Co-founder & COO

Marilena Maragkou holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) and an MSc in International Marketing, and has built a strong career in the development and management of international projects. As a former Young Expert in the Education and Skills cluster of the AU-EU Youth Cooperation Hub, Marilena played a key role in creating, evaluating, and monitoring cross-continental projects. Her extensive background in Project Management spans over ten years, during which she has successfully overseen 30 projects in collaboration with numerous national and global institutions since 2013. In 2018, Marilena co-founded the WE AfriHug project, a pioneering initiative aimed at facilitating mobility between Africa and Europe. Her passion for building strategic partnerships and advancing global cooperation has been a driving force behind her success. Her work was recognized with the Best Digital Changemaker award at the 2024 ALL DIGITAL Awards, where she was honored for leveraging digital tools and technologies to empower citizens in navigating digital transformation. Marilena’s broad skill set includes team and project coordination, budgeting, training, event organization, facilitation, moderation, and stakeholder management, making her a highly valuable asset to any project team, particularly in international cooperation and project management.