The OYED Youth Committee is a board of members who represent and promote the voice of young people worldwide, many of whom are currently facing immense challenges in the areas of education and employment.

Committee Members

• Cristina - Elena Pestrea

Hey, my name is Cristina and I’m 23 years old. I’m originally from Romania, currently living in Berlin. I have a Bachelor in Sociology and I’m at the moment finishing my last semester of Master Degree in Management of Cultural Landscape. The first time I’ve heard about the OYED I didn’t fully understand it’s importance but now i can clearly see that its main goal  is to give advice and try to find solutions to problems affecting youth nowadays. This process of coming up with new ideas and possible solutions to problems like unemployment, is helping us not only to learn how to shape our thoughts into something real but also discovering our potential. I am glad I’ve joined the OYED and i believe that with a little bit of hard work we will be able to help the young generation and make a change.

• Davide Rastelli

I’m Davide from London. I study Modern Languages at the University of Oxford and am currently doing an internship at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin. As a soon-to-be graduate, the current state of the job market interests me very much. Considering the worryingly high levels of youth unemployment and unemployment in general across Europe, I feel that it is important to explore new methods of generating graduate employment opportunities. Current job creation policies, particularly in Southern Europe, are clearly having an insufficient impact and many young people are being forced to leave their own countries in order to have a chance of finding work. I therefore hope that the activities of the Organization for Youth Education & Development will be able to offer some kind of new, innovative thought concerning a solution to the youth unemployment crisis.

• Ester de Greef

I’m  a 21 years old girl, born and raised in Belgium. Currently I study Marketing Communications in Belgium. To finish my Bachelor’s Degree I’m doing an internship at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin. I’m also part of the OYED initiative because I find it important that young graduates get more information about future opportunities and risks they are going to face.

• Jacek Jarosinski

My name is Jacek Jarosiński, I come from Poland, I am a graduate of Law in the Lazarski Commerce and Law School in Warsaw. I gained my work experience in a law firm in Warsaw, where I worked during my studies. After finishing my studies I worked in a Bailiff Office in my home town. Ever since I started my education in the field of law, my biggest interests have been directed towards Diplomacy and International Law. I am also a graduate of the VIIIth edition of Academy of Young Diplomats on the European Academy of Diplomacy in Warsaw. My plans fo the future are strictly connected with Diplomacy because I would like to work in the Polish Diplomatic Service. The Internship at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin and the possibility to participate in the OYED as a one of the members are really important steps in my professional career because they give me the opportunity, even in a small extent, to take part in searching for solution to create better conditions for the young people on the labour market, which right now is a very important problem on the international arena.

• Lucie Gil

I am Lucie Gil, 22, from France, and I also have the Swedish citizenship. I am ending my Master Degree in International Relations and writing a Master thesis about Gender in International Law. I am currently doing a six-month internship (February to July) in the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, as part of the “Cultural Diplomacy in Africa” team. Besides, I chose to involve in the Organization for Youth Education and Development Committee. As a student in France, I worked with teenagers in various high schools. That made me aware of the importance of shared experience among young people. The OYED committee appears to me as a great opportunity to give youth a voice in that time of economic turmoil. 

• Ludmila Vávrová

My name is Ludmila, 25 years old. I was born and raised in the Czech Republic. I studied Economics and Management for B.Sc. and European Diplomacy for M.Sc. I am currently working towards an M.A. in agriculture and doing my internship at the ICD. Apart from my love to traveling and Czech beer, I dream about a job in Cultural Diplomacy. Why I became interested in the youth? Because I am one of those who believes that „Youth is the Future“

• Evangelos-Dante Kotsinas

Born in Greece. Shaped in Malta. Reshaped in London. Evolving in Berlin.

I was born on January 30, 1984 in Ioannina, Greece. Seventeen years later, I enrolled at the Athens University of Economics and Business to study Marketing, Communication and Corporate Research. After an unsuccessful attempt to move and work in Italy, I served my compulsory military service in Greece and then worked in the Container Shipping industry for three years. And since I had enough of it, I decided to change my career path and moved to London to pursue a Masters in Environment and Development at Kings College. No matter how great a city London is, I decided that Berlin was the place for me. Thus, I decided to move here, perfect my German skills,  and try to change the world. ICD and the OYED seem like a good start. Born on that specific day makes me part of Europe’s “lost generation”. Having myself experienced a weak educational system and then the difficulty of finding a “decent” job, but also seeing many of my friends in Europe being unemployed or working in jobs that they were forced to take and being paid peanuts, I decided to get involved with the OYED, hoping that maybe I can make a small contribution to positive youth development in Europe. 

• Umamah Basit

Hi, my name is Umamah. I come from Pakistan, but I have been travelling almost all my life. I am an LLB graduate of the London School of Economics and currently working at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin. As someone who takes a keen interest in youth and social affairs, I certainly did not want to miss out on the opportunity to get involved with the OYED. In order to tackle the multiple challenges facing the young generation today, particularly in the employment sector, I believe it is of utmost importance to give a voice to the young people themselves. The real solution lies in empowering the youth to take action and to speak out against the issues directly affecting them. I therefore look forward to sharing my own experiences and being a part of this process of change. 

• Prof. Dr. Kishore Chakraborty