Lejla works on applying innovation at the intersection of participation, governance and new technologies at UNDP Europe and Central Asia. She has been experimenting with new approaches, new data and new technologies for solving development challenges, promoting smarter and more open governance, and a more dynamic civic space. Prior to UNDP, she worked with Norwegian development assistance and the World Bank in the area of human development. She has also conducted research on the role of civil society in the fight against corruption, international efforts in state-building contexts and the importance of women empowerment for Kosovo’s development.

Marina is super excited when talking about innovation and connecting different dots from a more creative and interdisciplinary perspective. Her main focus are innovative technology and finance models – Fintech (Blockchain, Crowdfunding, Islamic finance, FBF, P2P finance, cryptocurrencies); Digital Development (Blockchain, MixedReality, Spatial Computing) and Community projects (Tadamon) that can assist in addressing country and city development and economic, societal and environmental facets of community growth. She is one of the UNDP AltFinLab (working in over 40 countries globally) and Crowdfunding Academy founders.

As a co-founder of UNDP Alternative Finance Lab, Robert supports innovation in alternative finance mechanisms and in low carbon development in over 40 countries globally. He focuses on finding ways to make green energy affordable through blockchain, crowdfunding and community financing. He also co-founded the UNDP Crowdfunding Academy, a training program for crowdfunding which has been implemented in over 20 countries worldwide and has created over 50 successful campaigns. He is an evaluator of blockchain projects funded by European Commission.

Andreas works on the Ministry of Data challenge and other data innovation related initiatives to identify, develop and test new ways of empowering people through technology and digital data. He’s also chairing the board of Open Knowledge Foundation Deutschland e.V., a Berlin-based non-profit organization with the mission to open up governance systems and processes to democratize information in Germany and beyond.

Yaera Chung is a consultant on Innovations for Data and Civic Engagement within the Open Government and Accountable Institutions team at the UNDP in Turkey. She works on bringing innovative applications on data for development, exploring new and emerging technologies and methodologies in analyzing and solving development challenges.

Elina Järvelä is exploring opportunities around Alternative Financing for Development and Portfolio Design and System Transformation. She is determined to create a positive impact through her work and focuses on how the development work can be more impactful through better financing and design. Through the Alternative Finance work she has been developing Outcomes-based Financing, Impact Bonds and Social Impact Investing initiatives both in developing and developed countries. Portfolio Design work focuses on developing new design tools and methodologies for creating more coherent development initiatives especially in the times of growing complexity and uncertainty. Elina has Bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Development and a Master’s degree in Environment Science and extensive experience on environmental projects in the fields of sanitation, waste management and climate change.

Tina facilitates the Mayors for Economic Growth Facility, an EU and UNDP initiative that intends to bring in (more) complexity and systems thinking and approaches in local economic development. She has worked on normative and development challenges for NGOs and the United Nations in India, Kenya, Turkey, China and the UN headquarters in New York. Tina was a part-time (certified) social worker for 10 years in her home country Norway.

Onur has project management experience in urban innovation practices and resulting social impacts on civil society. He has worked with local governments in Turkey, engaged in regional and global collaborations, specifically focusing on empowering civic engagement and disseminating participative decision making processes. Onur is also currently the Program Manager of Istanbul Innovation Days 2020 as a part of the Knowledge and Innovations Team at the UNDP Regional Bureau.

Justyna Król is an urban transformation and social innovation practitioner. In 2014, Justyna founded “Urban Workshop” (PL.: Pracownia Miejska) specialising in designing urban futures, city transformation models and effective civic engagement. Her participatory urban foresight method was recognised globally through the Joseph Jaworski Next Generation Practitioners Community Award.

Svetla is the communications lead with the Knowledge and Innovations Team at the UNDP Regional Bureau. She is also the Campaigns Director at Fine Acts, a global creative studio for social impact. She has over 10 years of experience in the field of communications and human rights, with a number of successful campaigns and initiatives in the region. She has an academic background in political science and journalism, with a Master’s degree from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She is also a 2018 Fulbright Scholar, and as part of the program, she joined Change.org to explore digital advocacy campaigning practices and people mobilization.

Sanem Ilhan joined the team in June 2020 as an intern and at UNDP she works mainly in the field of communications and assists the Portfolio Design. She previously worked at startups focusing on digital identity cloud solutions and blockchain in Berlin.

Rawad Rizk is serving as a mentor for the Tadamon Crowdfunding Academy and is a team member of Tadamon: NGOs empowerment for poverty reduction program. He is also managing the Live Lebanon initiative. Rawad has an extensive experience in managing community projects and supporting CSOs and NGOs by introducing innovative solutions and bringing different stakeholders together. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer and communication engineering.