We’re happy to announce that four new LGBTQI young activists have been co-opted by the IGLYO Board following a call for applications. They will serve as Board Members until October 2022, and will then have the possibility to be re-elected for a two-year mandate by the General Assembly.
The IGLYO Board now consists of 8 dynamic and dedicated LGBTQI young activists from across the Council of Europe Region. As the elected leadership of IGLYO, their role is to oversee the governance of the organisation, represent the membership, and lead and contribute to the strategic direction of our network in collaboration with the Secretariat.
Learn more about the four new Board Members below and feel free to give them a warm welcome!
Quinn is an agender queer activist from Belgium. As a gender and diversity student, they have interned at Transgender Infopunt, working on non-binary content creation. As board member of Wel Jong (an LGBTQ youth association), they are currently involved in a safe(r) space project. Also, they have participated in a project concerning gender-inclusive toilets at a local arts center. Quinn is passionate about research and likes to combine this with trans / non-binary topics, as they believe that knowledge is a key factor in driving change. In their free time, they like to sing, write, and watch animated tv shows.
Born in 1994 and coming from Piraeus, Greece, Spyros is a queer social scientist with a great passion for human rights. His work centers gender and LGBTQI+ people, refugees and asylum seekers, children and youth, as well as education. He has worked in Colour Youth – Athens LGBTQ Youth Community as a Project Manager and Communications Officer for two European projects, one of them regarding safe and inclusive school environments for LGBTQI+ students, the other focused on the access of LGBTQI+ people in Greek public services and health services. He has also worked as educator in a training workshop on the needs of LGBTQI+ refugees for professionals working with displaced populations. Right now, he is working with refugees, coordinating and delivering soft skills trainings. Spyros loves reading books, academic theory, comics and graphic novels, he is an art enthusiast, thrilled by fashion (especially if the garment is shiny or iridescent), and an avid pun-maker.
Ophélie is a French activist who identifies as pansexual. She is based in Brussels but has also lived in Finland and Ireland before. She works for European Alternatives and is involved in various networks promoting democracy values and civic engagement, including the participation of youth in the political process. Ophélie is a volunteer at Bi’Cause, a national organisation fighting for the visibility and the rights of the bisexual & pansexual communities in France. She is also an active volunteer at Gris (Groupe d’intervention scolaire) where she gives workshops based on personal testimony in schools across Belgium. Ophélie is a proud singer in the LGBTQI+ choir Tapalanote.
Aida is a feminist-activist with a 7 years of experience in nonprofit. Currently advocating LBQ womxn’s* rights using grassroots community-based approaches focused on gender mainstreaming, art-activism, wellbeing and self-care. She is a team member of Armenian LBQ womxn’s* organisation Queer Sista Platform, a co-founder of “Girls Talk” young womxn’s* feminist initiative and a Feminist Activist Space’s Coordinator of Women’s Resource Center, Armenia. She is experienced in working with adolescent girls, womxn* and youth. Aida believes the power of feminist approach in tackling discrimination and gender based violence. She is a photography lover, a sketchbooks collector and has her own podcast “Loqsh” (from arm: “boredom”) where she creates episodes on daily, seemingly meaningless life events and feelings.
