AIPFE Mentors 2024
Leonidas Alexandrou
Area of Employment: Training and Development
Leonidas Alexandrou combines a successful background in business with a true passion for identifying, nurturing and releasing the creative potential in young people. Born in South Africa but returning to his Cypriot roots at the age of eight, he brings together his birth country's commitment to innovation and his ancestral homeland's love of family, children and values.
Having held a wide range of leadership roles in the sporting, educational and commercial worlds, it is his mission to empower the new generation of innovators, pioneers and leaders as they navigate the critical early years - but always in the context of a respectful and nurturing environment. "Believe in yourself" was the motto that pushed Leonidas to excel in mentoring young professionals.
Evgenia Chamilou
Area of Employment: Public International Law/Human Rights
Evgenia is a 23-year-old Cypriot and Graduate of LLB Law (Warwick 2020) and LLM with Specialism in Public International Law (LSE 2021). She has a strong interest in diplomacy and international organisations and has obtained work experience from the European Parliament and the Council of Europe.
Currently, she is working as a trainee at the European Court of Human Rights. Beyond her academic and careers background, she identifies herself as an activist, especially in her capacity as a UN Youth Champion for Environment and Peace, her recent nomination as Young European for 2022 and her award as an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society.
She is also the President of the Youth House of Representatives, board member of the Cyprus Youth DiplomaCY and co-founder of Green Deal 4 Cyprus. Currently, she is the Legal Assistant to the Judge of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr Georgios A. Serghides, at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.
Savvas Christodoulou
Area of Employment: Marketing
Savvas Chrstodoulou has 29 years of experience in Marketing, combining knowledge of Strategy and Market research. He studied Business & Economics at Prague University and has worked for International clients in Cyprus, the Middle East and Europe as well as for high end projects in Cyprus such as Aphrodite Hills, Amathus hotels, Limassol Marina and Ayia Napa Marina. Currently, he works at the Nicosia Mall, the largest shopping center in Cyprus as a Marketing Manager.
Olivia Constantinides
Area of Employment: Social Media
As a confused young adult not knowing what to do with her life, Olivia decided to keep herself busy and signed up for a makeup course while working for her family owned business, Constantinides Bakery.
During her participation in the “Star Cyprus” beauty competition in 2014, she was criticised by the judges on live TV for her “extra kilos”. It was at that point that she made a decision to stop taking into account people's judgements and begin her journey towards self-love, helping to empower other women along the way.
Through her own experiences and thoughts, she hopes women will be inspired to accept themselves and ignore the world's judgement.
Xenia Danos
Area of Employment: Education
As a long-term meditator and a born leader, Xenia had to find ways of standing up to cultural and other constraints in order to allow space for her to be herself while learning and developing. She started meditation at the age of 8 and has never stopped since then.
Even though she was diagnosed with dyslexia from an early age, she completed his last 2 degrees on full scholarship and today she’s a Global Expert in Teaching and Learning. She knows for a fact that limitations can shift; people have almost unlimited potential; and that true inner power lies within your authentic self. She’s passionate about guiding women to find their inner power and free themselves into a life of growth, balance and happiness. Currently she offers training workshops and coaching to people ready to unveil their true potential.
Marianna Prokopi-Demetriades
Area of Employment: Biotechnology, cancer research, regenerative medicine
Marianna is a biotech innovator, entrepreneur and Clin. Assoc. Prof. in Research Oncology. Her research focuses on personalized oncology and its translation into innovative solutions for improving the quality of life in cancer patients.
She is co-founder of three biotech companies; RSL Revolutionary Labs (est.2018) develops dermaceuticals for the relief of cancer treatment side effects; Promed Bioscience (est.2017) develops biomaterials for medical applications such as synthesis of artificial tissues; Theramir (est.2016) develops microRNA-personalized therapies and diagnostics for cancer.
She has received numerous awards such as the Cyprus "Life Sciences"Award (2021), the ASBMB conference Award for the therapeutic platform EVmiR (2021), the Madame Figaro “Woman of the Year Innovation” Award (2020), the Peter Baker Award (2009) and the Graduate of the Year Award (2009) from King’s College London.
Marianna volunteers as a mentor for young people in many entrepreneurship programs (Junior Achievement Cyprus, ARIS-Deloitte etc.), was selected as Global Ambassador for Cyprus (WomenTech Network 2022), included in the list "10 Women to watch in 2022" by the Global Woman Network and serves in the scientific advisory board of Europa Donna Cyprus.
Paul Iacovou
Area of Employment: Communications
Paul’s career is a hybrid of the advertising, marketing and entertainment space, producing work for over 25 years in a wide-ranging spectrum from blue-chip companies to the film and music industries.
Paul has been involved in the branding, marketing, advertising and management of many projects throughout his career, advising individuals, companies and organisations on the unique components that help an idea, a product or a service successfully come to life and reach its target audience.
His experience in the entertainment industry has led him to pursue his passion for film, earning him multiple international awards for his recent work as a Film Producer. The recognition he received has allowed him to take an active role in helping to drive the tax-credits scheme for the film industry in Cyprus.
Paul has been successfully running his own companies for more than 30 years. His extensive experience in business, exposure to a wide range of industries, coupled with a very level head and attention to detail, allows him to bring a fresh perspective to any new business idea or working practices.
Paul Koronis
Area of Employment: Consulting, Training, Strategy & Project management
With 20+ years of experience with interdisciplinary teams and spanning industries including B2B, Banking & Finance, the Digital World, and not-for-profit organisations, Paul enjoys blurring the lines between strategy and creativity. He studied at Durham University, graduating with a BSc (Hons) in Natural Sciences (Psychology & Anthropology) and a Masters degree in International & Marketing Management.
Paul is one of the Co-Founders of award-winning T.L. Gardens of the Future (New European Bauhaus Prizes 2022 winner), and eleven-eleven, working with organisations seeking to lead and address uncertainty with agility, building next-generation products, services, and experiences.
He has been involved in the creation and moderation of Lean In Circles in Nicosia. These knowledge-sharing groups act via peer-to-peer interaction, executive education, discussions, and benchmarking, with the aim to empower female managers and team leaders in the workplace.
As the license holder of #TEDxNicosia since 2014, he has curated and produced with his team over 12 events under license by TED.com.
His passion lies in the world of ideas and strongly believes ideas are assets and tools that connect communities, curiosity, initiate meaningful conversations and lead to impact.
Stelios Mitsides
Area of Employment: Business
Stelios is an (EMCC European Mentoring and Coaching Council) Accredited Coach Practitioner Level, since November 2020, practicing Life and Business Coaching. He comes from a Business (BA and MSc) and Psychology (BSc) background and he has been in the corporate world since 2003.
He has a passion for Positivity and Well Being, and is focused, inspired and committed towards guiding people on how to restore balance in their everyday life in a harmonious way. With a Person-Centered coaching approach, he can guide individuals towards finding their inner wisdom, unlocking their unlimited potential and tackling any barriers along the way.
His areas of expertise are setting goals, career development, personal development, managing stress, dating and building healthy relationships. He would love to empower and mentor women simply because he believes in women's limitless capabilities and potential as is inspired by the feminine energy.
Cleo Papadopoulou
Area of Employment: Diversity, Equality & Inclusion
Cleo went to London to study dance but qualified as an accountant instead! She joined PwC in 1992 and ten years and three children later she became the first female partner. Throughout her career, her focus has always been on people. Her favorite quote (and the reason she became an accredited coach and mentor) is: "We leave nothing behind other than the lives of the people we touch and affect positively".
Driven by uncompromising values, she is passionate about Diversity Equality & Inclusion. Being the Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer of PwC Cyprus is not just a role but a mission to accelerate gender equity.
When she’s not working, she’s dancing! Having mastered work/life integration, today she is Zumba Instructor, an active gardener, a lover of interior design, a blog writer as well as a nonstop traveler/explorer.
Monica Ioannidou Polemitis
Area of Employment: Consulting, Investment
Monica has 15+ years of experience leading financial and strategic advisory engagements with large corporates, SMEs, and startups. She is a mentor and a coach in accelerators in Europe and beyond, and as such, she has advised and assisted a large number of startups with their strategy and the securing of financing. Monica has also published on innovation financing, open data, energy & renewables, and technology trends.
Today, she is an Executive Director and Head of Portfolio Management at MAP Fund Management Services and a member of Business Professional Women. As a long term meditator and a born leader, she's had to find ways of standing up to cultural and other constraints in order to allow space for her to be herself while learning and developing. She started meditation at the age of 8 and has never stopped.
Even though she was diagnosed with dyslexia from an early age, she completed her last 2 degrees in full scholarship and today is a Global Expert in Teaching and Learning.
She knows for a fact that limitations can shift; people have almost unlimited potential; and that true inner power lies within your authentic self. She lives to guide women to find their inner power and free themselves into a life of growth, balance and happiness.
