Please join the Russia and Eurasia Program at The Fletcher School for a panel discussion on the role of NGOs in Russian public diplomacy. The panelists include Natalia Burlinova, Founder and President of Creative Diplomacy, and Oleg Shakirov, Program Coordinator at Creative Diplomacy. They will also present Meeting Russia, a public diplomacy program for young leaders from the United States and Europe. Refreshments will be provided. Attendance is by registration only on Eventbrite.

Natalia Burlinova is Founder and President of Creative Diplomacy, a Moscow-based nongovernmental organization committed to developing and supporting civil initiatives in public diplomacy and foreign affairs. She is the author and host of Meeting Russia. She holds a B.A. and an M.A. from MGIMO University and a Ph.D. from the National Research University Higher School of Economics. She worked as an Analyst at the Russian News and Information Agency RIA Novosti (2006-2010) and as Program Director of the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund (2010-2014). She has also worked as an expert at the The Foundation for Historical Outlook and hosted the analytic radio programs on Russian domestic and foreign policy. She has also taught courses on the “Practice of Russia Contemporary Public Diplomacy” and “Soft Power.” She was awarded the Collective Security Treaty Organization medal and has served as a member of Youth Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation.

Oleg Shakirov serves as a Senior Coordinator of Creative Diplomacy and a Consultant of the PIR Center, an independent nongovernmental organization that carries out research, educational programs, public outreach, publishing, and consulting. His expertise lies in Russian foreign policy, European security, the OSCE, and digital diplomacy. He graduated from the South Ural State University (2010) and received a master’s degree from the John Hopkins Schoool of Advanced International Studies (2015). He has worked as a news editor at the International Broadcasting section of Russian News and Information Agency RIA Novosti (2011-2012). He has also interned at the PIR Center (2012) and the United Nations Department for Political Affairs (2014).