Staff

Despina SYMONS
Director
Despina.symons@ebcd.org

Despina Symons, of Greek origin, has been Director and founding Member of the European Bureau for Conservation and Development (EBCD) since its establishment in 1989.

At European level, Despina has been linking the conservation and the scientific communities as well as the private sector to the EU policy makers providing them with expert strategic advice for over twenty years. Furthermore, she has been working closely with several UN bodies such as FAO, CITES, CBD and others.

Despina has been active in IUCN and more particularly in its Marine Programme and the European one. She is Member of the Executive Committee of the IUCN/SSC European Sustainable Use Specialist Groupand Coordinator of its Fisheries Working Group. She is also the founding member and coordinator of the recently established Fisheries Expert Group (FEG) of the IUCN Commission of Ecosystem Management (CEM).

Prior to joining EBCD, Despina worked on fisheries related issues in Madrid (Spain) where she represented the Spanish coastal fishermen to the EU and before that she worked in Canada as a free lance translator for the Secretary of State of Canada.

Mélanie LAMAISON
Public Affairs Manager
melanie.lamaison@ebcd.org

Since November 2010, Mélanie Lamaison, of French origin, has been Public Affairs Manager. Between May 2009 and October 2010, she was European Parliament Liaison Officer. Prior to joining EBCD, Mélanie worked in the Maison de l’Europe in Rennes (France), in charge of teaching European law and making further know the European Union to the citizens. She then worked as International Coordination Officer within DG MARE, where she dealt with the International dimension of the Integrated Maritime Policy.

Mélanie has graduated with a Master 2 in European Law and World Trade Organisation Law from the University of Rennes (France), with a specialisation in maritime transport.

Kathleen LAISSY
European Parliament Policy Officer
kathleen.laissy@ebcd.org

Since January 2010, Kathleen Laissy has been working at EBCD occupying the post of European Parliament Liaison Officer and dealing with relations with ACP states. Prior to joining EBCD, Kathleen worked as a bluebook trainee with the Desk officer for Angola within the Unit for the Relations with the Countries and the Region of Southern Africa (E3) in DG Development at the European Commission. She also did field work and research in Southern and Western Africa and in Brazil.

Kathleen has a European baccalaureate from the European School of Brussels III, a BA in International Relations and Development Studies from the University of Sussex (UK) and a MSC in Development Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Cécile FOUQUET
Fisheries Policy Officer
cecile.fouquet@ebcd.org

Since October 2011 Cécile Fouquet, of French and Spanish origins, has been Fisheries Policy Officer at EBCD. She previously did a 5-months traineeship at the European Commission in DG Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

Cécile holds a Master in Public Affairs from Sciences Po Paris (France) and a post-graduate studies' degree in "European Union politics and administration" from the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium).  She wrote her master's thesis about the evolution of stakeholders' and institutions' position towards the Common Fisheries Policy, in the context of its first revision under Lisbon rules.

Nicolas FEXIS
Office Manager
Nicolas.fexis@ebcd.org

Before joining EBCD in April 2011 as an Office Manager, Nicolas was a team leader and worked on various projects involving process improvements at the Banque La Poste.

Nicolas has a Baccalaureate in Belgian Law, a Masters in Public Administration and an Advances Masters of Interdisciplinary Analysis of the European Construction from the Louvain University. The subject of his master’s thesis concerned the negotiation talks of the Turkish membership to the EU.