Judging panel

##Asef Farjam Cultural Mediator, Doctors of the World

Asef Farjam is an Intercultural Mediator with a degree in Sociology from Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences. He has been working with NGOs such as “ Doctors of the World” HELLENIC RED CROSS, for the lost seven years. Asef has visited United States in September 2013 as a guest of ( IVLP) nominated by U.S. Embassy Athens. He is very passionate to deal with politics, civil society, integration of Refugees, migrants, Global warming and renewable Energies.

Nadina Christopoulou

Co-Founder, Melissa Network of Migrant Women

Nadina is an anthropologist and the cofounder and coordinator of Melissa Network of Migrant Women in Greece. She studied Anthropology and Politics at McGill University, and then pursued an MPhil in Social and Political Theory, and a PhD on social memory through Romani storytelling at the University of Cambridge. Her research work focuses on diaspora narratives, migration and childhood, as well as migrant women's solidarity networks. She has been involved in the development of various action-research projects on cultural diversity, as well as a photographic archive and a documentary-series shot in 14 countries, presenting the parallel stories of people living in each other's homeland. She is currently serving as the vice-president of the board of the Greek Council for Refugees.

##Dimitris Kokkinakis Co-Founder, Impact Hub Athens

A young social entrepreneur and community-builder. He is the Co-founder of Impact Hub Athens an ever-growing community of social innovators and entrepreneurs that lead change, through responsible and sustainable action oriented initiatives. Impact Hub is a global network of people, places, and programs that inspire, connect and catalyze impact in more than 86 cities worlwide. He has been part of different national and international organizations, engaging with different communities around entrepreneurship, arts and development, indulging in new practices of social design and co-creation methodologies. In 2010 he concluded his studies at the Department of Business Science & Technology, of AUEB and became part of the Impact Hub Vienna being responsible for Educational programs & Community Hosting. In parallel, he worked as a facilitator at the consulting firm freims.cc. His experience in the network of the Impact Hubs gives him a deep understanding on how we mobilize resources, capitalise on possibilities & opportunities for solution making and value creation.

Timos Platsas

Public Relations, Microsoft

Timos Platsas is Head of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility for Microsoft Hellas, Cyprus & Malta. He joined the company in 2010 as Xbox Marketing Manager and then worked as Lead of Marketing and Public Relations for the Xbox & PC Hardware product lines. During his previous experience in the fields of Marketing and Communication, he was responsible for a significant number of promotional campaigns for multinational corporations and public sector institutions. He holds an MBA from Alba Graduate Business School.

Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt

U.S. Embassy Athens

Geoffrey R. Pyatt, a career member of the Foreign Service, class of Career Minister, was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic in September 2016. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine from 2013-2016, receiving the State Department’s Robert Frasure Memorial Award in recognition of his commitment to peace and alleviation of human suffering in eastern Ukraine. Previously, Ambassador Pyatt was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs from 2010-2013. He was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Mission to the International Organizations in Vienna, Austria from 2007 to 2010. He also served at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India as Deputy Chief of Mission from 2006 to 2007 and as Political Counselor from 2002 to 2006. Ambassador Pyatt served as Economic Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong from 1999 to 2002 and as Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Lahore, Pakistan from 1997 to 1999. Since joining the Foreign Service in 1989, he has also served on the National Security Council staff, on the staff of Deputy Secretary Strobe Talbott and at posts in Honduras and India. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he worked with The Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based think tank that brings together leading citizens of the Americas. Ambassador Pyatt grew up in La Jolla, California and holds a Master’s degree in International Relations from Yale and B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine.

##Panagiotis Tsanakas Professor of Computing Engineering NTUA, Chairman of GRNET

Panayiotis Tsanakas is currently serving as professor of Computer Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens and as Chairman of GRNET. He received his BS, MSc, and PhD degrees in electrical engineering and Computer Science from the University of Thessaloniki the Ohio University and the National Technical University of Athens, respectively. Has been also with the George Washington University, as a visiting scholar. He has participated in several national and EU-sponsored projects, in application-specific system design, distributed systems, embedded systems, cloud computing, and medical informatics. He coauthored 4 textbooks and more than 80 research articles in scientific journals and international conferences. His research interests include high-performance systems architectures, and distributed applications in medicine and education.

Effie Tsiotsiou

General Director, Onassis Foundation

Effie Tsiotsiou was born in Athens. She studied French Language and Literature and specialized in Cultural Management and Human Resources Management. In 1994 she was employed by the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation where over the years, she has held a number of positions in the Departments of Scholarships, International Prizes, Grants and Hellenic Studies outside Greece, whereas she has managed the organization of multiple educational, cultural and artistic projects in Greece and abroad. In 1999, she was promoted to Deputy Director while in 2005 she took over as General Director. She has the supervision and coordination of all of the Foundation’s permanent programs and short-term projects based on the four major pillars of the Organization, i.e. education, culture, health and social solidarity, while as Human Resources Manager she is responsible for all Onassis Foundation Personnel affairs. She has been actively involved in planning for the evolvement and actualization of research initiatives to bridge academia, professional practice, public interest and community activism and generate new ideas that focus on new technologies and open access to cultural wealth, public policy, social sustainability and cohesion. She speaks English, French and German.