Tom Trier - Regional Director in the Caucasus and Senior Research Associate (ON LEAVE) Contact Email
Tom Trier is the Senior Research Associate for the European Centre for Minority Issues and has been the
Regional Director of ECMI Caucasus since 2005. With a background in social anthropology, he
specializes in ethno-politics and migration issues in Eastern Europe and the CIS, particularly in
the Caucasus region. For more than a decade, Tom Trier has worked extensively in the Caucasus
region, including the North Caucasus (Ingushetia and Chechnya), Azerbaijan, and Georgia. He is
the author of a wide range of publications and articles on ethno-political issues. He has recently
edited a major study (with Andrei Khanzhin) on the deported Meskhetians, The Meskhetian Turks at a Crossroads:
Integration, Repatriation or Resettlement? (Berlin: LIT, 2007), as well as
written a book on ethno-politics in Abkhazia (with Hedvig Lohm and David Szakonyi) titled Under
Siege: Inter-Ethnic Relations in Abkhazia (London: Hurst & Co., 2010).
Ewa Chylinski – ECMI Senior Adviser and Acting Director for ECMI Caucasus Regional Office Contact Email
Former ECMI HQ deputy director 2004-2011,
she joined the ECMI directly from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw where she was head of programmes
for several years. She has an extensive background in practice-oriented research and field experience in nationalities/minority issues from
the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In addition to her position at the ECMI Caucasus, she continues to advise ECMI on various
programmes, including managing ECMI Belarus project. Ewa Chylinski is particularly engaged in the issue of ratification of the Council
of Europe convention of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages among Council of Europe State parties. She is recently
co-author and co-editor of a major standard analytical work on ECRML “Ready for Ratification” http://www.ecmi.de/publications/category/ecmi-handbooks/
Her academic background includes Eastern Europe area studies and Middle East studies in her capacity of a former Assistant Professor and Researcher
at the Institute of East-West Studies at the University of South Jutland, Denmark. She is occasionally teaching courses at the University of
Flensburg and lecturing at other academic institutions in Europe and beyond.
Giorgi Sordia - Project Researcher Contact Email
Joined the ECMI Caucasus in 2006
Elena Proshikian - Project Assistant Contact Email
Joined the ECMI Caucasus in June, 2012
Mariam Samkharadze - Project Assistant Contact Email
Joined the ECMI Caucasus in 2012
Izabella Osipova - Council of National Minorities Executive Secretary Contact Email
Izabella Osipova is the Executive Secretary of the Council of National Minorities (CNM) under auspices of the Public Defenders
Office of Georgia, which has been supported by ECMI Caucasus since January 2009. From September 2007 onwards she has acted as the
executive secretary of CNM. Prior to this position, she was a correspondent for the Russian news
TV program (First Channel) at the Georgian Public Broadcasting from March 1998 to September 2007.
Seda Melkumyan - Regional Consultant Contact Email
Mrs. Seda Melkumyan joined ECMI Caucasus in May 2005 and is currently employed as a Regional Consultant based in Akhalkalaki,
Samtskhe-Javakheti region. She has an extensive experience of working in different projects of international organizations, such
as the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association (IIZ/DVV) and the European Association
of History Educators. She is responsible for assisting in implementing ECMI Caucasus' initiatives in Samtskhe-Javakheti as well
as liaising with local government and non-governmental organizations working throughout the region.
Tamar Tchelidze - Head of Finance and Administration Contact Email
Tamar Tchelidze joined ECMI Caucasus in 2011, she is responsible for management of all kind of financial and administrative issues. Prior to joining ECMI,
for about eight years Tamar worked at different financial positions in number of international organizations, such as International Republican Institute,
Catholic Relief Service, etc. Tamar earned her BBA at ESM Business School and later on graduated from Free University of Tbilisi with Master of Business
Administration specializing in Finance Management. In addition to this she attended various trainings and workshops in finance management and marketing.
Shota Jugheli - Finance Officer Contact Email
Joined the ECMI Caucasus in 2012
Bakar Lomsadze - Administrative Assistant Contact Email
Bakar Lomsadze joined ECMI Caucasus in 2008 as an intern. After the completion of his internship, he continued the work with ECMI
Caucasus as a web site administrator. In 2010 Bakar moved to the general administration and is now involved in program related
activities. Bakar graduated from Tbilisi Institute of Asia and Africa (TIAA) in 2010 with Master of Social Science in International
Relations. Previously he obtained a bachelor degree in international relations. In 2006 Bakar lived in Damascus, Syria for 1 year,
studying at "Arabic Teaching Institute for non-Arabic Speakers" while attending special course of English language and literature at
the Damascus University. Prior to his assignment as an intern in ECMI Caucasus he was working in the non-governmental organization
"Amagdari" as a project assistant.
Maia Geliashvili - Administrative Assistant Contact Email
Joined the ECMI Caucasus in September 2011
|
|
| Interns |
Natia Ghonghadze - Intern Contact Email
Natia Ghonghadze completed her bachelor degree in Social Sciences at Tbilisi State University and did her Master in Public Administration at
the University of Georgia, School of Business, Economics and Management. During her Master’s thesis Natia worked on the issue of national minorities,
specifically, minorities’ political participation and civil integration. In 2011-2012, Natia has been a beneficiary of Parliamentary Strengthening
Program by National Democratic Institute (NDI) and worked in the Regional Policy, Self-Government and Mountainous Regions Committee at the Parliament
of Georgia. At ECMI, she is now working on the issue of minorities’ political participation and representation as the beneficiary of EWMI G-PAC
Internship Program.
Andrea Peinhopf - Intern Contact Email
Joined ECMI in November, 2012
Andrea Peinhopf holds a Magister (M.A.) in Philosophy from the University of Vienna, and an MSc in Political Theory from the
London School of Economics and Political Science. She spent two semesters at the Russian State University for the Humanities (RGGU).
During her studies she specialized on theoretical problems of secession, nationalism and multiculturalism with a special focus on
the post-Soviet region. At ECMI Andrea is now working on gender issues within Georgia’s ethnic minorities.
|
|
