Valia Mitsakis was a program assistant in the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center. Her work currently focuses on various policy issues relating to Southern Europe, the Western Balkans, and Central and Eastern Europe. Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, Mitsakis was an intern for the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary General and a Schuman trainee with the European Parliament focusing on transatlantic affairs. During her undergraduate career she completed internships in the fields of US politics, international affairs, human rights, and media in Washington, DC, and New York.

Mitsakis holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Cambridge, where she was class representative and the founder and executive producer of the policy-oriented podcast, the Cambridge Policy Shop; and a Bachelor of Science from New York University in politics and media culture and communication. She is originally from Greece and is fluent in English and Greek.