Brussels Forum Session: Civil Society’s Role in Building Democratic Resilience: Lessons from Central and Eastern Europe

Zsuzsanna Szelényi is a Hungarian political thinker and foreign policy specialist, program director at the CEU Democracy Institute, author of “Tainted Democracy, Viktor Orbán and the Subversion of Hungary”, and nonresident senior fellow with the Center for European Policy Analysis. She was previously Richard von Weizsäcker fellow at the Robert Bosch Academy and a fellow of the Institute for Human Science’s Europe’s Futures program, conducting research on autocratization in the EU.

Szelényi was a founding member of Together, an opposition party, and served in parliament from 2014 to 2018. She worked at the Council of Europe, developing democracy throughout Europe, including in conflict regions such as the Western Balkans and the Caucasus. She also worked with international organizations in North Africa and Central and Eastern Europe.

Szelenyi started her career as a member of the liberal Fidesz party and served in parliament between 1990 and 1994. She holds master’s degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Corvinus University, and the University of Eotvos Lorand.

Brussels Forum Session: Euro-Atlantic Security and Ukraine: Scenarios for the Future

Arseniy Yatsenyuk is chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum, founder of the Open Ukraine Foundation, and leader of the Narodnyi Front (People’s Front) party. He served as Ukrainian prime minister twice and as foreign minister.

During the 2013-2014 Revolution of Dignity, Yatsenyuk was a leader of the United Opposition and head of the largest opposition faction in parliament. Prior to that, he was a member of parliament and leader of the Front Zmin (Front for Changes) party. From 2007 to 2008, he was speaker of parliament.

Yatsenyuk also held the positions of the first deputy chief of the secretariat of the president of Ukraine, minister for economy, first deputy governor of the Odesa Region, acting chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine, and minister for economy of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. He was also adviser to the chairman and deputy chairman of the board of the AVAL Joint-Stock Postal Pensionary Bank.

Yatsenyuk is a graduate of the Chernivtsi Trade-Economic Institute of Kyiv Trade-Economic University and a graduate of Chernivtsi State University. He holds a PhD from the Ukrainian Bank Academy.

Brussels Forum Session: A Conversation with Darren Woods

Darren Woods joined Exxon Company International in 1992 as a planning analyst. He then held a number of domestic and international assignments for Exxon Company International, ExxonMobil Chemical Company, and ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company.

Woods has been chairman and chief executive officer of ExxonMobil since 2017. He became president and a member of the board of directors in 2016. Prior to that, he held the positions of senior vice president and vice president, and president of ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company. He has also been that company’s vice president of supply and transportation, and director of refining for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

Woods was earlier vice president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company, managing global specialty-chemical businesses. He holds an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University.

Brussels Forum Session: A Conversation with Keith Kellogg & Euro-Atlantic Security and Ukraine: Scenarios for the Future

General Keith Kellogg is assistant to the president and special presidential envoy for Ukraine. During President Donald Trump’s first term, he served as the national security advisor to the vice president and as the executive secretary and chief of staff of the National Security Council. He has co-chaired the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute. A statesman, diplomat, and retired US Army lieutenant general, he has extensive experience in military and foreign affairs, national security, and international business.

Kellogg retired from the military in 2003 after a distinguished 36-year career that included several overseas deployments. He has wide-ranging experience in Europe, the Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa. He is also a noted author and Fox News contributor. He graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in political science and later earned a master’s degree in international studies from Kansas University.

Brussels Forum Session: Euro-Atlantic Security and Ukraine: Scenarios for the Future

Benjamin Haddad is the minister delegate for European affairs in the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Between 2022 and 2024, he represented Paris’ 14th constituency in the National Assembly, where he was a member of the Foreign Affairs and European Affairs committees. He was also spokesman for the National Assembly's Renaissance group, chairman of the body’s France-Ukraine Friendship Group, and vice-chairman of its France-Poland Friendship Group.

Prior to his election to the National Assembly, he was La Republique En Marche's representative in Washington, DC and, before that, the first national secretary of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party. He was also a fellow at the Hudson Institute and director of the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center.

Haddad is the author of “Paradis Perdu: l'Amerique de Trump et la fin des illusions europeennes”. He graduated from Sciences Po Paris and HEC Paris, and he taught international relations at Sciences Po.

Brussels Forum Session: Where Did the Political Center Go?

Sergey Lagodinsky is a German lawyer, author, and member of the European Parliament (Greens/EFA). He is chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation to the EU-Türkiye Joint Parliamentary Committee and the Greens/EFA spokesperson for EU-Türkiye and EU-Russia relations. He is also first vice-chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs and works for the Committee on Foreign Affairs as well as the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs.

Dr. Lagodinsky studied law in Göttingen and public administration at Harvard University. From 2003 to 2008, he served as program director and later as consultant to the Berlin office of the American Jewish Committee. He then worked as a lawyer at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, LLP. From 2012 until joining the European Parliament in 2019, he was director of the department Europe/North America of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Lagodinsky is a regular guest and commentator in numerous media outlets.

Brussels Forum Session: Delivering Democracy at the Local Level

Lucy Okumu is director of communications in the Office of the Vice Provost and Dean of Research at Stanford University. With over 25 years of experience in strategic communications, public policy, and global engagement, she has led high-impact initiatives at top research institutions, including Stanford; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia-based KAUST; and Caltech. Okumu was selected in 2013 for an American Council of Young Political Leaders fellowship to Australia. She is a 2009 Marshall Memorial Fellow.

Brussels Forum Session: Where Did the Political Center Go? 

Bio forthcoming