European Young Leaders

Selene works for the Prosperity Unit at the UNDP in Kabul, Afghanistan as a Portfolio Specialist. She is the founder of several social ventures, including Plain Ink, which creates free, educational comics for children and communities in developing countries, and Youth Action for Change (YAC), which provides high-quality and free online courses for young change-makers in 130 counties. Selene also serves as a member of RENA, an Italian association of young professionals promoting innovation, merit, youth empowerment and a new generation of local public policies, and the Italian Economic Development Minister’s Taskforce on Innovative Startups. She has previously worked as a consultant, trainer and speaker for various organisations, including the UN, Amnesty International, the World Bank, Oxfam, OSCE, the Council of Europe, Columbia University and Microsoft. She is a recipient of the Mother Teresa Award for Social Justice.

In addition to his current role at Universitas Mercatorum, Nicola is the CEO of the Buongoverno Foundation and the President of Italianiinmente, a business accelerator and incubator for Italian start-ups. A former member of the Italian parliament, Nicola served as a member of the EU Policy Committee and the Public and Private Labour Commission, as well as the deputy head of the training of the People of Freedom Party. He was also a political advisor to the President of the Campania Region with responsibility for institutional relations. Nicola began his career in politics as a parliamentary assistant, prior to which he was a journalist at a TV station, at which he became director in 1999.

Alessandro is currently strategic advisory for H-Farm, an Italian Member of Parliament as well as secretary of Movimenta – a new Italian political organisation. Serving in the Chamber of Deputies as a member of the permanent commission on Culture, Science and Education Alessandro has previously acted as Head of Cabinet at the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research. He was Special Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy and Special Advisor to the Minister of Economic Development for European Affairs, Youth and Innovation. Alessandro also worked as an official at the Council of the European Union dealing with global economic governance and under the Italian Prime Minister’s office in Rome as part of the G8 team.

Michel is Professor of Industrial Relations and Labour Law at the Law Faculty of Teramo University, Professor at the Italian National School of Government and Visiting Professor of Labour Law at the Law Faculty of L.U.I.S.S. Guido Carli University in Rome. Michel was appointed Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Policy by Prime Minister Mario Monti in November 2011, a position he held until Spring 2013. He previously served as Legal Advisor to the Minister for Public Administration and Innovation and to the Minister of Employment and Social Affairs, and has represented Italy in the Board of Directors of Eurofound. He is a registered barrister at the Court of Rome, and in 2009 he and his brother founded the law firm Martone & Martone. Michel is a member of various think tanks, an editor for newspapers and specialised journals on labour and economic issues, and the author of many publications on labour law.

Denis (also known as Jaromil) is a free software programmer who founded Dyne.org, a website dedicated to the development of free software. He is also both a media artist and an activist. He has made significant contributions to the development of multimedia and streaming applications on the Linux platform and has led R&D activities in the Netherlands Media Art Institute for the past 6 years. He was honoured with the Vilém Flusser Theory Award in 2009, for his outstanding digital arts practice, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the Planetary Collegium’s Milan node at the University of Plymouth.