Pascal Roelcke – President
Before coming to London, Pascal worked in different international organisations and NGOs in Switzerland with a focus on Media Development and Foreigners and Asylum Law. He holds an MA in Postcolonial Studies from SOAS, University of London and a BA in International Relations from the University of Geneva and the Galatasaray University in Istanbul.
[email protected] | @Pascal_Roelcke
John McStravick – Vice-President
When not involved with Agora, John is a Senior Political Analyst working on Brexit. He has a background in political research, having spent time in the think tank and NGO sectors. He holds an MA in International Relations and European Politics from the University of Bath, and previously studied in York and Regensburg, Germany. His interests include European security, European Union politics, and geopolitical trends.
[email protected] | @JS_McStravick
Kathrin Wartmann – Treasurer
Kathrin brings several years of political grassroots and think tank experience to Agora. She used to work for Foraus – Switzerland’s first and only grassroots think tank and Agora’s sister organisation in Zurich – and she is a co-founder and former member of the board of Operation Libero, a Swiss political movement with over 1000 members. Today, Kathrin works as an analyst for a consultancy specialised in political, sustainability, and stakeholder risks facing natural resource investments. She holds an MSc in Security Studies from UCL.
[email protected] | @KathrinWartmann
Dan Fitter – Head of Defence & Security Programme
Dan leads the Defence & Security Programme at Agora. He holds an MSc in International Relations from the LSE and a BA in German and Russian from the University of Bristol. Dan’s research interests include UK-European future partnership policy, CSDP, and Russian foreign policy. Outside of Agora, Dan works in strategy consulting.
[email protected] | @fitter_dan
Abigail Watson
Outside of Agora, Abigail is a research officer in a charity focusing on defence issues. She has worked in charities and think tanks in London for the last two years. Abigail holds an MA (with Distinction) in Contemporary European Studies, with a trans-Atlantic track, from the University of Bath and a BA in Politics from the University of York.
[email protected] | @Abigail_Watson7
Fabio Orlando
Fabio works as a research analyst for Japanese government organisations and companies, focusing mostly on energy policies and regulations. Prior to this, he has gained experience in Brussels in research and policy monitoring on energy and climate change issues. He holds an MA in European Studies from the University of Bologna, having studied also in Argentina and Denmark. Besides his native Italian, he is fluent in English, French and Spanish, has a good knowledge of Portuguese and he is currently learning Japanese.
Nina Khamsy – Head of Migration Programme
Nina leads the Migration Programme at Agora and is currently reading an MPhil in Social Anthropology at Oxford University, specialising on migration and refugee studies. She holds an MA in Middle Easter Studies from SOAS, University of London and a BA in International Relations from the University of Geneva. In the last few years she worked for the SOAS Education Outreach Programme and managed projects on refugees’ integration in the UK for several charities based in London.
Caroline Burleigh – Head of Identities Programme
Caroline Burleigh holds a BA in political science from the Free University of Brussels and York University in Toronto. She moved to London to pursue her MA in International Political Economy at King’s College and now heads the Agora Identities group, alongside working for a diplomatic mission. Hailing from Luxembourg – a tiny multicultural country in the heart of Europe – she considers this a pressing topic that is frequently overlooked in foreign policy debates.
Julian Göpffarth – Co-head of Europe Programme
Apart from working for Agora, Julian is a PhD candidate at the LSE. He holds an MA in European Studies from Sciences Po Paris and the LSE and previously studied in Weimar, Lyon and Istanbul. Prior to his PhD, he worked for the European Parliamentary Research Service and the European Parliament. His research interests include nationalist ideologies, European politics and philosophy.
Theebika Shanmugarasa – Co-head of Europe Programme
Theebika is a Research Executive at Ipsos MORI’s Social Research Institute. She primarily works on policies concerning employment, welfare, and skills, which includes research on Brexit. She is also currently part of the evaluation team, conducting research on the refugee resettlement schemes in the UK. She has previously worked in charities, the civil service and the US embassy. Theebika holds an MA in Contemporary European Studies from the University of Bath. She speaks fluent German and Tamil, with a good knowledge of French and Spanish.
Laura Knöpfel
Laura is a PhD candidate and visiting lecturer at King’s College London. She just spent several months in the Colombian coal mining region for her research on the accountability of commodity enterprises. Previously she worked for various human rights organisations in Switzerland and Colombia. She holds a MSc in Law and Anthropology from the LSE, and a BA in Social Sciences and Law from the University of Bern. Laura is a long-time member of Foraus and has published on EU-Swiss relations, Islam in Switzerland, and the Corporate Justice Initiative.
[email protected] | @KnoepfelL
Florian Schaffner – Head of the Oxford Regional Group
Florian is a doctoral student in Politics at Balliol College, University of Oxford. Having been involved with co-founding Agora since 2016, he is currently leading the Oxford Regional Group. Florian holds an MSc in Comparative Politics from the LSE, and a BA in Social Sciences from the University of Zurich. Before starting his doctorate he gained work experience at the Embassy of Switzerland in Australia.
[email protected] | @FloSchaffner
As a grassroots think tank, Agora is only made possible as a result of the ideas and energy of countless people. Our thanks go to everyone who has contributed to our project, and we hope that our number will continue to grow.