
Leadership Team

Alistair Starling
Co-Founder and Managing Director
Alistair Starling is a former UK Diplomat, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, FCO, where he assisted companies to trade and invest internationally for 10 years. He is multilingual, and levers his 20 year private sector / 10 year government sector, Business Development, Design and Innovation experience to achieve results within 1st, 2nd and 3rd sector organisations.
Alistair's native language is English, he is also fluent in Italian and German, plus intermediate French. Alistair worked in the founding teams of other start-ups, in the recruitment sector (The Cambridge Hub), internet design sector (IconMedialab), and therefore understands the pace and focus of the commercial sector.
Alistair led complex government sales development across Europe and Africa for a world famous brand - Cambridge. He has two Master degrees (one from the University of Cambridge), and an Undergraduate Degree in the creative industries.
Alistair is a confident public speaker, has presented numerous times on TV, and fosters active communities of contacts across Europe.

Daniela Abentung
Co-Founder
Daniela is a trained journalist and a political and communication scientist with a focus on international communication and EU affairs. During her 20 years' professional experience she has been diving deep into the miracles and wonders of political environments. She has a strong international network in politics and journalism, in Brussels but also in Germany, Italy and the Middle East, from previous positions.
In her government and stakeholder relations / communication roles for ifo Institute, Allianz SE Europe, Bavarian State Parliament and the European Commission (DG International Cooperation and Development/Joint Research Centre (JRC)), she has developed a strong understanding of outreach communication (internal/external), international change communication, EU affairs, regulatory monitoring and real-life policy-making procedures. Her focus lies on science, international cooperation and development and financial affairs.
Daniela has a big appetite for agile and innovative solutions. Her customer orientation and stakeholder rapport building skills are outstanding. She has a Master degree in European Studies from the University of Bologna and loves complex, international environments. Daniela's native language is German and she is also fluent in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch - and Eurospeak.
Apart from being an excellent writer, she's a confident public speaker and has physically and virtually addressed a variety of audiences.

Michal Gawryl
Co-Founder
Michal Gawryl is qualified in Business Administration with a focus on marketing, planning and innovation management. In his first professional role he worked as Headhunter. Because of this, Michal is well versed in personal and cold calling, as well as negotiating, network building, the care of existing customers and supporting of projects.
He knows how to identify the relevant contacts and how contact should be implemented. In his other professional positions, he worked as a Recruiter in the private and public sectors. This means that Michal fully comprehends the inner workings of governments from his first-hand experience and is able to lever that for our clients.
Michal speaks German and Polish as native languages and is fluent in English, plus is building up his French language skills.
Organisational complexity and the management of multifaceted projects are core competences which Michal also possesses.

Kai Takkis
Operations Manager
Kai is a project manager with working experience both in public and private sector. With her qualification in English Philology, Teacher Training and Translation, she has years of experience in operating and managing her own translation company. Her former employment in the government sector in the field of education has left her with a passion for education, pedagogy, and languages. Combined with her detailed knowledge of private sector operations, she proves to be a valuable addition to the team.

Anton Lammers
Co-Founder
Anton Lammers holds an undergraduate degree in European Politics BA from King's College London and an International Social and Public Policy (Research) MSc from the London School of Economics.
His studies have provided him with elaborate insight into the policy machinery of the EU and its member states. He focussed on education policy in Europe and now employs his academic insight for European Diplomats.
Anton Lammers has mutlitple years of working experience in the NGO and Edtech and Education Policy sectors, across Europe, working alongside his studies. This way he combines academic expertise and practical working experience for European Diplomats. In London Anton levers the location and his networking abilities to create opportunities and insights for European Diplomats.
Along side this, Anton is active volunteer for the Red-Cross and has founded a social initiative tackling educational inequality in his home town.
Anton's native language is German and he is fluent in English, speaks Portuguese and basic French.
Associates
Policy Researchers

Esther Shadrack
Policy Researcher
Esther is currently in her fourth year of bachelor’s in European Studies. She completed a five months exchange program in International business at the university of Universite de Lille in France. She also has a diploma in international relations and diplomacy where she gained a lot of insight on politics and diplomatic issues happening internationally. She has experience in policy analysis and policy research. She would like to sharpen her research skills further and dive deeper into the EU policies. Her native language is Swahili and she is fluent in English. She is also learning French.

Emilio Nevado
Policy Researcher
Emilio has a bachelor in Economics at the University of Alcalá, in Madrid, and he is currently studying at University of Bayreuth his master program, M.A. History and Economics. He did one year of his bachelor at the University of Bamberg as an exchange student and he has done several English courses in Manchester. During his studies he has done research on economic inequality and economic development, and he has been always interested in international relationships He has a native Spanish level, an advanced level of English, he is currently studying german and he has a pre-intermediate level of Italian.

Dilayda Tülübaş
Business Development Intern
Dilayda Tülübaş holds an undergraduate degree in English Literature from Istanbul Yeditepe University. Dilayda has a comparative literature minor and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in British Studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin. She works alongside her studies and has working experience in digital marketing, content creation and management, digital project management, and translation. Following her degree, Dilayda aims to gain experience within communications and digital marketing. Dilayda’s native language is Turkish. She is fluent in English and is currently learning German.