NATO Youth Advisory Board
NATO has established a Youth Advisory Board as part of its effort to incorporate youth perspectives from across NATO member and partner countries. The Board members began their programme in March 2025 and will participate in a 10-month engagement focused on interacting with NATO stakeholders, shaping NATO’s public diplomacy initiatives, and contributing to the 2025 NATO Youth Summit.
The Youth Advisory Board will play a key role in the design and delivery of the NATO Youth Summit. From taking on-stage roles such as moderating sessions to contributing behind the scenes—by designing educational side activities during the two-day event—Board members will be actively involved in shaping the Summit experience.
Their involvement in the Summit will be featured across the platforms covering the event, as well as through their personal social media channels, offering a direct window into their contributions and perspectives throughout the programme.
Alexander IANCU
Alexander Iancu is a first-generation Romanian-American studying International Relations and Public Diplomacy. He actively advocates for pro-European and transatlantic partnerships within his community at Oral Roberts University.
He is dedicated to bridging his Eastern European perspective with the foundational NATO principles of peace, democracy, freedom and the rule of law.
He has led youth volunteer programs that have distributed over three million pounds of food to firefighters and victims of the wildfires in California.
He has successfully engaged conservative youth through social media, garnering over three million views of videos on Southern country music celebrities.
Alexander is fluent in English, Spanish, and Romanian and is now studying Russian.
Alice VANDENBERGHE
Alice Vandenberghe is a communications specialist with extensive experience in international organisations, from the World Bank to European institutions. With a strong commitment to youth engagement, she is currently serving as a Communications Coordinator at the Council of Europe Development Bank in Paris.
At the World Bank Group Youth Summit, she led innovative approaches to engage young people in development discourse, with more than 3 thousand young people joining the latest edition of this summit.
Alice also creates accessible content for young people on her own social media on pathways to careers in international organisations, demystifying entry points and application processes.
Alice holds a double Master of Public Administration from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, focusing on the Sustainable Development Goals, and a Master of Science in Innovation, Human Development and Sustainability from the University of Geneva.
Amanda ROUND
Amanda creates engaging and relatable content that resonates with students navigating the challenges of academic life. She has a community of 68K followers on Instagram and 165K on Tik Tok.
Amanda is currently completing her Masters of Science and through her student journey she shares practical advice on study strategies, time management, and staying motivated while balancing coursework, extracurriculars, and a social life.
With her approachable style and positive outlook, Amanda has cultivated a supportive community of students who find both guidance and encouragement in her content.
Daan (Cornelis Willem) CORNELISSEN
Daan truly believes that real impact happens when people come together. This is a mindset he applies every day as an HR Advisor at the Royal Dutch Army as he leads HR training at the Ministry of Defence, promotes diversity and inclusion, and strengthens organisational HR strategy.
Outside his work in the army, he runs ‘Rudimental Drummers’, a business that seeks to unite drumming’s traditions with today’s innovation in order to create exciting and high-quality drumming products. He compliments this project with passionate storytelling and a recognisable brand that has already gained over 25k followers online.
True to his passion for music, he also serves as Director for the Marching Drummers Festival, where through strategic communications and public diplomacy, he has been able to navigate both public and private organisations to help the drummer community grow.
Daan also holds a master’s degree in Public Administration & Public Affairs.
Imane LAKBACHI
Imane Lakbachi is an Indigenous youth and gender equality advocate from Morocco, with a strong academic and professional background in technology and computer science. She currently serves as the Director of Network Engagement at the International Youth Alliance for Family Planning (IYAFP), a global network of young human rights defenders advancing sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice (SRHRJ).
In addition to her role at IYAFP, Imane is the Focal Point for the Digital Transformations for Health Lab (DTH-Lab) at the World Health Organization Youth Council. She is also the Founder of Concealed Narratives, a youth-led initiative that leverages digital advocacy and storytelling to spotlight issues affecting women and girls. Imane further contributes her expertise as a Board Member at PMNCH and a Youth Reference Committee Member at the African Union Office of the Youth Envoy.
Imane is an alumna of several prestigious programmes, including the U.S. Department of State’s Community Engagement Exchange Programme, the Women Deliver Young Leaders Programme, the Fora Network for Change Global Summit, Giving Tuesday’s Starling Collective Fellowship, the Swedish Institute Leader Lab Program, and the Transform Norms Fellowship. In recognition of her contributions to youth leadership and advocacy, she was honored with the Diana Award in 2022.
She is deeply passionate about sustainable development, and collaborates with international NGOs, civil society organizations, and philanthropic foundations to promote meaningful adolescent and youth engagement in global policy processes and key development issues.
Marcelina MACIAG
Marcelina Maciag is a leading voice for youth mental health, engagement, and kindness. She is the founder of Youth Kindness Revolution and the creator of “Blue Box for Youth Mental Health”, an initiative providing a safe, anonymous space in schools for students to seek emotional support and build a culture of empathy.
As President of Youth State Senate of Mazovia (2022-2024), Marcelina led a team of 51 youth representatives and 9 committees, overseeing the execution of 16 projects focused on education, mental health, inclusivity, youth empowerment, and environmental issues.
She is also a chairwoman of the Mental Health Committee within the Council for Dialogue with the Young Generation under the Chancellery of the Prime Minister and served as a Member of the Youth Parliament of Poland.
Recognised for her leadership, she was appointed to UNICEF Poland’s Child and Youth Participation Team by the Ombudsman for Children.
She represents Europe on the TikTok Youth Council, advocating for mental health support across digital platforms.
She has completed educational programs at Yale University, Harvard University, and the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York.
Marek JANIGA
Marek Janiga is a Slovak humanitarian worker and student at Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Law.
After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he organised fundraising efforts during his studies in the US, which he expanded after returning to Slovakia as the founder and director of the NGO United for Help. Marek spent four months at the frontlines, coordinating humanitarian and development projects, and creating a network of NGOs working under the auspices of the Slovak Embassy in Ukraine.
The collective efforts of the NGO network coordinated by Marek managed to fundraise over 300K euros in the first three years of the war. After the collapse of the Kakhovka damn in the Kherson region, he supervised the construction of a humanitarian centre in Kherson. In the summer and winter of 2024, he supervised the construction of another humanitarian centre in Sloviansk, Donetsk region.
Max KLYMENKO
Ukrainian creator Max Klymenko moved to the UK a decade ago and has since earned four university degrees. With a background in corporate consultancy, advertising, and entrepreneurship, he began creating educational content to simplify complex topics for his younger sister. This ethos still guides his work, now for an audience of over 8 million. Covering careers, business, and global affairs, his content reaches over 200 million views per month.
Max has collaborated with Google, the World Bank, and the Financial Times to help them connect with younger audiences. He has also spoken at the World Economic Forum in Davos, COP29, SXSW, and TED, and is on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Michael DOKAS
Michael Dokas is a medical student at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a content creator specialising in short form videos.
On TikTok, he gathers over 320k followers and on Instagram over 60k. Through these platforms, Michael shares his passion for life through engaging content, including topics such as lifestyle, travel, F1 and medicine.
Having a great interest for politics and history, Michael has participated in over five Model UN conferences and engaged in many rhetoric competitions since he was in high school.
Sena CHANG
Sena Chang is a Japanese-Korean activist and journalist. Having lived in three political capitals—Washington, D.C., Seoul, and Tokyo—she has had the unique opportunity of gaining first-hand experience with the complexities of democratic structures and policy development.
Currently, Sena serves on the YouthLED Integrity Advisory Board of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime. As a member of several other educational and climate advocacy groups, including the UN Major Group for Children and Youth (MGCY) and YOUNGO, Sena has spoken and testified at a variety of high-level forums and meetings, including at the UN Headquarters, Microsoft Japan, and the Asia-Pacific ECOSOC Youth Forum.
She also helped co-author the National Youth Statement on Climate for Japan and the U.S., which were presented at COP27 and COP28. She has also served as a Fellow for the Northeast Asia Security Symposium and a Youth Ambassador at the UN Institute for Training and Research. As a result of her work, Sena was awarded the Global Citizenship Award by the East Asia Regional Council of Schools and was named a Global Teen Leader by We Are Family Foundation and Three Dot Dash.
Sena is currently studying at the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University on a pre-law track.
