Board
The Board ensures accountability and oversees the institute's strategic development. It is composed of seven members each acting in their personal capacity and serving an initial two-year term.
Heiko Thoms is State Secretary for Financial Market Policy, European Policy and International Financial Policy at the German Federal Ministry of Finance, appointed in 2023 by the Federal Minister of Finance, Mr Christian Lindner. He had previously served as German Ambassador to Brazil (2020–2023), as Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to NATO in Brussels (2017–2020) and as Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations in New York (2013–2017). Prior to that, Mr Thoms held positions at the Federal Foreign Office, the German Bundestag, Germany’s Mission to the European Union and its Embassy in Tehran. Mr Thoms studied Law, Islamic Studies and Arabic Studies in Bonn, Cairo, Geneva and Berlin.
Currently a Counseller at the Permanent Delegation of Portugal to the OECD. Rita Faden was the President of the Luso-American Development Foundation (2019-2024), one of Portugal’s largest philanthropic organizations. Before joining FLAD, Ms Faden was the Chief of Staff of Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa (2015–2018). She held senior positions in the Portuguese public administration as Director-General at the Ministries of the Interior, of Justice and of Foreign Affairs. Ms Faden holds a law degree from the University of Lisbon and a postgraduate degree from the Portuguese Catholic University.
Alexandre Adam is a former Europe advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron. Currently, he is the Deputy Head of Cabinet of the President of the European Commission. A member of the French Conseil d'État, he served in the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, at the Permanent Representation of France to the EU and at the French Embassy in Berlin. Mr Adam is a graduate of the College of Europe, Paris-Sorbonne and Strasbourg Law Schools as well as Sciences Po Strasbourg. He is a visiting professor at Sciences Po Paris and the Hertie School in Berlin.
Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl is Director-General at DigitalEurope. During her career she has held international positions at IBM and Oracle as well as with SMEs, building businesses across Europe and China. Ms Bonefeld-Dahl is currently a member of the European Commission’s Industrial Forum, the High-Level Forum on European Standardisation, and the Stakeholder Cybersecurity Certification Group of the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA). She served as a member of numerous high-level Boards and has advised both the Danish government and NATO on digital policy and critical technologies. She is a graduate of the Copenhagen Business School.
Nathalie Errard was appointed Airbus’s Senior Vice-President and Head of Europe and NATO Affairs in 2012. She previously served as the company’s Head of Investor Relations and Financial Communication. Before joining Airbus, she held strategic and business development positions at Technicolor and Aerospatiale, where she participated in the creation of EADS (the future Airbus). Ms Errard is a graduate of France’s Institut Mines-Telecom Business School.
Theodora Gentzis is the Secretary-General and President of the Board of Directors at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As a career diplomat, Ms Gentzis was previously the Director-General for European Affairs at her ministry, a member of the private office of the Belgian Foreign Minister as well as a counsellor in the European Commission on issues related to EU enlargement, the Eastern Partnership and relations between the EU and its neighbours. Ms Gentzis is a graduate of the Faculté Universitaire Saint-Louis and Université Catholique de Louvain.
Jaroslav Kurfürst is the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to France. He was previously Director-General for Europe at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Czechia (2022–2024) and served as bilateral Ambassador to Belgium (2014-2019). In the course of his diplomatic career, he held various managerial positions within the Czech Foreign Service, focusing mainly on security policy and on European and transatlantic issues. Dr Kurfürst, who authored the book The Story of Russian Geopolitics (Příběh ruské geopolitiky, 2019) and several other publications, holds a PhD from the University of Ostrava, where he teaches courses on geopolitics and diplomacy.