Beirat und Mitarbeiter

Based at the Network of European Foundations (NEF) in Brussels, Debora identifies trends and opportunities, promotes membership, and liaises with other funders’ networks. Debora has 15 years’ experience of professional and volunteer activities for foundations, NGOs and international organisations. Before joining Ariadne, she worked for a few years as independent consultant. Previously, she managed the anti-discrimination work of the Open Society Initiative for Europe (OSIFE) focusing on Western Europe for five years. From 2008 to 2011, she managed the European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM), a grant-making initiative of NEF. Formerly, she worked for UNESCO in Cuba and Mexico and for Handicap International Belgium. She studied international relations, political sciences, culture and development studies, in Italy (Padua), France (Sciences-Po Paris), and Belgium (University of Leuven).

Molly is Ariadne’s Administration and Events Officer. After completing her Bachelors degree in International Relations at Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid, she joined IFOAM Organics Europe as an Events and Membership Assistant. She has experience organizing physical, virtual and hybrid events, as well as developing membership engagement strategies.

Her main interests lie within the fields of migrant rights, climate justice and youth engagement.

Maya is Project Manager for Ariadne’s Digital Power initiative. She has been working in the international security and safety field for over 6 years. Previously, she has worked as a web developer, a systems administrator, and a research assistant who studied the politics of hackers and opensource. She has facilitated safety workshops at events all over the world with social justice organisations, foundations, and small nonprofits.

Maya specialises in organisational security, which is different from security for individuals. She loves to nerd out about systems, and how organisational structures feed into digital safety.

Tatevik (she/her) works across design, strategy, philanthropy and publishing. She brings over 10 years of experience developing partnerships across sectors, designing strategic programmes and facilitating workshops – establishing some of the UK’s first of its kind innovation programmes in education, housing and arts for social change. She has worked within and alongside a range of Trusts and Foundations, focusing on racial justice and anti-oppression; co-designed models of grant funding; and embedding learning journeys. She also works with public and private sectors establishing place-based initiatives and place visioning/strategies. Tatevik publishes poetry and essays, and is a Trustee of the Poetry Translation Centre in London. 

Sümeyye is the Programme Manager of Social Initiatives at Adessium Foundation. Adessium Foundation supports initiatives and organizations that target subjects of social importance. Through its Social Initiatives, Adessium strives to create a society where people live together with respect and compassion for one another and in which everyone can participate equally. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern Studies (hons) from Leiden University and a BSc in Anthropology from Utrecht University.

Greg Mayne lebt in London. Der gebürtige Australier machte seinen Abschluss in Wirtschaft und Recht in Australien und einen Master in Internationalem Recht an der School of Oriental and Asian Studies (SOAS) in London. Er hat zuvor für die Internationale Juristen-Kommission des UNO-Hochkommissars für Menschenrechte gearbeitet, wo er den UN-Sonderberichterstatter für die Unabhängigkeit der Richter und Anwälte unterstützte. Er arbeitete außerdem beim Human Rights Institute der Internationalen Anwaltsvereinigung mit dem Schwerpunkt Rechtsstaatlichkeit, insbesondere Kapazitätsentwicklung von Rechtsanwaltskammern in Südafrika. Sein Förder-Portfolio bei der Oak Foundation hat internationalen Charakter mit dem thematischen Schwerpunkt im Bereich faire Verfahren, Prozesse, Inhaftierung und Folter.

Walter Veirs ist Regionaldirektor für Zentral- und Osteuropa im Londoner Büro der Mott Foundation. Er leitet die Vergabe von Fördermitteln in Mittel- und Osteuropa (CEE) und trägt eine besondere Verantwortung für die Programmplanung im westlichen Balkan. Bevor er 1998 zu Mott kam, hatte Veirs eine Karriere als Rechtsanwalt. Er arbeitete in privaten Kanzleien in Washington, D.C., und Prag, und als Anwalt für Rechtsdienstleistungen in Memphis, Tennessee. Sein Interesse an der Entwicklung der Zivilgesellschaft wuchs durch die Beobachtung der tiefgreifenden Veränderungen, die in den neunziger Jahren in Mittel- und Osteuropa stattfanden, und die wichtige Rolle, die die Zivilgesellschaft bei der Transformation der Region spielte. Veirs wurde in Maryland geboren und wuchs in Connecticut auf. Bevor er das College besuchte, verbrachte er ein Jahr im Ausland als amerikanischer Field Service Student in der Türkei. Er ist Absolvent des Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, und der University of Virginia School of Law.

Nienke Venema ist Direktorin der Stiftung Democratie und Medien (SDM), einer in Amsterdam ansässigen Stiftung, die sich für unabhängigen Journalismus und eine starke und energische Demokratie einsetzt. Als erste Direktorin der Stiftung war sie für die Schaffung einer professionellen Förderorganisation verantwortlich. SDM bietet zivilgesellschaftlichen Akteuren und Organisationen, die sich auf Grundrechte und -freiheiten und / oder Medieninnovation konzentrieren, sowohl Projekt- als auch langfristige Kernzuschüsse. Sie agiert auch als idealistischer Aktionär in Medienunternehmen mit einem starken Fokus auf die Sicherung eines redaktionell unabhängigen Journalismus.

Neben Fragen der Grundrechte und -freiheiten konzentriert sich Nienke auf die Rolle, die Stiftungen und Venture Philanthropy bei der Sicherung der Zukunft des unabhängigen Journalismus spielen können. Zuvor war sie Direktorin von Humanity in Action in den Niederlanden, einer internationalen Bildungsorganisation, die Programme für soziale Gerechtigkeit durchführt. Nienke hat einen BA (Hons) in Sozial- und Politikwissenschaften von der Universität Cambridge und einen Master in Internationalen Beziehungen von der Universität von Amsterdam.

Jon oversaw the philanthropic activity of the family of the late Sir James Goldsmith for many years, much of which is directed towards environmental advocacy and campaigning.  He was closely involved in the development of the UK Environmental Funders Network and has co-authored multiple reports analysing tens of thousands of philanthropic grants from environmental funders, both in the UK and across Europe.  He is a steering group member of the European Environmental Funders Group and served two terms on the management board of the US Environmental Grantmakers Association.  He now works with a range of foundations through The Hour Is Late.

Dr. Pia Gerber was already addressing the issue of right-wing extremism and democratic culture while studying for her degree in social pedagogics. In her first career, she worked with disadvantaged young people and migrants from Eastern Europe, and was involved in political education on the subjects of National Socialism and feminist theory. After obtaining a second degree in political science and education at Heidelberg University, she worked as a municipal women’s rights officer, as a trainer for social workers, and finally as an academic assistant on the Executive Committee of the Freudenberg Foundation, Weinheim, Germany. She was awarded a doctorate for her dissertation on social innovations in the charitable foundation environment. Since 2008, she has been the Executive Director of the Freudenberg Foundation. She was a Deputy Chairperson of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation and a member of the Council on Integration of the German Government and is still a partner of the German Children and Youth Foundation and the CIVIS media Foundation.

Brandee M. Butler is a Division Director at the Open Society Initiative for Europe.  Based in Barcelona, she leads the Civil Liberties Division, which promotes better policing and more effective security policies, supports efforts to hold governments to account, and combats discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities.

Brandee has over 15 years of experience working with international foundations, civil society organisations, and the private sector to promote human rights.  Before joining OSIFE, she was Head of Gender Justice and Human Rights at C&A Foundation in Amsterdam leading programming on modern slavery and gender justice in fashion supply chains.  Earlier in her career, Brandee was awarded the Yale Law School Bernstein Fellowship for International Human Rights to combat child trafficking in Gabon.  She later practiced law at a children’s rights organization in Los Angeles and specialized in international justice as a program officer at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Brandee currently serves on the boards of women’s rights organisations MADRE and Women Win and is an advisor for ARTWORKS Projects, which uses design and the arts for human rights advocacy.

Brandee received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a juris doctorate from Yale Law School.

Susan Treadwell, Deputy Director of the Open Society Initiative for Europe, passed away in November 2020 after a long battle with cancer. 

Susan was an Ariadne member from the network’s earliest days and served on the Advisory Board from 2017.  She was a lively presence at all of our events, both onstage and off, and could usually be found by following the sound of her infectious laugh.  Always ready with a question or thoughtful observation, she challenged us to do better and think bigger while helping to create a warm and welcoming community wherever she went.

During her 17 years at OSF, she was a champion of human rights and gender and racial justice movements across Europe and proved herself time and again to be a visionary and strategic thinker. 

With Susan’s passing, we have lost a great mind and a bright light in the human rights and philanthropic sector.