15TH YEARS OF THE CGYPP: ALUMNI OF THE PROGRAM

Inga currently works as a freelance konference interpreter for the languages Czech, French, English, and German at the European institutions in Brussels. She believes that interdisciplinarity and cross-sector collaboration are always key concepts for success. Throughout her professional career, she has been involved in the fields of education/culture and international cooperation for governmental and nongovernmental organizations, as well as in customer/business development for emerging companies in Germany, France, and the Czech Republic alike. She studied Applied Linguistics with a focus on Translation/Interpreting, as well as Law and Bohemistics at the universities of Heidelberg, Leipzig, and Prague, dditionally completing courses at the FernUniversität Hagen.

Kamila Biddle works as Head of Communications at CEC Group Prague office, a leading public affairs agency in Central Europe. Before joining CEC, she worked at ŠKODA AUTO, where she was responsible for corporate communications as a spokesperson. She has been working in public relations and marketing for two decades and has extensive experience in both, the commercial and non-profit sectors. She focuses on strategic brand image building, marketing communications, and CSR. She holds a degree in Diplomacy. In her free time, she is interested in art, nature, philanthropy, and she loves to spend time with her family and friends.

Bianca grew up in Hamburg to Czech parents. Now she is based in Prague and works as a freelance conference interpreter and consultant interpreter, working with German, English, and Czech all around Europe. Bianca studied Translation and Conference Interpreting in Leipzig, Prague, London, Lisbon, and Montpellier. When she is not interpreting or travelling, she enjoys hiking, lindy hop dancing, and is active in an association focusing on “Erinnerungskultur,” commemorating the victims of the Shoah and its effects on the 2nd and 3rd generations.

Daniel is currently employed as an associate consultant at Control Risks, a global risk consultancy firm headquartered in Berlin. In his role, he specialises in assessing potential business partners for any involvement in illegal or questionable practices, particularly focusing on corruption and financial crime. His responsibilities extend to conducting open-source research investigations across German-speaking countries and the wider Central and Eastern European region. Daniel holds a master’s degree in European Studies, which he earned from both the University of Groningen and the University of Göttingen. Throughout his master’s program, he concentrated on EU cyber diplomacy and gaining practical experience through research internships at the independent think tanks EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in Brussels and the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Berlin. Prior to pursuing his master’s, Daniel obtained his bachelor’s degreein Area Studies from Charles University in Prague and completed an internship at the Czech Centre Berlin. Daniel’s interest for fostering Czech-German relations began during his high school years when he actively participated in projects and school exchanges dedicated to promoting mutual understanding between the two countries.

Jan is a former librarian and now he works at Via Clarita Foundation fund as a communication and event manager. Via Clarita cultivates the Czech philanthropic environment and promotes thoughtful and strategic philanthropy among Czech donors. He studied Information Science and Librarianship at Masaryk University in Brno. Jan was part of a team of experts that was promoting social innovations and design thinking in Czech libraries. Jan is the Aspen Young Leaders Program alumnus and he is especially interested in topics like arts and creativity, citizen engagement, education and philanthropy. Jan published his first book of poetry Dušinec in 2014 and he is a member of the Czech Writers’ Association.

Michal enjoys working with people and for people, based on professional communication and combination of analytic and educational skills. He has worked as freelance journalist (reporter, editor, commentator and presenter) for Czech Television (Česká televize) and other mass media (e.g. Hospodářské noviny) for nearly two decades. Apart from his career in media and communication, he holds a Ph.D. in Area Studies from Charles University in Prague (2017), where he works as lecturer and supervisor at the Department of German and Austrian Studies. His research interests are migration, integration and populism in Central Europe and German speaking countries. In his doctoral thesis, he focused on local integration policies on migrants in Berlin and Vienna 1971–2011. He completed an internship at the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag, Internationales Parlaments-Stipendium) in Berlin in 2008 and was awarded a fellowship by the International Center for Journalism of the Free University of Berlin (2010–2011).

Milan is a digital and energy innovation enthusiast with a background in management consulting. In recent years, he served as an International Business Developer at nano energies, expanding blackout prevention solutions across Central and Eastern Europe. Prior to this, Milan dedicated six years to driving transformative initiatives at innogy/RWE (now e.on), where he reshaped the company’s approach to energy production and distribution across Germany and Europe. Milan’s expertise spans project management, business transformation, and IT development, with a special focus on portal and app development. Milan holds a Master’s degree in International Business from the University of Economics in Prague. He has also participated in global business programs, including “Doing Business in China” at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and a semester exchange at Universität zu Köln focusing on European Energy Policy. In his free time, Milan enjoys reading books on Czech-German history (among others), riding his bike in the nature near Prague, or attending music concerts with his friends.

Léa holds a Master of Public Policy from the Hertie School in Berlin, including an exchange at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy in Toronto, as well as a Franco-German BA from Sciences Po Aix and the University of Freiburg. Specializing in European affairs, Léa has cultivated a keen interest in governance issues and the intricate relationship between civil society and the rule of law. Since October 2022, she has been employed at seebohm.berlin, a political consultancy dedicated to supporting non-profit organizations that address the Sustainable Development Goals, with a particular focus on critical areas such as food security, climate change, global health, and feminist foreign policy. Additionally, she is part of the Netzwerk F, an intersectional coalition advocating for feminist foreign policy, and actively contributes to the European Horizons Core Writer’s team, focusing on transatlantic policy issues. Her diverse professional background includes roles at the German Embassy in South Africa, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Ivory Coast, and the Stiftung Genshagen. Alongside her studies, she also worked for the Franco-German Dialogue at the Jacques Delors Centre and as a Student Assistant to Professor Ruth Ditlmann for a research project on intergroup relations.

Hana is a foreign policy analyst currently working as advisor to the President of the Senate of the Czech Republic. She earned degrees from Charles University and the University of Economics in Prague, focusing her research on weapons of mass destruction. In her free time, she publishes a bi-weekly newsletter about international politics, science and technology and co-hosts a podcast about international relations.

Jan works as a Senior Consultant at CEC Group, a leading public affairs consultancy agency in Central Europe. His focus areas include health care, financial services and digital policy. Jan graduated from the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Law of the Charles University in Prague.

Ondřej is research infrastructures manager at the rectorate of Masaryk University. He has passion for research infrastructures and core facilities that he likes to share with people from far and wide. This can be documented by his involvement in many activities on the Czech and European levels such as being part of Czech ESFRI delegation, member of ESFRI Implementation Group or leading the research infrastructures activities of EDUC, one of the European University alliances.

Vladimír Hurych graduated in Political Science and International Relation from the Faculty of Social Sciences in Prague and is currently finishing his Master’s degree in Security Studies at the same faculty. He has a yearlong experience studying at SciencesPo Bordeaux and one semester at Ankara University. Additionally, he has been involved in many students’ actives including educational project called Stužák or the presidency of Political Science Club (PK FSV UK) organising public debates and event for students of the faculty. Since 2017, Vladimír has been working as a consultant at CEC Government Relations focusing on European politics, transportation, consumer agenda or digital topics. He also has a solid background in communication, public relations and international politics. Apart from his strong interest in current politics, he enjoys doing sports such as tennis, cross-country skiing or jogging.

Tomáš is a Czech-German attorney based in Prague specializing in German law, cross-border cooperation and e-commerce. In particular, he assists Czech companies and e-shops in Germany as well as German companies operating in the Czech Republic. Originally from the Czech Republic, he studied law in Germany and Scotland. He is a proud DAAD alumnus. He holds a PhD from the University of Freiburg, Germany, with a PhD thesis on the liability of social network sites for user-generated content. Tomáš lived abroad for more than fifteen years and is very interested in other cultures and countries. In his free time, he is politically active and loves spending time in nature and writing.

Pavel works as a Junior Consultant at CEC Group, a leading Central European public affairs agency. He holds a Master’s degree in European Studies at KU Leuven in Belgium. He also studied Political Science and European Studies at the Palacky University Olomouc in the Czech Republic. Pavel has been with CEC Group since 2022. Prior, Pavel worked as an intern at various institutions of both national and EU politics, such as the European Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, and the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During his studies, he also spent two semesters abroad – at KU Leuven (BE) and later at the Hague University of Applied Sciences (NL).

Kateřina is an analyst at Fakta o klimatu (Facts on Climate) where she focuses primarily on climate and energy policy and net-zero transition. Prior to that, she worked as a data analyst in the business sphere and volunteered for non-profits. She holds a master’s degree in economic policy and international relations from Masaryk University in Brno. In her free time, she enjoys coffee, discussing gender issues, and practicing her beginner-level French.

Václav works as a Head of Government Relations at CEC Group, a leading Central European public affairs agency. He graduated from the Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Nottingham, and the Area Studies at the Charles University in Prague. He has also studied in Beijing and Chengdu in China, and Canterbury in the UK. He has been with CEC Group since year 2012 with a small break in 2015 when he cooperated with the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic as an Adviser helping in negotiations with Chinese provinces. In the past, he led several projects in the Association for International Affairs (AMO), most notably its Asia related program for young professionals ALYAS. He also served as a Research Fellow there. He is currently an External Lecturer at the Charles University where he lectures on relations between Central European countries and China.

Born in Plzeň, graduated from Geography and Social Sciences (Faculty of Education, University of West Bohemia), until her mid-30s Veronika worked within the educational institutions in Denmark, Myanmar, Germany and Czechia. The issues she has covered vary from global education and environmental education to place-based learning, both within formal and non-formal educational field. Since 2015, she has been “crossing the borders” between Germany and Czechia, trying to bring members of various generations together by taking an active part in educational and cultural projects. Her activities have received a few awards, a. a. Czech-German Journalist Prize, Kulturpreis für Publizistik (both for the documentary movie Generation “N”: Deutschböhme) or Brückenbauer-Stavitelé mostů (for the educational project Přísečnice žije-Pressnitz lebt). Finding her place in the Ore Mountains, she tries to understand what does it mean when a town disappeared (socially, culturally, regionally, globally) and link the visible and invisible heritage of a significantly modified place with the meanings that are left. Currently, as a PhD candidate at the University of J. E. Purkyně in Ústí nad Labem, her research let Veronika address an interdisciplinary inquiry, moreover, in a cooperation with the last time witnesses. Appart from that, together with a Czech-German NGO, she tries to co-create a space for various cultural and educational activities in the Saxonian-Bohemian borderland.

Anne studied Slavonic linguistics and Eastern European Studies in Dresden, Prague and Berlin with further stays in Moscow, Chișinău and Chernivtsi. After completing her Master’s degree, she taught for three semesters at the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem and worked for over five years for the German-Czech Future Fund. After two years of full-time self-employment, during which she also took over the project management with over 45 international partners for the German-Czech-Polish cultural hackathon Coding da Vinci Ost³ 2022 for the Saxon State Library – Dresden State and University Library, she is now responsible for events and the internationalisation of Saxony’s cultural and creative industries at KREATIVES SACHSEN. She still works as a freelancer for her own projects, in festival production and translates from Czech into German.

Zuzana Lizcová serves as the head of Department of German and Austrian Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague and journalist. Previously she used to work e.g. for the Czech Press Agency or the Association for International Affairs (AMO). She took part in CGYPP in 2014, coordinated the program in the years 2017-2020 and has remained part of the wider organisational team.

Martin (35) has been working for a residential developer CTR Development since 2020. As Head of Sales he is responsible for sales of residential projects in Germany and the Czech Republic. Between 2015 – 2020 he worked for the Czech-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce as a consultant for German investors for the Czech market entry and business development. He studied International Trade on the University of Economics in Prague (Bachelor and Master) and Czech-German Studies on the Charles University in Prague (Bachelor). He studied 3 semesters on German universities in Munich and Regensburg via Erasmus and during that time he worked on a part-time job by the respective Chambers of Industry and Commerce. Apart from his experiences in the network of German Chambers, he worked for 2 years in Germany on a civil engineering project for a Czech company as an economist.

Fabian Möpert works at Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI), Germany’s economic promotion and foreign trade agency in Berlin. He is responsible for market information on Poland, Hungary, Czechia, and Slovakia. Born and raised in Saxony’s Ore Mountains, on the border with the neighbouring Czech Republic, he developed a dedicated interest in the economic and social developments in Central and Eastern Europe. He holds a master’s degree in economics from the University of Leipzig, specialising in European economic integration. His previous experiences include a study stay at Charles University of Prague, a scholarship at the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and working as a Schuman-Trainee for the European Parliament in Brussels. Fabian is a committed enthusiast about promoting cross-border cooperation in both business and civil society. Apart from that he enjoys hiking and skiing in the beautiful landscape along the Czech-German border, reading and diving into Central Europe’s manifold history.

Michael has been the coordinator of the Czech-German Young Professionals Programme (CGYPP) at the Association for International Affairs since 2020 and Deputy Director of the Center for an Informed Society since September 2023. Between August 2020 and August 2023, he worked at the European Values Center for Security Policy, where he developed training programs on security and foreign policy. Since 2011, he has been working at EUTIS, o.p.s., where he is currently the Chairman of the Board. Previously, he worked closely with other governmental and non-governmental organizations and universities. Michael holds a degree in Security and Strategic Studies from the Faculty of Social Studies at Masaryk University and a law degree from the same university.

She is currently working at T-Mobile Czech Republic as a senior external communication specialist within the corporate affairs and sustainability team, which perfectly combines 3 streams – public relations, public affairs and ESG. Prior to T-Mobile, she spent 4 years at Czech Radio, first as an international relations specialist and then as brand manager of Czech Radio Plus, the analytical and spoken word station. She started her professional life during her university studies at the Association for International Affairs, where she was involved in the Prague Student Summit project for 4 years, the last year as the chief coordinator. She have remained with the Association afterwards as a member and between 2017 and 2021 as a member of the Advisory Board, including two years as its Chairwoman. She graduated from Charles University with a bachelor’s degree in Contemporary History and a master’s degree in Russian, Eurasian, and Central European Studies, during which she spent several months in Warsaw. In addition to her studies, she had an internship at the Czech Embassy there as well.

Johanna is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Public and Social Policy at Charles University Prague. In addition, she is a researcher at the Technology Campus Freyung (Germany), where she works in the Horizon Europe Project “PoliRuralPLUS”. Johanna has degrees of the University Passau and Prague University of Economics and Business. In her dissertational research, she investigate the emergence and development of crossborder commuting from the Czech Republic to Bavaria by framing the bilateral labor market of the border region in an EU context.

Ondra is a software engineers. He is interested in the intersection of information technology, politics and society in general and how they influence each other. And in particular in the topics of consumer protection and civic freedoms (not only) with regards to Tech.

Executive Director at the sustainable business platform Změna k lepšímu (Change for the better), Business Consultant with Marketing and Sales experience from B2B technological startups and scaleups, Mentor at South Moravian Innovation Center.

Karolína is the Marketing Director at the independent Czech media Deník N. Before her current role in the media industry, Karolína primarily worked in the cultural sector. She was involved in international projects with the Dresden State Art Collections, worked as the Head of Marketing at the National Gallery Prague, and actively participated in cultural events in her hometown of Hradec Králové. Karolina is also a part of the team that organizes the International Theatre Festival Regions. She enjoys taking long walks, listening to podcasts, reading, and visiting art exhibitions

Eliška is project manager in Jagello 2000, Czech non-profit focused on public diplomacy in the field of international security issues and the Czech Republic’s membership in NATO. She cooperates closely with the German Embassy in Prague on different projects, i.e. German participation in NATO Days in Ostrava & Czech Air Force Days. After completing her master in Security Studies at Charles University in Prague she did an internship in the German Bundestag in Berlin and in NATO Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, VA. Most recently she graduated from the Program on Applied Security Studies in the George C. Marshall Center for Security Studies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Eliška enjoys travelling, reading, volunteering, culture, hiking and sun.

Jindřich works in Berlin as a Senior Account Manager at Cint, a market research provider and a global software leader in digital insights, that offers one of the world’s largest consumer networks for digital survey-based research. He graduated with a Master’s degree in East European Studies with a focus in Sociology at the Free University of Berlin. Furthermore, he studied Social Science and Humanities in Prague, Frankfurt am Main and Chernivtsi in Ukraine. In the past, he was awarded the International Parliamentary Scholarship by the German Federal Parliament. He is a passionate musician and sometimes performs concerts with his instrumental band in Berlin. Last year he fulfilled one of his dreams and cycled from Berlin to Prague.

Johann D. Riemenschneider is an attorney in Berlin specializing in international business law and international legal issues. In doing so, he advises and represents companies and individuals in complex cross-border legal matters. In addition to his work as a lawyer, Johann is also a lecturer at the Berlin School of Economics and Law. He completed his law studies with degrees in Germany, France and Switzerland. Moreover, he is finalizing a PhD thesis on the legal framework of the European Security and Defense Policy. Johann spent a part of his legal clerkship at the German Embassy Manila. Further stays abroad brought him to Belgium, Poland, Hungary, China, Argentina and Colombia. Convinced of the need for international understanding he is very engaged in the field of foreign policy. Thereby, he is particularly fascinated by discovering other cultures and learning new languages.

A native of Osnabrück, “the City of Peace,” Sarah studied International Culture and Business Studies in Passau, Prague, and Sheffield. She is an alumna of the Bohemicum program. For over a decade, she has managed and coordinated projects in cultural public diplomacy and served as a curator and producer for the film festival Das Filmfest. Passionate about free speech, freedom, and fundamental rights, she is a member of the initiative 1bis19.de. Sarah has translated two editions of the book Verschwundener Böhmerwald about vanished places in the Bohemian Forest. She currently works as a freelance editor, copywriter, and translator, and enjoys lending her voice to various audio projects.

Verena is a development cooperation professional who grew up in the borderlands of Bavaria, neighbouring the Plzeň Region. Her current professional focus is on good governance and citizen participation as well as on societal and ethical issues posed by technological developments. She is an undergraduate in Political Science and European Ethnology and holds a master’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of Freiburg. During her studies, she spent semesters abroad in Vienna, Buenos Aires, and New Delhi. Longer work and research stays have also taken her to West and South Africa as well as the MENA region. Verena specialized in international cooperation at the Institute of Development and Sustainability in Bonn. She then spent several years working in official development cooperation with a focus on sustainable economic development in South and Southeast Asia. She looks forward to discussing the future of Czech-German cooperation, while also shedding light on perspectives from outside Europe.

Julia is working in IT as Business and Data Analyst with focus on Automotive in Munich. From Bavaria with family roots in Northern Moravia and Silesia, she is interested both in the history and the future of Central Europe. She studied economics and political science in Munich, Warsaw and Vienna and participated in several programs that focus on deepening inter-European cooperation and understanding.

Diplomat, CZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Kateřina is a diplomat at the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the EU, where she was posted to work on the 2022 Czech EU Council Presidency and has decided to stay afterwards. She started her career in civil service at the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, European Policies Coordination Department. Previously she worked for Aspen Institute Central Europe as project coordinator. Besides her work and general interest in politics and European affairs, Kateřina is passionate about volunteering and civic education. She was an active member of Eutis, o.p.s., a Czech NGO where she took part in various educational activities and international projects. Kateřina graduated from Masaryk University in Brno with a master’s degree in Political Science. She spent part of her studies at Loughborough University under the Erasmus programme.

Business Development Manager, eMobility and Energy at Porsche Česká republika.

Jana graduated from the Faculty of Arts at Palacký University in Olomouc with a degree in Political Science and European Studies. She completed her PhD in International Relations at the Faculty of Social Studies of Masaryk University in 2012, defending her dissertation on UN peacekeeping operations. Since then, she has worked as an assistant professor at the Department of International Relations and European Studies at Masaryk University and as the head of the Bachelor’s programme in International Relations. Her research focuses on Czech-German relations and German foreign and security policy. She is also a member of the board of the Czech-German Fund for the Future.

Maria is a program communication officer for the federal program “”Demokratie leben!”” at the Federal Office of Family Affairs and Civil Society Tasks. She previously worked as a project manager at the Robert Bosch Foundation and as a research assistant in a German-Czech Euroregion. Maria has spent extended periods abroad in the Czech Republic and Romania. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in European Studies from Chemnitz University of Technology and a Master’s degree in East-West Studies from the University of Regensburg.

Jana is a Public Affairs Consultant from Prague. In her job, she helps companies to navigate through the Czech political and legislative system. Her clients come from fields such as fast-food, retail or toys. And speaking of toys, Jana is also a mother of a three-year-old boy and is therefore very interested in all topics related to reconciling family and work life. She graduated from Charles University in Prague with a masters in EU studies and because she’s a bit of a nerd, she graduated also from Maastricht University with a degree in Public Policy and International Trade. Last but not least, Jana is a proud alumna of the German Parliamentary Scholarship and (not only for this reason) Berlin is a place that is forever etched in her heart.