The International Youth to Youth Summit’s Team is working hard to bring the most inspiring and innovative young speakers, significant scientists and outstanding experts in the field. Stay tuned for the lineup of 6th International Youth to Youth Summit! The list is being constantly updated.

Moderator

Christina Sciabarra
Christina Sciabarra
Christina Sciabarra is a Political Science PhD candidate in the School of Government and Public Policy. Her research interests include post-conflict reconstruction, conflict resolution, and peace-building strategies. Her case study work includes assessments of post-conflict peace-building strategies in Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, and Lebanon. She has a B.S. in History from the United States Naval Academy, B.A. in Russian from the University of Arizona, and an M.A. in Diplomacy from Norwich University. Christina is a program director with Civil Vision International, a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting, informing, and inspiring individuals to achieve peace and cultural understanding through collaboration and dialogue. She has facilitated a number of video dialogues between students in the U.S. and Afghanistan as well as hosted a number of educational and artistic events.

Speakers

Nora Rahimian
Nora Rahimian
Nora Rahimian is creative consultant and founder of #CultureFix, a global collaborative network of creatives & cultural producers who use arts & culture for social impact. She has helped artists tour internationally, earn placements in national and international outlets, secure dream collaborations, and develop effective arts-for-change campaigns. With a unique perspective on conscious business-building for creatives, Nora has been invited to speak at places like SXSW, A3C, and several universities; partnered with organizations like ONE, BBC, #HipHopEd, and AJ Stream; and consults for several popular hip hop and afrobeats artists around the world. Most recently, she has been working with MI Abaga to establish TASCK, a creative agency based in Lagos. She is a UNAOC Fellow, was recognized as a Trailblazer by VoyageLA, and was named one of iStandard’s Women Who Run The Music Industry. Connect with Nora on Twitter and Instagram at @norarahimian.
Bjørn Ihler
Bjørn Ihler
Bjørn Ihler is an international counter-extremism expert, technologist and human rights activist working to develop spaces for dialogue and peace-building between people and communities. In 2016 Ihler co-founded the Khalifa Ihler institute which works for peace through knowledge, technology and design. Since 2016 Ihler has also been part of the Kofi Annan Foundation initiative Extremely Together and explored means of countering violent extremism as one of ten young leaders in the field from across the world. Ihler is building his work on a foundation in communication, technology, data and sociology as well as his academic background in peace and conflict studies.
Liana Kartsivadze
Liana Kartsivadze
Liana Kartsivadze specialized in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution. With more than 10 years’ experience, she is now managing a joint project for the development of mediation and arbitration in Georgia, funded by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).Her experience ranges from practice to academia, both in Europe and in Georgia. She is accredited mediator and is included in the Unified Roster of Mediators of Georgia. She has taught ADR in Georgian universities for past several years. Liana considers that a perk of being a mediator is seeing people’s transformation though mediation on their own path of looking for solutions.
Sarah Markiewicz
Sarah Markiewicz
Sarah Markiewicz is a Consultant specializing in Religion, Culture, Dialogue and Peacebuilding and an Associated Researcher with the Research Programme on Religious Communities for Sustainable Development of the Humboldt University of Berlin. She is currently supporting with preparations for the World Conference on Intercultural and Interfaith Dialogue, being organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union together with the United Nations.

Sarah previously worked as Social Cohesion Advisor with the German NGO, Malteser International, in Iraq. Prior to that she was Senior Lecturer at the department for Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology of the Humboldt University of Berlin. She has also held positions as Interim Professor at the University of Muenster, Post-doctoral Fellow at the Al-Balqa’ Applied University in As-Salt (Jordan) and Visiting Researcher at the Orient Institute in Beirut. Her area of focus is the intersection of interfaith and intercultural relations with peace, conflict, international development and dialogue.

Sarah studied Theology, Ecumenical Studies and Comparative Religion in Oxford, Bonn and Berlin. She completed her doctorate at the department for Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology of the Humboldt University of Berlin on the topic of Christian-Muslim Dialogue. Sarah is a mentor for the Oxford Forum for International Development and supervises MA theses engaging with issues around interfaith relations and sustainable development.

Taras Dzyubanskyy
Taras Dzyubanskyy
Taras Dzyubanskyy holds a B.A. in Philosophy and studied at various papal institutes in the Vatican. In 2010, he received a prestigious Russell Berrie Fellowship in Interreligious Studies, which enabled him to pursue his doctoral degree and to obtain his PhD in Theology and Interreligious Dialogue in 2012. Since October 2012, Taras has been working as an adviser for religious and ecumenical issues to the Mayor of Lviv. In May 2013, he inaugurated an interfaith centre, “Libertas,” the first of its kind in Ukraine. Since its creation, the centre has held over 50 ecumenical and interreligious events to promote dialogue and understanding among different religious groups. Taras has been awarded with several distinctions related to his innovative approach on interfaith dialogue and social issues. For the past four years, he served as an adviser to the President of the Lviv Chamber of Commerce and Industry on social issues. He now oversees the Institute of Religion and Society of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine and he coordinates an international group of alumni of the John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue. Author of four books, Taras is strongly committed to promoting interfaith and intercultural dialogue as he believes that people of different faiths have a lot to offer to humanity through their religious experiences and traditions which are an invaluable source of wisdom, prudence, love and respect. A motto that Taras identifies with is “Seek the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Ivona Kostyna
Ivona Kostyna
Ivona Kostyna, Head of Board and co-founder at Veteran Hub –– an organization that supports veteran reintegration and well-being in Ukraine. Veteran Hub was launched by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, Olena Pinchuk Foundation, and Pobratymy NGO in Kyiv in 2018 as a pilot project, uniting 10 leading CSOs, that support veterans in the psychological, legal and employment domains. In 2020 with the support of IREX, Veteran Hub has expanded to 2 additional regions: Vinnytsia and Dnipro and launched a mobile office service to reach isolated veterans in remote areas. Ivona has been engaged in the field of veterans affairs since early 2015 through Pobratymy NGO.
Ivana Savić
Ivana Savić
Ivana Savić internationally recognized sustainability and environmental rights expert with over 13 years of experience in international development, environmental sustainability, energy, and human rights. In addition, Ivana has extensive experience in youth activism, youth policy, and youth rights, especially in sustainable development, environmental protection, and peacebuilding. Ivana currently runs a global boutique consultancy LuminoMetis focusing on Business Intelligence, Governance, and Sustainability Services, and she is also an external Ph.D. candidate at Leiden Law School with the research topic Environmental Rights of the Child.
Zara Huseynova
Zara Huseynova
Zara Huseynova is a serial entrepreneur. Regional Director in CIS, CEE and MENA at Terraformation, which plants native forests across the globe to reverse climate change. Founder of WoWoman – women empowerment platform, ALZA boutique and Milana Gelinlik, W_Space – creative spaces & business cafe, ReStart – online intensive, Speak Glocal – english language improvement center and Limonlu.az – kids apparel. Forbes 30under30 in Europe as Social Entrepreneur.
David Bidler
David Bidler
David Bidler is President of the nonprofit organization, Physiology First.
Physiology First seeks to redefine how we approach youth mental health by providing proactive, skills based, cutting edge education aimed at improving the health of the brain, body, and mind.
Olena Pravylo
Olena Pravylo
David Bidler is President of the nonprofit organization, Physiology First.
Physiology First seeks to redefine how we approach youth mental health by providing proactive, skills based, cutting edge education aimed at improving the health of the brain, body, and mind.

Trainers

Michelle George
Michelle George
Michelle is the founder of RubixPotential, a social business based in Luxembourg that empowers individuals and startups to solve their human potential riddle for positive impact.
She is a certified trainer, developing and facilitating various workshops and trainings to foster growth – both in areas of Personal development as well as strategic workshops for companies.

Michelle believes that every individual is unique and that with the right circumstances and support everyone can be a changemaker. She is convinced that a state of inner peace generates energy that translates itself through words and actions into outer peace.

Maarten Hemmen
Maarten Hemmen
Maarten wears many hats, but all of them serve a clear purpose. Throughout his life Maarten has made many experiences, starting from being a competitive athlete in Martial Arts as a child, studying music later, touring the world and then turning his back on everything to study ancient methods of breathing, yoga, cold exposure and movement, running ultramarathons and climbing frozen mountains in shorts.
“I think peace starts within yourself, getting to really know yourself, find your limits, accept everything, find connection, and then work towards change”.