Snežana Samardžić-Marković is since 2012 Director General of Democracy at the Council of Europe, in charge of the Organisation’s action promoting democratic innovation, governance, participation and diversity. Her responsibilities include the policy areas of education and youth, local democracy, cultural policies, election assistance, the protection of human dignity, gender equality, children’s rights, and the rights of minorities, societal defences against discrimination, democratic citizenship, social cohesion, intercultural dialogue and democratic responses to crisis situations. Previously, Snežana has held numerous positions in the Serbian Government including as Deputy Director in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Neighbouring Countries; Assistant Minister of Defence (2005-2007) and Co-President of the Serbia-NATO Defence Reform Group; member of the Foundation Board of WADA, Minister of Youth and Sports (2007-2012) and President of the Fund for Young Talents.

Anja Olin Pape is 28 years old and lives in Malmö, Sweden. She is an expert in youth participation in political processes. She also works as a consultant, working with integration of young people and refugees, mainly in the labour market. Anja has a history of working with gender equality, human rights and empowerment with young people all over Sweden.

Manuel Arriaga is a professor at New York University. He is the author of “Rebooting Democracy: A Citizens’ Guide to Reinventing Politics” and a co-founder of Citizens’ Forum. Manuel also serves on the board of directors of the Policy Jury Group and was a founding member of Democracy R&D.

Tim builds on the organization’s grassroots and policy work to promote universal access to open networks, defend acts of journalism and protect free speech everywhere. Before joining Free Press, Tim served as the vice president of business development for Globalvision New Media and the executive director of MediaChannel. He worked throughout Southeast Asia as an editor, reporter and photojournalist for the Associated Press, The New York Times, Time, Inc., and Australia Consolidated Press. His criticism, analysis and reporting on the media and media policy have been featured in USA Today, The Guardian, Time, MSNBC, The Chicago Tribune, HuffPost, The Japan Times, The Jakarta Post, Al Ahram and dozens of other publications worldwide.