Past
Fellows

Marina Dimova> Bulgaria
Dimova holds a BA in Economics and Government, with a concentration in International Studies from Franklin and Marshall College. She is currently a senior analyst on health care and environmental policy at the Boston-based Analysis Group. Previously she worked in the securities practice of NERA Economic Consulting and as in intern with the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She is a volunteer economic consultant for the Bulgarian-based NGO BankWatch Network, and has undertaken several field study trips around the world to research socio-economic and environmental issues, including to India, Tanzania, Hawaii, New Zealand and Mexico. She will enroll in the Kennedy School’s Master in Public Administration in International Development program in September 2007.

Athanasios Kontogeorgis> Greece
Kontogeorgis studied in the Master in Public Policy program at the Kennedy School. An attorney, Kontogeorgis holds an LLB degree from the University of Athens Law School and an MsC in European Union and Developing Countries from Panteion University. He has served as president of the Greek-European Youth Association, a social and political analyst for the Institute of Strategic and Development Studies and communications coordinator for local chapters of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in Greece. He received his Kennedy School degree in June 2008.
 

Tamas Kowalik> Hungary
Kowalik has over five years of career experience serving in various ministries in Hungary, including as professional adviser to the Ministry of Economy and Transport, speechwriter at the Ministry of Environment and Water, and political adviser to the Ministry of Education. Mr. Kowalik received his BA and MA degrees from the Eotvos Lorand University University of Sciences Faculty of Law, and is currently pursuing a PhD and a law degree from the same university. He graduated from the Kennedy School’s Mason Fellows/Mid-Career Master in Public Administration program in June 2008.
 

Stela Mocan> Moldova
Mocan recently served as Program Officer for the International Republican Institute in Chisinau, Moldova, where she creates democracy building strategies and development programs for political parties and civil society organizations. Prior to that, she held a position as a project manager for the United Nations Development Program in Moldova. She has served as a consultant to the Soros Moldova Foundation and is a Member of the Board of Transparency International’s Moldova Chapter. Mocan holds an undergraduate degree in history from Moldova State University, and conducted post-graduate studies in political science from the National School of Government and Political Studies in Romania. She graduated from the Kennedy School’s Mason Fellows/Mid-Career Master in Public Administration program in June 2008.

Burak Erdenir> Turkey
Erdenir holds a BSc degree from Middle East Technical University, Ankara and an MBA from Georgetown University. He received his PhD in Political Science and Public Administration from Ankara University and has has been teaching at Bilkent University and Ankara University as a part-time lecturer. Erdenir is currently a senior expert at the European Union Secretariat General of the Turkish Prime Ministry, the governmental body which oversees Turkey’s pre-accession process for European Union membership. He is the author of the book European Identity: From Pan-Nationalism to Post-Nationalism and has published many articles on cultural issues and various aspects of Turkey-European Union relationship. Erdenir graduated from the Kennedy School Mason Fellows/Mid-Career Master in Public Administration program in June 2008.
 

2006 Fellowship Awardees

Damir Tokic> Bosnia and Herzegovina
Tokic earned a BA in political science and minor in communication from St. John’s University, Minnesota in May 2006. Prior to studying at the Kennedy School, he completed a training program at the Directorate for European Integrations, Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and an internship at the Washington, D.C.-based public advocacy firm David Turch and Associates. He also worked as a TV game show host at Federal Radio and Television in Sarajevo and as a project manager for the Peace Trails Program (Bosnia and Herzegovina), during which he founded and directed the first post-war paragliding school in his country. Tokic graduated from the Kennedy School with a Master’s in Public Policy in June 2008.

2005 Fellowship Awardees

Nilgun Yankaya> Turkey
Yankaya is a native of Edirne, Turkey and graduated with high honors with a BSE in Operations Research and Financial Engineering and a certificate in Applied Math from Princeton University in 2002. Before enrolling in graduate studies at Harvard, Nilgun worked as a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley's Investment Banking Division and Corporate Finance team, where she worked on Turkey's privatization projects in Turkey, including Turk Telekom as well as the sale of a strategic stake in Garanti Bank to GE. Yankaya earned a joint-degree in the Kennedy School’s Master in Public Administration and International Development program and the Harvard Business School’s MBA program in June 2008.