Michelle Hermes was formerly Program Assistant at GMF.

Louis Savoia is a program coordinator for the Alliance for Securing Democracy at GMF, where he serves as the lead author of the program's weekly newsletter, the Securing Democracy Dispatch.

Savoia holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from American University’s School of International Service. His studies focused on the EU and NATO, US foreign policy, and democratic governance. His capstone project investigated patterns of hostage-taking by US adversaries, and he was among a team that presented their research to the White House special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. He spent a semester studying European affairs in Brussels.

Krystyna (Krysia) Sikora is a research assistant for the Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD) at GMF. She supports research on election integrity and information manipulation. Her writing has been published in the EU Observer, Euractiv, and the Fulcrum. Prior to joining ASD, she played professional soccer in Poland for two years.

Sikora holds a master’s degree in Eurasian, Russian, and East European studies from Georgetown University. Her studies there centered on right-wing populism, disinformation, and democratic decline in Central and Eastern Europe, with a focus on Poland. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a certificate in policy journalism and media studies from Duke University. 

Brussels Forum Session: The Road to Vilnius

Jens Stoltenberg has served as NATO Secretary General since 2014. As a former prime minister of Norway and UN special envoy, he has been a strong supporter of greater global and transatlantic cooperation.  

Under Stoltenberg’s leadership, NATO has responded to a more challenging security environment by implementing the largest reinforcement of its collective defense since the Cold War, increasing the readiness of its forces, and deploying combat troops in the eastern part of the alliance. He believes in pursuing credible deterrence and defense while maintaining dialogue with Russia. He has also advocated for increased defense spending, better burden-sharing within the alliance, and a greater focus on innovation.  

Prior to joining NATO, Stoltenberg was the UN special envoy on climate change from 2013 to 2014. He has also chaired UN high-level panels on climate financing and the coherence of development, humanitarian assistance, and environmental policies. 

As prime minister of Norway, Stoltenberg increased defense spending and transformed the Norwegian armed forces with new high-end capabilities and investments. He also signed an agreement with Russia on establishing maritime borders in the Barents and polar seas, ending a 30-year dispute. 

Stoltenberg holds a postgraduate degree in economics from the University of Oslo. After graduating in 1987, he held a research post at the National Statistical Institute of Norway before embarking on a career in Norwegian politics. 

Brussels Forum Session: Part II: The World’s Largest Construction Project—Laying the Foundation at the London Donor Conference

Maria Tadeo is a Brussels-based correspondent for Bloomberg Television where she regularly reports on European politics, economics, and NATO. She has interviewed numerous European leaders and attended high-level summits and conferences as part of her reporting. 

Tadeo graduated with a degree in journalism (first class) and a master’s degree in financial journalism from City University London. She speaks English, Spanish, Italian, and French.

Oleksandr Syenkevych is the mayor of the city of Mykolaiv, Ukraine. He was first elected in 2015, and reelected in 2020. He is the youngest mayor of a major urban center in the country.  

Syenkevych previously served as co-founder and director of Quadrologic IT company. He has earned higher degrees at Petro Mohyla Mykolaiv State University and the Institute for Applied Systems Analysis at the Kyiv Polytechnical Institute. In 2014, he founded the public organization "Holos hromady" (Voice of the Community) in order to take an active part in Mykolaiv city life.