Our Team & Governance

Geert Cami co-founded Friends of Europe, the action-oriented think tank, which in 2011 launched both its citizen’s platform, Debating Europe and its European Young Leaders Programme. In 2015, Friends of Europe integrated the Security and Defence agenda thinktank. As Secretary General, Geert mainly deals with the strategic development of Friends of Europe, coordinating the work of the high-level Boards involved in the governance of the organisation and chairing the Leadership meetings. He oversees both the financial health and the successful running of the organisation and its flagship initiatives and focuses on the expansion and the activation of Friends of Europe’s vast network of trustees, European young leaders and other senior political, corporate, media and societal contacts and partners throughout the world.

 In 2019, Geert founded TownHall Europe (the Davignon Centre for New Leadership) and in 2020, he co-founded the Africa-Europe Foundation (AEF) in partnership with the Mo Ibrahim Foundation (MIF).

 Geert headed the European conference organising, press relations and publishing company Forum Europe for more than ten years, and managed the revival of one of Belgium’s finest architectural examples of Art Nouveau, after creating La Maison de l’Europe in the prestigious 100-year-old Bibliothèque Solvay.

 At the outset of his career, Geert worked for a few years in the Humanitarian Office of the European Commission as a deputy in the newly set-up information and communications unit. His focus was mainly on raising the profile of the EU’s humanitarian efforts throughout the world, through publications and media initiatives such as exhibitions, television debates or Humanitarian Days in Member States.

 He also worked briefly as a teacher and TV journalist for two music programmes at Belgian public Radio 1.

Etienne (Stevy) Davignon is one of the few statesmen in Europe who has been actively involved in EU affairs from the beginning, from his early role as Chief of Staff to Paul-Henri Spaak to today. He has held high-level positions in both the public and private sectors, including as Vice-President of the European Commission, President of the Société Générale de Belgique, first President of the International Energy Agency and through various board mandates.

With a distinguished career in Belgian and European politics, Isabelle Durant has held the offices of Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Transport and Energy, and Senator in the Belgian Government. She also served as Vice-President of the European Parliament, President of the European Union Council of Ministers of Transport and as Deputy-Secretary General and Acting Secretary General of UNCTAD. With a wealth of experience collaborating with civil society and the private sector, her time as European Parliament Vice-President included responsibility for relations with civil society. Durant has held posts as a senior consultant on the empowerment of women in local government for the UNDP and as a member of Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium.

Giles Merritt is the Founder of Friends of Europe, and was its Secretary General between 1999 and 2015, and its Chairman between 2016 and 2020.

A former Financial Times Brussels Correspondent, Giles Merritt is a journalist, author and broadcaster who has for over four decades specialised in European public policy questions. In 2010 he was named by the Financial Times as one of its 30 most influential “Eurostars”, together with the European Commission’s President and NATO’s Secretary General.

Giles Merritt joined the Financial Times in 1968, and from 1972 until 1983 he was successively FT correspondent in Paris, Dublin/Belfast, and Brussels. From 1984 to 2010 he was a columnist for the International Herald Tribune (IHT), where his Op-Ed page articles ranged widely across EU political and economic issues.

In 1982 he published “World Out of Work”, an award-winning study of unemployment in industrialised countries. In 1991, his second book “The Challenge of Freedom” about the difficulties facing post-communist Eastern Europe was published in four languages. His book “Slippery Slope: Europe’s Troubled Future” (Oxford University Press 2016), was shortlisted for the European Book Prize.

As Managing Director of the Jacques Delors Friends of Europe Foundation, Ulrike is responsible for developing an integrated approach across the work of the Jacques Delors Institutes and Friends of Europe. She supports the implementation and operationalisation of the Foundation’s strategy, strengthening advocacy, citizen engagement, and collective impact across multiple European capitals. Ulrike comes from the private sector, most recently serving as Chief Sustainability Officer at Henkel AG, where she led a team of 50, reporting to the Executive Management Team and shaping strategy, business integration, data systems and reporting. Her previous roles include international positions at The Coca-Cola Company and RWE Thames Water across various European locations. She also brings extensive experience in European and global policy, having engaged on topics such as public-private partnerships, climate and energy transition, circular economy, and human rights. Ulrike is a German national and is based in Brussels.

Geert Cami co-founded Friends of Europe, the action-oriented think tank, which in 2011 launched both its citizen’s platform, Debating Europe and its European Young Leaders Programme. In 2015, Friends of Europe integrated the Security and Defence agenda thinktank. As Secretary General, Geert mainly deals with the strategic development of Friends of Europe, coordinating the work of the high-level Boards involved in the governance of the organisation and chairing the Leadership meetings. He oversees both the financial health and the successful running of the organisation and its flagship initiatives and focuses on the expansion and the activation of Friends of Europe’s vast network of trustees, European young leaders and other senior political, corporate, media and societal contacts and partners throughout the world.

 In 2019, Geert founded TownHall Europe (the Davignon Centre for New Leadership) and in 2020, he co-founded the Africa-Europe Foundation (AEF) in partnership with the Mo Ibrahim Foundation (MIF).

 Geert headed the European conference organising, press relations and publishing company Forum Europe for more than ten years, and managed the revival of one of Belgium’s finest architectural examples of Art Nouveau, after creating La Maison de l’Europe in the prestigious 100-year-old Bibliothèque Solvay.

 At the outset of his career, Geert worked for a few years in the Humanitarian Office of the European Commission as a deputy in the newly set-up information and communications unit. His focus was mainly on raising the profile of the EU’s humanitarian efforts throughout the world, through publications and media initiatives such as exhibitions, television debates or Humanitarian Days in Member States.

 He also worked briefly as a teacher and TV journalist for two music programmes at Belgian public Radio 1.

Pronouns: she/her

As Director of Finance and Administration, Carole deals with the financial and administrative development of Friends of Europe. She is involved in the governance of the organisation, coordinates the work of the accounting department and produces financial reports for partners and institutions. She oversees both the financial health and the successful running of the organisation. As part of her role, she also supports the Africa-Europe Foundation with their financial and administrative needs. Prior to joining Friends of Europe, she was Financial and Administrative Director for the Belgian subsidiary of a private sector multinational for 20 years. She is a committed professional with extensive business experience in a number of sectors and areas, including finance, controlling, M&A, internal audit and Corporate Social Responsibility.

Nathalie Furrer is Director at Friends of Europe. Through her leadership, since 2002, the think tank has become the go-to place to connect, debate and change Europe. She founded its Africa, development, health, climate, energy and sustainability transition policy areas and launched its very successful European Young Leaders (EYL40) programme. She has been instrumental in developing a multi-stakeholder approach to the work of a think tank and in the organisation’s reach to the non-institutional sector. In her current role, she works with our talented team, members and partners. Prior to joining Friends of Europe, she worked at an institute for public policy research, organising international conferences throughout Europe.

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Head of Memberships and Partnerships at Friends of Europe, Natasha is responsible for the implementation of several programmes, as well as relations with members and the development of partnership opportunities. She began her career working for a cultural organisation in Berlin before moving to Brussels to work for a grant-making fund and later an international trade association. She holds Master’s degrees in classical languages from the University of Oxford and European Union law from King’s College London.

Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani was director of policy at the European Foundation Centre (EFC). He was the England director at the Big Lottery Fund, the largest independent funder in the UK and fourth largest in the world. Dharmendra has held senior positions in the public and voluntary sectors and advisor to numerous ministerial policy initiatives across the UK.

Adam is the Director of Citizen Outreach and Engagement at Friends of Europe. He is responsible for the online citizen-driven discussion platform Debating Europe, which he co-founded in 2011. He has extensive experience in digital media start-ups, including the launch of the Brussels-based newswire service EUPOLITIX.com, which he merged into The Parliament Magazine, where he was the Managing Director. Adam speaks fluent English and Italian.

As Managing Director of the Jacques Delors Friends of Europe Foundation, Ulrike is responsible for developing an integrated approach across the work of the Jacques Delors Institutes and Friends of Europe. She supports the implementation and operationalisation of the Foundation’s strategy, strengthening advocacy, citizen engagement, and collective impact across multiple European capitals. Ulrike comes from the private sector, most recently serving as Chief Sustainability Officer at Henkel AG, where she led a team of 50, reporting to the Executive Management Team and shaping strategy, business integration, data systems and reporting. Her previous roles include international positions at The Coca-Cola Company and RWE Thames Water across various European locations. She also brings extensive experience in European and global policy, having engaged on topics such as public-private partnerships, climate and energy transition, circular economy, and human rights. Ulrike is a German national and is based in Brussels.

Thomas Van Vynckt is Friends of Europe’s Head of Peace, Security and Defence, which includes the Ukraine Initiative launched in 2023. Prior to joining Friends of Europe, he worked in the defence industry in the private sector in London (UK) and at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, both in the Political Affairs and Security Policy (PASP) and the Operations (Ops) divisions. Earlier in his career, Van Vynckt also worked with GLOBSEC in Bratislava and the Post-Conflict Research Center in Sarajevo. He holds an MSC from Aberdeen University and an MA from King’s College London.

Pronouns: she/her
Head of Memberships and Partnerships at Friends of Europe, Natasha is responsible for the implementation of several programmes, as well as relations with members and the development of partnership opportunities. She began her career working for a cultural organisation in Berlin before moving to Brussels to work for a grant-making fund and later an international trade association. She holds Master’s degrees in classical languages from the University of Oxford and European Union law from King’s College London.

Isabelle works as Senior Finance and Administration Manager at Friends of Europe. She has a long experience in the world of finance, as she previously worked in banks and international financial corporations. Isabelle speaks both French and English.

As Managing Director of the Jacques Delors Friends of Europe Foundation, Ulrike is responsible for developing an integrated approach across the work of the Jacques Delors Institutes and Friends of Europe. She supports the implementation and operationalisation of the Foundation’s strategy, strengthening advocacy, citizen engagement, and collective impact across multiple European capitals. Ulrike comes from the private sector, most recently serving as Chief Sustainability Officer at Henkel AG, where she led a team of 50, reporting to the Executive Management Team and shaping strategy, business integration, data systems and reporting. Her previous roles include international positions at The Coca-Cola Company and RWE Thames Water across various European locations. She also brings extensive experience in European and global policy, having engaged on topics such as public-private partnerships, climate and energy transition, circular economy, and human rights. Ulrike is a German national and is based in Brussels.

Monica Frassoni is an Italian politician who previously served as the Co-President of the European Green Party. Prior to that, during her time as Member of the European Parliament, she was Co-Chair of the European Greens–European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament. She also served for ten years as an officer of the Greens group in the European Parliament and was Secretary-General of the Young European Federalists. In 2010, she co-founded the European Alliance to Save Energy, an organisation which aims to promote and advocate energy savings and a new energy model.

Prior to his current position at Teneo, Philippe Maze-Sencier served as Chair of Global Public Affairs of Hill & Knowlton Strategies (H+K) and Managing Director at McLarty Associates’ Brussels and Washington DC offices. He has been working at the nexus of policy, government relations and communications on transatlantic issues and oversaw operations in India, the Middle East and Africa in various sectors ranging from aerospace to energy to defence. Previously, Maze-Sencier held roles at the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, and at the delegation of the European Commission in Washington DC.

Jon is one the best-known political bloggers and commentators on all things EU politics and Brexit. His commentary on his blog (jonworth.eu) and Twitter account (@jonworth) are well known in Brussels and EU circles. His work around Brexit and especially his famous Brexit diagrams have been featured in international media, including The New York Times and ARD. Jon is a Visiting Lecturer on politics and online communication at the College of Europe in Bruges. He also leads workshops at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, the University of Maastricht and the Italian School of Public Administration in Rome. The Founder of Trains for Europe, a campaign that demands the European Union take action on the issues surrounding long distance rail travel in Europe, Jon is an experienced campaigner, having previously organised a number of online campaigns for United Kingdom politicians and the Atheist Bus Campaign.