Where are they now?
23 editions and 175 countries, the Young Diplomats Forum has brought together people who were already exceptional — and given them the network, credentials and institutional exposure to go further, faster.
From the halls of the EU Commission to the Polish Parliament, from HM Treasury to JPMorgan's cyber intelligence division, YDF alumni are working at the highest levels of diplomacy, law, finance and international security.
Since her first forum, she has built a distinguished career at the intersection of law and security, earning a Master’s in Diplomatic Studies from the University of Oxford. Now serving as a Legal and Compliance Officer for the Government of Ghana, Akua provides critical counsel on counterterrorism, intelligence accountability, and legislative drafting, recently moderating high-level reviews of Ghana’s National Framework for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism. Returning to the forum for London 2025, she brings over eight years of expertise in bridging national security governance with international legal standards, embodying the YDF mission of translating diplomatic dialogue into robust national policy.
YDF Editions: Brussels 2019 · London 2025
Akua (Serwaa) Ampong :Ghana
Legal and Compliance Officer, Government of Ghana · Diplomatic Law and Practice Consultant
Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Poland · Vice-Chair of the NATO Subcommittee
Aleksandra Uznańska-Wiśniewska Poland
YDF Edition: London 2016
Since then, she has built an extraordinary career at the intersection of high-stakes humanitarian aid and national security, serving as a Head of Mission in warzones including Ukraine and Yemen before entering frontline politics. Elected in 2023 as the youngest woman in the Polish Parliament, she now serves as the Vice-Chair of the NATO Subcommittee and Chair of the Polish-US Parliamentary Caucus, where she oversees critical defense legislation and international military cooperation. Aleksandra leads life-saving interventions in hostile environments to shape Poland's contemporary military strategy and regional security policy
YDF edition: London 2016
YDF edition: London 2014
YDF edition: London 2015
YDF editions: London 2016 · Riga 2017 · Kuala Lumpur 2018 · Brussels 2019
YDF edition: London 2016
Second Secretary, UK Mission to the UN, Vienna
Mark Duncan :UK
Mark has built a sophisticated career within the UK Civil Service and international organizations, focusing on high-stakes security, disarmament, and intelligence policy. His professional trajectory includes significant experience at the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) in New York, where he supported the General Assembly's First Committee and developed peace education modules. After further refining his diplomatic skills through roles such as First Committee Advisor at the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan and a research residency at the Russian International Affairs Council in Moscow, Mark transitioned into the British diplomatic corps. Currently serving as the Second Secretary at the UK Mission to the UN in Vienna, he applies his extensive background in international relations and public policy to represent UK interests in the fields of global security and disarmament.
YDF Edition: London 2016
YDF edition: Athens, Greece 2015
YDF: Brussels 2019 (delegate) · Washington DC 2025 (speaker)
YDF edition: London 2015
Head of Monetary Policy, HM Treasury
Polly Sculpher :UK
Since her participation in YDF, Polly has built an influential career within HM Treasury, navigating some of the UK’s most complex economic challenges. She previously served as the Head of Agricultural Trade, advising ministers on Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and WTO sustainability standards, and as a Policy Advisor focusing on the UK’s relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and carbon pricing strategies. Now, as the Head of Monetary Policy, she leads the team advising the Chancellor and the Treasury’s Executive Management Board on the UK’s monetary framework, quantitative easing, and the coordination of fiscal policy with the Bank of England. A dedicated advocate for women in economics, Polly also co-chaired the HM Treasury Women’s Network, recently hosting high-level dialogues with the UK's first female Chancellor to inspire the next generation of leaders in public finance.
Mika Laaksonen: Finland
Secretary for International Affairs, Parliament of Finland (Eduskunta)
He built one of the most distinguished careers in Nordic parliamentary diplomacy. He serves as Secretary to the Finnish Delegation to the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference and Secretary to the Finnish Delegation in the Business and Industry Committee of the Nordic Council — positions that place him at the centre of regional cooperation across Scandinavia and the Baltic states.
His expertise in parliamentary diplomacy extends beyond Finland. Drawing on over a decade of experience bridging national legislatures and international institutions, Mika has gone on to deliver parliamentary diplomacy training to parliamentarians from across the world — taking the skills and networks developed through programmes like YDF into the highest levels of legislative practice.
Director & Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the Prime Cabinet Secretary and CS for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs
Mercy Atieno Odongo :Kenya
Currently serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Prime Cabinet Secretary, she manages high-level strategic visioning and intergovernmental relations at the peak of Kenya's diplomatic infrastructure. Beyond her official duties, Mercy is a prominent voice in African leadership development; she founded the Adaptive Leadership Foundation and serves as a mentor for Harvard Women in Defense, Diplomacy and Development (W3D). Her work sits at the intersection of traditional diplomacy and modern governance, focusing on building cross-sector partnerships and fostering the next generation of emerging African leaders.
Policy Assistant to the Director-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS), European Commission
Maria Vittoria D'Inzeo: Italy
Since her time at the forum, Maria Vittoria has built an impactful career within the European Commission, specializing in the strategic intersection of defense, space technology, and innovation. Having served as a Policy Officer for over eight years in Brussels, she has been deeply involved in fostering the European space ecosystem, including initiatives for space-skilled workforces and the "SPACE4GEO" partnership. In June 2025, she transitioned into her current high-level role as Policy Assistant to the Director-General of DG DEFIS, where she supports the leadership in overseeing the European Union's defense industry and space programs. Her trajectory from a forum assistant to a key policy advisor at the Commission reflects her dedication to advancing Europe’s strategic autonomy and technological edge in the global space economy.
Vice President, Cyber Intelligence · JPMorgan Chase
Samantha Van den ( United States , Netherlands)
She holds a Master's degree from Harvard Kennedy School, where she specialised in behavioural science and public policy, and began her career applying those insights at UNICEF in Geneva and the Harvard Decision Science Laboratory. She then pivoted into cyber threat intelligence — working across Amsterdam, New York, and global teams — rising through roles at Intel 471 and Sony Music Entertainment before joining JPMorgan Chase, one of the world's largest financial institutions, as Vice President for Cyber Intelligence.
She eads intelligence analysis across open source, deep web, and dark web environments, delivering executive briefings on emerging cybercriminal threats and building cross-sector partnerships with institutions including Europol and the Joint Cyber Action Taskforce.
Judicial Assistant, High Court of Justice · Future Barrister at 36 Public & Human Rights
Sarah Stearn: United Kingdom
Sarah first joined the Young Diplomats Forum in London in 2016 as a member of the UK Youth Parliament. She returned for three further editions — Riga, Kuala Lumpur, and Brussels — becoming one of YDF's most dedicated alumni.
After graduating from the London School of Economics in International Relations, she built a career in public policy, working as a Policy Officer and Senior Consultant focused on community regeneration and deprived neighbourhoods — including published research with the APPG for Left Behind Neighbourhoods.
She then made the transition to law, completing the Bar Course with Distinction at the Inns of Court College of Advocacy and winning the Falcon Chambers Civil Advocacy Prize. She is now a Judicial Assistant at the High Court of Justice and will begin pupillage at 36 Public & Human Rights — one of the UK's leading chambers in public and human rights law — in October 2026..
Belgium Mission to UN, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belgium
Priscilla de Schaetzen: Belgium
Priscilla joined the Young Diplomats Forum in London in 2015 while completing her Master’s in Law at the Université catholique de Louvain. This early engagement in the UK diplomatic hub preceded a series of high-level international placements, including a traineeship at the Embassy of Belgium in London, where she focused on the strategic follow-up of the Brexit referendum.
Priscilla served as a Blue Book Trainee within an EU Commissioner’s Cabinet in Brussels before moving to New York to represent Belgium on the global stage. From 2017 to 2020, she served as an Adviser and Sanctions Coordinator at the Permanent Mission of Belgium to the United Nations, managing complex international compliance and security portfolios. Now a career diplomat within the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Priscilla leverages her background in international law and multilateral negotiation to shape Belgium’s foreign policy and global strategic interests.
YDF edition: Washington DC 2025
Director of Climate Policy, The Nature Conservancy · Policy Advisor, Energy & Trade
Mariana Rosales: Costa Rica
Mariana joined the YDF as a practising diplomat — serving at the Embassy of Costa Rica in Washington DC. After completing a Master's in International Relations at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, she joined the Embassy of Costa Rica in Washington DC as Environmental, Economic Policy Advisor and Public Affairs Lead, operating at the level of Minister Counsellor. In that role she worked directly with Congress, the White House, and federal agencies, built coalitions of five governments to influence US trade policy, and led advocacy that secured Costa Rica's designation as one of seven recipients of the $500 million International Technology Security and Innovation Fund under the CHIPS Act.
She then moved into the nonprofit sector as Director of Climate Policy at The Nature Conservancy's Maryland and DC chapter, co-leading a multi-organisation cap-and-invest coalition and serving as the environmental community's appointed representative on the Maryland Department of the Environment's Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Working Group.
Senior Assistant Director, Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), Singapore
Nadia Hassan :Singapore
Currently serving as Senior Assistant Director at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Nadia plays a key role in shaping Singapore’s external economic relations and trade policy. Her participation in the Washington DC forum focused on the intersection of regional trade architectures and global financial stability—areas central to her work at MTI. Her career trajectory reflects a commitment to advancing Singapore’s position as a global economic hub through strategic policy-making and high-level international cooperation.