HOW THINKYOUNG WORKS
ThinkYoung is the first think tank that focuses on young people. It was founded in 2007 and has expanded to have offices in Brussels, Geneva, Madrid, and Hong Kong.
It is a not-for-profit organisation, with the aim of making the world a better place for young people, by involving them in decision making processes and by providing decision makers with high-quality research on key issues affecting young people.
ThinkYoung conducts studies and surveys, makes documentary movies, writes policy proposals and develops education programmes: Until now, ThinkYoung projects have reached over 600’000 young people.
Based on its research on young people's necessities, ThinkYoung creates trainings and workshops to empower youth with the tools to have a positive impact and make a change.
Through the entrepreneurship schools set up in Europe and Asia, every year 300 young people from all continents are given the opportunity to cooperate, the chance to learn first-hand experience from successful entrepreneurs, and the skills to create their own company.
At ThinkYoung Audiovisual Laboratory, young researchers are trained in filmmaking and multimedia projects. So far, our team has produced about 100 documentaries on youth in more than 30 different European and Asian countries.
FACT SHEET
ACHIEVEMENTS
Over the course of more than 7 years our projects have significantly contributed to contemporary issues affecting young people, in Europe as well as in other regions.
- 2010: EU Visa liberalisation for young students from Kosovo.
- 2011-2017: more than 2000 young people trained in entrepreneurship.
- 2008-2017: more than 30 young people trained in documentary filmmaking, resulting in about 100 films produced in more than 30 countries.
- 2012: delegation of young people from all over Europe: discussion with members of the Council of the European Union.
- 2013: First EU-China young Entrepreneurs exchange program: more than 150 European and Chinese young entrepreneurs met in Brussels.
- 2014: doubled Erasmus budget.
- 2015: erased roaming charges across the EU;
- 2015: actively participated at COP21 Paris Conference to bring the voice and opinion of young entrepreneurs on climate change.
- 2016: Our Fail2Succeed campaign contributes in changing Italian legislation on bankruptcy.
TEAM
Delila Kidanu / External Relations Manager
​
Born in Sweden, and half Ethiopian, Delila holds a BSc in International Relations & Business from Aston University in the UK and a MSc in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship from The Royal Technical Institute (KTH) in Stockholm. With previous experience actively involved in AIESEC and other international youth organisations, Delila is currently managing partners and new projects for ThinkYoung.
Contact: delila@thinkyoung.eu
Fanni Lupkovics / Business Development and External Relations Manager
Fanni is a Hungarian lawyer, passionate about children's rights. She possesses a J.D. degree in Law and Political Sciences, and an LL.M. degree in European and International Law. She also attended the University of Nice through Erasmus scholarship. Until now, she has been working in international legal firms, at National Instruments, at the Office of the Hungarian Ombudsman, at the Court of Justice of the EU, at Child CARE Monaco and at UNDP Brussels Representation Office. She is currently managing partners and new projects for ThinkYoung.
Contact: fanni@thinkyoung.eu
Marilena Toumazou / Junior Project Manager
​
Born in Nicosia (Cyprus), Marilena holds a Bachelor in Modern Languages and a Master Degree in International Relations from the University of Essex. She previously did a traineeship at the European Centre for Modern Languages with the Council of Europe and at the European Fisheries Control Agency with the European Commission. She has also volunteered as a teacher at a summer school teaching children of different ages. She is intrigued by culture and youth, therefore, she is ready to acquire valuable knowledge through this opportunity.
Contact: marilena@thinkyoung.eu
Silvia Romeo / Junior Project Manager
Born in Sicily (Italy), Silvia holds a degree in PPE (BSc) from LUISS University and a Double Degree Master in International Relations at LUISS University and Université Libre de Bruxelles. She spent six months in Oslo for the Erasmus program and she loves to explore new countries and different cultures. Moreover, she is passionate about European affairs and security policies, as well as education among young people.
Contact: silvia@thinkyoung.eu
Pia Choksi / Accounting Coordinator
Born and raised in Belgium, Pia holds a degree in Economics and Business (BSc) and Organisation & Management Consulting (MSc) at Maastricht University. Before joining ThinkYoung in 2014, Pia has had various experiences in student organisations throughout her academic career. At ThinkYoung, she has worked on the Entrepreneurship Schools in 2014 and 2015 and is now in charge of ThinkYoung's administration and accounts.
Contact: finance@thinkyoung.eu
Charles Howard / Research Manager
Charles Howard is the Research Manager at ThinkYoung, where he manages social and political research projects on youth rights and youth engagement. This includes a focus on youth employment and education, online civil liberties, children´s rights and international development, health policy, social inclusion, and political and civic engagement. He also has experience in multiple European based NGOs on EU policy and rights based issues including at the Open Rights Group and the Project for Democratic Union. This focussed more specifically on the right to privacy and free speech, where he authored numerous articles and analyses of European Court of Justice hearings on data protection.
​
He holds a degree in Law and Politics from Queen Mary, University of London and an MSc in Human Rights from the London School of Economic and Political Science (LSE).
Contact: charles@thinkyoung.eu
Guillermo Tosca Días / Research Assistant and Project Manager
Born in Barcelona, Guillermo holds a Master's in European Public Policy Analysis from the College of Europe and a Bachelor's in Political Science from the Autonomous University of Barcelone. He previously worked as a trainee at the Council of the European Union, at the United Nations, and at Spain's Permanent Representation to the EU. He spent a year at the University of California, Berkeley as an exchange student, where he enhanced his skills in quantitative analysis and social science methodology.
Contact: guillermo@thinkyoung.eu
Cait Ranzetta / Research Assistant
Cait is currently studying for a Bachelor in Mathematics and Economics at Aston University UK. She loves travelling and experiencing different cultures. Through previous experience of volunteering and fundraising for various organisations, she developed a passion for charity work & helping people. At university she volunteered in an outreach programme to teach disadvantaged children how to read, and now is excited to be able to make a real difference to young people’s lives through her role at ThinkYoung.
Contact: caitlin@thinkyoung.eu
Sara Carrer / ThinkYoung Advisor
Sara works for Burson-Marsteller, a leading global public relations and communications firm. As Senior Director for Europe, Middle-East and Asia, she is in charge of Business Development for the region. Sara is a public affairs expert and has significant experience leading and working on international communications accounts in a wide variety of sectors. She has a solid international background, having worked and studied in London, Geneva and Brussels and has previously worked at the European Commission, the UN and WTO. Sara has a strong interest in issues concerning the youth, particularly in the empowerment of future female leaders, and helping them overcome the challenges which we face today.
Contact: Sara.Carrer@bm.com
Luca Selva / Advocacy and Campaigns
As Director at ThinkYoung, Luca manages numerous projects made by young people for young people such as the Entrepreneurship Schools in Brussels, Hong Kong, Madrid, Athens and Nairobi aimed at encouraging young people to become entrepreneurs via giving them the opportunity to interact with already established entrepreneurs and learn from their experiences. Luca also founded Ianus in 2013, a Brussels based consulting company which provides operational, communications and advocacy related services to clients. Prior to this, Luca arrived in Brussels in 2005 and worked for the Italian Chambers of Commerce, where he became familiar with EU projects and built up a great portfolio of contacts within the Brussels’ International environment. Successively, in 2007, he moved to the Deloitte Global Tax Center, where he covered the role of Clients & Markets coordinator, acting as business developer and advising more than 100 multinationals on European Tax compliance and consulting related issues.
Contact: luca@thinkyoung.eu
Andrea Gerosa / Chief Thinker, Founder
​
Working with and for young people since 2002, Andrea started his career at university joining the junior enterprise network.
Today he is the founder of ThinkYoung, a think tank focused on young people (ThinkYoung.org), of a consulting company focused mainly on student housing (kefren.ch), of a series of summer schools for young entrepreneurs (entrepreneurshipschool.com) and of a coworking space for start-ups (tunnel15). Recently Andrea has been appointed to the Board of INTA (inta.org), the New York based International Trademark Association and of Rentxpress SA, an agency that enables travellers to rent plug&play accommodation all around the world.
Contact: andrea@thinkyoung.eu