beeEffect Programme 2024: Connect. Act. Impact.
A Year of Leadership, Collaboration and Regional Transformation
The beeEffect Programme 2024 has successfully concluded, marking another impactful year of empowering young professionals across the Western Balkans. Grounded in the values of connection, action, and impact, this year’s edition emphasized leadership, mentorship and regional cooperation.
Connect:
A Dynamic Cohort and Regional Exchange
The 2024 cohort brought together 12 diverse participants (Albania, Turkey, Cyprus, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Greece and Serbia) united by a shared vision of positive change. Through high-level discussions, cross-border collaboration and community-building activities, participants forged strong connections, both professional and personal,that transcend borders.
The programme fostered:
- Community-building among current and future alumni;
- Cross-regional networking to strengthen strategic partnerships;
- Interpersonal and professional ties that will support a generation of changemakers.
Act:
Learning by Doing
With hands-on training and real-world challenges, participants enhanced their leadership capacity, developed actionable social impact initiatives, and engaged with mentors and experts from the region. The beeEffect Programme actively supported the development of future leaders in the Western Balkans and helped shift power to individuals and institutions driving transformation in their communities.
Specifically, one of the priorities of the group sessions this year targeted the development of social impact initiatives, allowing mentees to work together under the guidance of their mentor. This setup not only enhanced teamwork skills but also accelerated the progress by combining the strengths, skills and creativity of all involved. The mentors facilitated this process, ensuring that each mentee’s contributions were valued and that the initiative is both innovative and achievable.
Impact:
A Growing Community with Purpose
At the heart of beeEffect is its vibrant alumni network. This year’s participants were guided by mentors from previous cohorts, ensuring knowledge-sharing, continuity, and long-term impact.
This year, we were excited to introduce a new mentorship model to enhance collaboration and maximise the impact of our program. Instead of the traditional one-on-one mentor-mentee pairing, each mentor worked with two mentees. The mentorship meetings included individual sessions between the mentor and each mentee, as well as joint sessions with both mentees together. During the joint sessions, participants focused on developing their social impact initiative, leveraging the diverse strengths and perspectives within their group to create meaningful change. This collaborative approach succeeded to foster deeper connections, enriching the learning experience, and amplifi ng the overall impact of the program.
The Closing Ceremony
Held from December 13–15, 2024, in Thessaloniki, Greece, the Closing Ceremony brought together participants, mentors, the programme team, EFB Board Alumni, and past generations of beeEffect graduates.
Event Highlights:
- Participants showcased their growth, teamwork, and lessons learned.
- Thought-provoking discussions on mentorship and leadership strengthened the community bond.
- Recognition of Excellence:
- Best social impact initiative: Pair: Georgiana Horobeanu (Romania) & Tijana Savić (Serbia),mentored by Faris Godinjak (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
- Best Mentorship Pair: Georgiana Horobeanu (Romania) & Tijana Savić (Serbia), mentored by Faris Godinjak (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
- Social Media Bee Award: Stephania Zourka (Greece).
Twelve new graduates officially joined the beeEFB Alumni Network and the Robert Bosch Alumni Network, further expanding the beeEffect community.
Looking Ahead
The beeEffect Programme continues to thrive as a platform for empowering young leaders, strengthening regional cooperation, and driving meaningful change. With every cohort, its impact multiplies, fostering a future where the Western Balkans is shaped by visionary, connected, and action-oriented individuals.
Stay tuned for the next edition and ways to get involved in this dynamic and purpose-driven community.
beeEffect Programme Team
Konstantina Karydi
Konstantina Karydi is a Policy and Urban Affairs professional with a background in political science and European affairs. She is holder of the international Executive Masters Innovative Governance of Large Urban Systems from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland and the MSc on European Public Policy from University College London (UCL), UK. Her recent work is on Global Urban Development and Resilience working as Senior Advisor and Europe Representative to Resilient Cities Catalyst (RCC) and Urban Affairs Expert for the European Commission. In these capacities, she is co-founder and Deputy Head of the Climate Change Hub, an ambitious initiative to accelerate climate transformation through knowledge development, ecosystem building and capacity in Greece and SE Europe.
She has extensive comparative experience on urban development globally with a focus in the Mediterranean and Balkan regions. Previously she worked for 10 years in the areas of civic engagement and civil society growth in the Balkans and the Black Sea. She is co-founder of the regional organisation Balkans Beyond Borders (BBB) focusing on Balkan integration and peace-building through culture. She has participated in the EFB Leadership Development Programme (LDP) 2008/2009 and was mentor in the first edition of the beeEffect programme 2022/2023.
Migena Kalthi Karaj
Migena Kalthi Karaj is an EFB Fellow since year 2008 from the Fellowship Programme for Government officials Supporting Excellence and Leadership in Governance”.
Migena has acquired close to 20 years of experience as staff member of Public Administration in the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Albania. Her experience spans from trade facilitation issues, regulatory reform, risk analyses and recently she is directly involved for the implementation of the EU projects. She possesses knowledge in designing monitoring and evaluation tools, e- commerce and EU financial management and procurement procedures. Currently she serves as Head of Sector for Financial Management for IPA Funds and CBC, Directorate for Financial Management of IPA and First Level Control for ETCP in the Ministry of Finance and Economy.
Migena holds two degrees, a Master of Science in Business Administration and Master of Professional in Public Right from the University of Tirana She also hold a Diploma from World Trade Organisation on Trade Policy field. On October 2022 she obtained the lawyer’s licences by the National Chamber of Advocates. She has attended various traineeship in international institutions such as SEACEN (Malaysia), WTO (Switzerland), RIPA international (England) etc.
Chrysa Petala
Chrysa Petala is co-founder and the main Project Manager of the innovation agency Among, specializing in Facilitating and Visual Notetaking. She has implemented dozens of workshops and more than 30 projects in Greece and abroad. Optimistic and creative, with professional experience in the socio-cultural field and with a special interest in innovative management and a people-centered approach.
She studied Accounting and Finance and is certified in Service Design by IDEO. Economist by profession and social entrepreneur at heart, she best combines rationality with creativity, offering clients the support they need the most. At the same time, she is a member of networks such as Culture for Change, beeEFB and Humanity in Action. She was participant in the first edition of the beeEffect programme 2022/2023.
Bojana Marinkovic
Bojana Marinkovic, (LL.B.) Belgrade, (LL.M.) Newcastle is a fully qualified lawyer, chess player, and activist from Serbia. She received a prestigious Chevening Scholarship, where she has been recognized for outstanding leadership and influencing skills. She is a member of various alumni networks, European Fund for the Balkans' beeEFB Alumni Network (participant in the first edition of the beeEffect programe), Robert Bosch Stiftung Alumni Network, the the American Chamber of Commerce, and The Fund for American Studies. As a Lecturer of Law at the university in the UK, she taught and mentored students on various topics, such as International Commercial Law, Business Law, and Human Rights. She is passionate about analysing the legal aspects of technological developments and has recently conducted research exploring the impact of AI on privacy matters. She has also been involved in various causes, such as advocating and promoting youth activism. She hopes to use her legal expertise to make a positive impact in her community and beyond.
Mariola Çeku
Currently working at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs at the department of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora. Mariola Çeku holds a Bachelor degree in Political Science from the American University of Athens, and a Master Degree in Democracy and Human Rights from University of Sarajevo and Bologna University. She is a steering board member of European Digital Diplomacy Exchange and part of CEE HER network, advocating for the empowerment of women in foreign policy. Previously engaged with different governmental institutions including the Albanian Embassy in Greece, Prime Minister’s Office and DEI in BiH. Served as Executive Board member of JEF Albania. Main fields of expertise are digital diplomacy, EU integration, security & stability of the WB, and Human rights. Her main objective is the empowerment of women in foreign affairs. Proud BeeEffect Alumna, generation 2022/2023.
