprêtre
Programme Coordinator of the Executive Master in European Public Affairs and CommunicationProject manager and expert in education, Laura is the coordinator of the Executive Master since September 2015.
Eric Maurice
Fondation Robert Schuman, Head of the Brussels office
Eric Maurice
Fondation Robert Schuman, Head of the Brussels officeric Maurice joined the Fondation Robert Schuman, a French think tank in 2018, as head of the Brussels office. Before that he was a journalist for almost 20 years. He spent a long time at Courrier international, a weekly newsmagazine, where he held different positions, including editor in chief of Presseurop, a European project for a multilingual news website on European affairs. He arrived in Brussels in 2015 to join EUobserver, where he also was editor in chief, until he decided to take a professional turn and look at the EU from another perspective. He holds a master of Contemporary History of International Relations from the Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne University and graduated from the Paris Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme. He is also an alumni from the Executive Course in European Studies of France's Ecole Nationale d’Administration.
Christopher Malapitan
Creative Facilitator & Trainer
Christopher Malapitan
Creative Facilitator & TrainerChristopher Malapitan is an independent creative facilitator and trainer based in Brussels. With many years of experience working in creative industries, he supports communities and teams to explore and unlock what drives them. From big-picture thinking to storytelling, from body movement to collaborative arts-based approaches, he applies a unique blend of innovative processes and practises to his facilitation work. www.chrismalapitan.com
Divin Robert Mahame
EU Communications professional
Divin Robert Mahame
EU Communications professionalDivin Mahame is a seasoned EU communications professional, currently serving as Community Manager at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). With a dedicated focus on amplifying the Committee members' online presence, Divin provides customised social media support, conducts tailored one-on-one training sessions and ensures access to multilingual content for effective communication. Beyond his role at the EESC, Divin actively shapes the discourse on EU communications and policymaking, sharing his expertise through education.
Felix Francotte
Multimedia and Transmedia Storytelling Expert
Felix Francotte
Multimedia and Transmedia Storytelling ExpertFélix Francotte holds a master's degree in Communication and Journalism from IHECS / UCL. Following his studies, he specialized in new forms of multimedia and transmedia storytelling linked to social networks, as well as the creation of communities, in partnership with Google, Le Soir and Paris Match Belgium. At the same time, he is experimenting with new narrative forms such as “journalistic vlog”, a sort of report filmed in first person using a smartphone or light equipment, which will be broadcast as part of the PopM (La Deux) and L programs. RTBF internet Show (Tipik). Columnist for Tipik's morning radio, Félix is also the founder of the micro communication agency ARTÈRE, specializing in supporting projects with social vocations and on a human scale.
Nicolas Baygert
PhD in Information and Communication at CELSA (Paris IV-Sorbonne) and at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL).
Nicolas Baygert
PhD in Information and Communication at CELSA (Paris IV-Sorbonne) and at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL).Nicolas BAYGERT holds a PhD in Information and Communication at CELSA (Paris IV-Sorbonne) and at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL). Nicolas teaches at Sciences Po Paris, the Brussels School of International Studies (University of Kent), the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and at the Institute for Higher Social Communication Studies (IHECS), where he leads PROTAGORAS, a Think Tank dedicated to political and public communication. Nicolas has a broad experience in EU public affairs: after working for a Think Thank (CEPS) and for a communication and PA agency, he joined the European Commission as communication and press officer. Since 2012, he has been working as an external consultant, providing strategic advice on political communication and PA. Nicolas keeps a blog on political communication and regularly intervenes in the media to analyse Belgian and European politics. His research interests focus on the concept of political consumerism and the emerging issues of democratic leadership, confronted with online activism and protest parties.
Mark Rogerson
Communications professional and former television journalist
Mark Rogerson
Communications professional and former television journalistMark Rogerson is a communications professional and former television journalist with in-depth understanding of both the public and private sectors. He has developed and coordinated a range of public relations, communications and crisis management programmes for clients throughout the EU including the European Commission, the European Court of Auditors, the European Parliament, GW Pharmaceuticals plc and The London International Financial Futures Exchange. Before he began his career in public relations, Mark's background was as a broadcast journalist with the BBC. He was a producer and presenter on Radio 4's The Financial World Tonight, after which he worked as Economics Correspondent for BBC Television News. He was also a reporter on The Money Programme, BBC 2's award-winning weekly business magazine. From 2015 to 2019 he was Spokesperson for the European Court of Auditors.
Laure Wagener
Policy Advisor at Permanent Representation of Luxembourg to the Council of The EU
Laure Wagener
Policy Advisor at Permanent Representation of Luxembourg to the Council of The EULaure is a Brussels-based diplomat negotiating EU legislation in the areas of the Single Market, EU industrial policy and space policy on behalf of Luxembourg. As a representative of Luxembourg in the Council of the EU for more than a decade, she has long-term experience in negotiating seminal EU legislation such as the roaming regulations, the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Digital Markets Act (DMA), cybersecurity legislation and privacy laws. She was also head of the Council negotiating team that led to the conclusion in trilogues of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) under Luxembourg Presidency in 2015. Laure furthermore has experience in the private sector when she joined the EU public affairs team in Brussels of Vodafone Group to work on data, artificial intelligence and privacy policy.