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The Symi Symposium a quarter of a century progressive democratic dialogue

Origins and mission: building inclusive democracies on Symi Island

The Symi Symposium started 25 years ago on the Greek island of Symi. It was founded, organised, and continues to be inspired by George Papandreou. It is a loose network of progressive actors in politics, government, academia, civil society and innovative business, which has come together for a week each summer in Greece. The overall theme of the Symi Symposium was and is to build social and inclusive democracies against different types of threats.

An essential element in the success of the Symi Symposium is the mix of progressive actors in politics, government, civil society and business who are invited each year and want to join George Papandreou in an annual reflection about global developments. They are willing to share their experiences, successes and failures with others in a ‘chatham house rules’ situation and are interested to exchange and learn from others present. And to share ideas about topics such as democratic improvement in social ambitions, political campaigns and elections, economic developments, regional tensions (the Western Balkans, Eastern Mediterranean and countries around the Black Sea), the energy transition and climate change, the SDG’s, migration streams, coping with crises such as natural disasters, wars and pandemics and technological innovations in finance, health and artificial intelligence.

Initially the Symi participants were made up of ‘friends of George’, but the network grew as some of them brought others to the table and more peoples were invited each following year. This was an organic process, where some of the participants come every year and some one time participants and newcomers. The participants brought their families which lead to parallel activities for young people being organised, with sometimes groups from a particular country.

From this the idea of the Athenian Youth Academy was born with the idea to engage younger generations keen to participate in civil society and political processes. This lead to the creation of the Symi Network, established in the Netherlands.

If you would like to become a member of this network and actively participate in discussions, reflections, (online-) theme meetings and find support for your own democratic goals please contact us!

Lets build a better democratic inclusive future together!

  • Build and connect networks
  • Embrace and enhance diversity
  • Engage and empower communities
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As an academy for social democracy and justice, we are here to empower and support you in actively participating in civil society and political initiatives!
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Symi has been granted the 'Public Benefit Organisation Status by the Dutch Tax Authorities.

This means that at least 90% of the foundation’s activities serve the public interest. That means that
Donations to the foundation can be tax deductible under Dutch tax law.
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Marilena Koppa, Board member

Marilena Koppa, PhD, is Professor of Comparative Politics at the Department of European, International and Area Studies of Panteion University and author of several articles on Balkan Politics, minority issues, democratization, nationalism and European Security and Defence.
She is an Athens Law school graduate. She obtained her Ph.D on Comparative Politics at Paris–X Nanterre University (1991). For years she worked as a special adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on issues pertaining to European integration and enlargement.

She has been a member of the European Parliament from 2007 to 2014. She was the Coordinator of the S&D Group at the Subcommittee on Security and Defense and also Vice-chairperson of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee..
She has published three books on South-eastern Europe: “A Fragile Democracy: The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia between the past and the future” (Papazisis, Athens, 1994), «The minorities in the post-communist Balkans” (Nea Synora-Livanis, Athens, 1997), «The creation of states in the Balkans» (Nea Synora-Livanis, Athens, 1997). Ιn 2017 she published “CSDP: the history, the institutions, the strategies” (Patakis, Athens).

Her latest books are “The Evolution of the Common Security and Defence Policy. Critical Junctures and the quest for the EU’s Strategic Autonomy” (Palgrave McMillan, St Anthony Series, London, 2022), “The Europeanization of the Balkans” (with N. Tzifakis), (Kallipos publishers, 2024 [in Greek]).

James Ray, Board member

James Ray has worked for over fifty years in business, government, and political consulting, He has worked for investment banks and corporate strategy firms in public finance, economic development, international finance, and import-export promotion. He founded and manages a private partnership. He has worked throughout the world, particularly with focus on China, Japan, and the US.

Early in his career he worked for the US House of Representatives, Committee on the Budget. Washington, DC where he was Administrator, Task Force on the Budget Process. Directed hearings and staff studies of multi-year budget planning, federal credit activities, regulatory budget concept, and general oversight of the Budget Act.

Education: Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in Boston Massachusetts 1982. Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Asian Studies from Amherst College, Amherst Massachusetts 1974. He attended Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, and Claremont McKenna College in Claremont California 1969 to 1973.

Henry Boom, Board member

W. Henry Boom MD is Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center in Ohio, USA. For 35+ years he has been involved in Global Health. He has led multidisciplinary US Federal and Gates Foundation funded tuberculosis (TB) clinical and laboratory research studies in the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa. These studies have made major contributions not only to understanding the human immune response to M. tuberculosis but also on how to better prevent, diagnose and treat TB. His training programs have enabled the training a generation of new infectious diseases investigators and scientists in the US and abroad.

If you need more specifics/detail, can take from this:

W. Henry Boom MD was raised in the Netherlands, attended SciencesPo in Paris before coming to Amherst College in the USA where he met George Papandreou. Went on the Univ. of Rochester for medical school followed by clinical and research training in internal medicine and infectious diseases in Washington DC and Boston before joining the faculty at Case Western Reserve University in 1988.

Gerd Leipold, Board member

Dr. Gerd Leipold, 73, is the Director of Climate Transparency. Leipold studied physics in Munich and Physical Oceanography at the University of Hamburg. He gained his Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg. His PhD advisor was Prof. Klaus Hasselmann, Nobel Prize winner for physics in 2022.

From 1982 to 1987 he was the director of Greenpeace Germany. From 2001 to 2009 he was the Executive Director of Greenpeace International.

He leads Climate Transparency, a global partnership of 16 organisations from 14 countries. Climate Transparency compares the climate action of the G20 countries.

He is Chair of the Board of the University of Applied Science, Biberach, a trustee of the Humboldt – Viadrina School of Governance and a member of the advisory board of the German development organization Welthungerhilfe.

Katarina Sinadinovska, Board member

Katerina Sinadinovska obtained degree in journalism from the St.Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje in 2008. She is currently the assistant – editor in chief of Kapital, a weekly business and political magazine for which she has been working since 2010. She is also an author and editor of the TV project “Agenda 35” broadcasted on the national public television, an educational program about the reforms that will have to be adopted during the negotiation process with the EU.

Before joining Kapital, Katerina worked as a journalist for two TV stations in Skopje – “Kanal 5” and “Alfa TV”. Earlier, from 2004 to 2006 she worked as a journalist in the newspaper Vecer.

In 2015, Katerina was one of the founders of the Council of Media Ethics of Macedonia and elected as a President of the Managing Board. In March 2018, Katerina was re-elected and given a new mandate to run the organization for the next four years.

Katerina Sinadinovska has contributed to professional trainings and conferences on media freedom, media ethics and literacy, and political and economic influence in the media sector, both in the country and abroad.

Sylvia Borren, CFO

Sylvia Borren (20-09-1950) worked all her life within and for civil society organisations, both professionally and as a volunteer.

She volunteered many years for the Dutch and global LGBTI+ and feminist movements.

She worked 5 years as project leader in Health Education, then spent nine years as an organisational consultant/trainer at De Beuk. She served on two Dutch National Government advisory committees (the national Youth Council, and the Advisory Council of International Affairs), sat on the supervisory board of a large mental health institution (Altrecht), co-chaired the Worldconnectors (a Dutch think tank), and led the 'Quality Educators for All' project for the global union ‘Education International’.

Sylvia Borren was and is part of the global anti-poverty movement as director of Oxfam Novib 1994-2008, and co-chair of the Global Call to Action against Poverty. She is now vice-chair of BRAC International, the Bangladeshi development organization.

She was director of Greenpeace Netherlands 2011- 2016, where she helped negotiate the national SER Energy Agreement, and initiated 'The Questionmark', a research organisation that assesses individual food products and supermarkets for environmental footprint, animal welfare, health and workers' rights.

Sylvia Borren is now self-employed ('Working for Justice') and senior strategist for ‘Governance & Integrity’, a company that strengthens integrity systems within government-, health-, education- and civil society organisations.

She is presently chair of the Symi Network Foundation.

Robert van Veen, CFO

Robert van Veen, CFO/COO (Chief Finance Officer and Chief Operations Officer) has the following responsibilities:

  • Ensures an integrated approach to financial and operational management, fitting the organizational development of this Symi Network start-up.

  • Is responsible (with the CEO in the Management Board) for fundraising, financial administration, quality proposals, cost-management and full reporting and accountability processes.

  • Is responsible for the workings of the Integrity System, and timeliness and effectiveness of the internal governance- and external accountability processes.

Robert is an interim manager with an open character and a relentlessly positive and critical mindset. He works from strategic objectives that he translates into pragmatic solutions. In changing environments, Robert is able to bridge the gap between management and the rest of the organization. He leads as a people manager where transparency is key. In addition, Robert has been an enthusiastic firefighter volunteer for almost 30 years and spends a lot of time outdoors hiking or training for triathlons.

Quote #Thisisme

“Supporting people is in my DNA. Hands on as a volunteer at the fire brigade to creating a pleasant working environment where operations and especially finance and reporting are well organized. At the same time keeping my eyes on the world around me. Every little step counts and has an impact in making a positive change to our planet.

Pepé Soomers, 59, CEO

Pepe Soomers, the CEO (Chief Executive Officer), has the following responsibilities:

  • As Strategic Leader develops evidence based-, forward-looking strategies relevant in fast-moving and complex changing civil and political contexts. Develops the Symi Network start-up with organizational courage, compassion, influence and authority. Develops a culture of quality, safety, experimentation, and learning.

  • As Cultural leader ‘lives’ the values and code of conduct of the Symi foundation, is caring and accountable, cultivates relevant collaborative relationships and networks and drives action through authority and sound judgement.

Specific responsibilities as part of the Management Board are:

- Executive leadership and organizational management
- Organizational development and fundraising
- External relations and communications
- Financial and overall accountability
- Integrity and Board governance.

Pepé (Peter-Paul) has worked in the field of psychology and personal development for many years. He has an innate interest in humans and their behaviour. He is also an Neuro Linguistic Master, an Enneagram Master, a Journey therapy Master and Conscious Coach. In his private
practice he coaches people from all walks of life. He has been in the seminar business for many years, teaching personal development skills, personal leadership and communication.

He has been working as a Television Director and Producer for many years after finishing an education in ENG and Studio direction. Again he was mostly interested in the human behaviour traveling the world to interview people from all walks of life. He has made more than 25 Human Interest TV shows and documentaries.

He has also written cookbooks, theater plays and is a very enthusiastic goldsmith and creates bespoke handmade jewellery.