Who We Are

Doriana Forleo – Communications and Events Director

Passionate about communications and fascinated by technology, Doriana joined CLERENS Communications and Events department in 2017, and now she is the department director. She has been working on communications projects and events in a wide range of fields, including energy storage, waste management, circular economy, and urban development. She has extensive experience in event management and is a certified online meeting designer.

Doriana has an academic background in International Relations and Sustainability and a sound experience with event management and traditional and digital communications. She is Italian and speaks English, French and German.

Maria Carbonell – Consultant

María Carbonell holds a degree in Marketing along with a master’s degree in Neuromarketing and Customer Behavior sciences. She is passionate about digital marketing, advertisement and social media. She has been working in communications and marketing for several EU-funded projects, and additionally, she has been a leader of communications for a non-profit organization within the healthcare sector. Among other professional experiences, she kicked off her own entrepreneur project in 2020 with a concise mission aiming at the ease of developing communication and marketing strategies for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with efficient and ad-hoc solutions.

Maria joined CLERENS in 2022 as a Communications Consultant to get involved and contribute to the in-house communications team. Her main responsibilities range from social media management to event organization and branding. She is eager to learn more about the energy transition roadmap with its challenges and applications, which strongly consolidates the base for a greener and more sustainable future in Europe. In her spare time, María enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, ‘Latino dances’ and gastronomical testing experiences. She is Spanish and speaks English.

David Twomey – Consultant

David joined CLERENS in 2023 as a Communications Consultant. He has worked in a variety of communications and marketing roles in Brussels over the past 5 years. He has extensive experience in delivering targeted messages to a desired target audience and is passionate about crafting engaging and memorable communications. He will bring his creative mindset along with his skills in SEO, copywriting, social media and project management to CLERENS.

David holds a Master’s Degree in International Business from Technology University Dublin. He is a native English Speaker and also speaks French and Spanish at a high level.

Valentina Ferrara –  Communications Manager

Valentina joined CLERENS in 2021 as a communications consultant. She worked for several organisations in Brussels gaining expertise in different communication angles, such as campaign creations, social media management and branding. As a true communication nerd, she is not intimidated by the continuous evolution of communications tools, quite the opposite: she likes to keep updated with emerging trends. She is eager to apply and develop her communications skills in CLERENS.

Valentina holds a degree in Communications Sciences from Università Degli Studi di Milano and a Master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs from Università di Bologna. She is Italian and speaks English and French.

Païline Caroni – Consultant

Païline joined CLERENS in 2022 after working for several years in communications and event management in the innovation consulting and energy industries. Her strong interest in energy technologies and her confidence that the energy transition will provide solutions to a variety of global issues has led her to undertake a role focused essentially on communication in the energy sector.

Païline has a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and studied an Executive Master’s in EU Communication and Policy in Brussels. Her international background is what guided her to Brussels, where she has been living for almost ten years. Païline is French and bilingual in English and French.

Fatima Ahmed – Consultant

Fatima joined Clerens in 2023 as a Communications Consultant. Over the past few years, she has honed her marketing and communication skills while working at EU and global levels. In addition to creating professional content, she also prepared impactful communications strategies. She is also a social media analyst, and has a keen eye for evaluating and reporting on online performance, as well as being creative and innovative, always on the lookout for the latest trends.

Fatima speaks English (native), Tigrinya, which is a language from an indigenous region in Ethiopia and Eritrea, Arabic (proficient) and beginner-level French. She has an academic background in International Relations and Journalism and Media, and in her free time, she enjoys hiking, travelling, and working on her nutrition blog.

Silvia Williams –  Events Manager

Silvia joined CLERENS in January 2023 after having built a strong experience in communication and events management worldwide and in both private and public sectors, for companies as well as associations. She masters all types of events, in person, hybrid and virtual. Her work experience made her comfortable with cooperating with EU Institutions and on technical issues/products, also in RD&I domain, with a customer-oriented approach. 

Silvia holds a Master Degree in International Management from the University of Bologna. Moreover, she acquired the Prince2 certification in Project Management. She is Italian and has lived in several cities outside her home country, such as London, Dublin, Sydney, before choosing Brussels has her home. You can approach Silvia in Italian, English, French, and Spanish.

Elina Cirule – Junior Consultant

Elina joined the CLERENS Project team in 2020 and worked with the management of 3 EU-funded projects on energy transition in research, innovation and technology. With the experience of managing communication activities at the European project level, Elina is currently involved in activities of the Communication and Events team.

Before joining CLERENS, Elina obtained a Bachelor’s degree of Social Science in European Studies and a Master’s degree of Social Science in Comparative Public Policy and Welfare studies in Denmark. She is from Latvia and speaks English and German.

Elizaveta Kuzmina – Junior Consultant

Elizaveta supports the communication activities for EU-funded projects as Junior Consultant since January 2023. She joined the CLERENS team as Communications and Events Assistant in June 2022 when she worked for the Batteries European Partnership Association (BEPA). Previously, she worked as a Marketing Advisor and Event Manager Assistant in both public and private sectors.

Elizaveta holds Bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Public Relations. She is passionate about Digital Marketing, Social Media, and SEO, which led her to study “Strategies of Digital Marketing”. Elizaveta moved to Brussels in 2016. She is Russian and she can speak Russian, English, French, Dutch and Spanish

Paolo Nouvion – Senior Consultant

Paolo is a Senior Communications consultant and joined CLRENS in 2018. Graduated in Journalism and Political Science, Paolo has a longstanding and multifaceted experience in communications, ranging from media relationships to communications of EU projects, from association promotion to events management. He’s always keen on diving into new topics to improve his knowledge and diversify his tasks.

He has been living in Brussels since 2016, where he likes the multiple opportunities and the thriving cultural life. Paolo is Italian and speaks English and French.

Elisabetta Frisaldi – Consultant

Elisabetta has joined CLERENS in June 2021 as Communications Consultant. Possessing a BA in Communications and Media studies, Creative Writing and Journalism from John Cabot University (Rome) and a Post Graduate diploma attained from Instituto Europeo di Design Roma (IED), she possesses a well-honed theoretical knowledge within the Communications domain.

She has worked as Content Marketer and Communications Specialist for almost three years in a consultancy with one of the leading players in the renewable energy landscape; she thus became a skilled storyteller and grew passionate about advanced technologies that can streamline energy processes and contribute to building a cleaner economy.

Elisabetta is half Italian and half French and can speak Italian, English and French. She is a sports addict and a fervid vegetarian, animalist and environmentalist, always on the lookout for opportunities to promote awareness around the need to fight against climate change.

Mashood Nasir – Project Manager

Mashood did his PhD in Electrical Engineering in 2018 with a focus on developing solutions for energy poverty in non-electrified communities. During his postdoctoral fellowship at Aalborg University (AAU) Denmark, he was extensively involved in proposing, managing, and coordinating funded projects by European Commission (EC), Danish Development Agency (DANIDA), and Innovation Fund Denmark (IFD). He served as the main technical coordinator from AAU for the EU H2020 ASSET project. He has more than 10 years of teaching and research experience. He has a diverse research profile and more than 50 scientific publications including research articles, book chapters, proposals, and patents in the areas of power systems, power electronics, rural electrification, grid integration of alternate energy resources, electrochemical energy conversion and battery storage systems, AC/DC/Hybrid Microgrids, and innovative teaching and learning pedagogies. He is inspired to contribute to excellence in energy transition through education, research, and innovation actions. Mashood speaks English, Urdu, Punjabi, and basic level Danish. In his free time, he likes to read books and play badminton.

Maria Mazuera – Energy Engineer Consultant

Maria joined the Project Management Team in 2023 as an Energy Engineer Consultant to work in the proposal creation of Horizon Europe projects. She is a mechatronic engineer and obtained a Master Degree in Sustainable Energy Systems from KTH and Politecnico di Torino. In the past, she has worked as a coordinator developing energy efficiency projects for the retail and industrial sector. She is passionate about contributing to the energy transition and the decarbonization of the environment.

Maria enjoys reading, traveling, and a good cup of coffee. She is from Colombia and speaks English and a bit of Italian.

Stefani Krečar – Consultant

Being passionate about external funding opportunities, Stefani has been helping various stakeholders in their journey of acquiring and managing EU funds for over six years. She joined CLERENS’ project management team in November 2022. Her beginnings are related to Serbia and its neighbouring countries, where she successfully designed and implemented a few significant projects in the INTERREG environment. After moving to Belgium, the majority of her work was related to Erasmus and Horizon projects, especially in financial matters. She has a university degree in European Economics and Business. She enjoys sports activities, especially when performed in an outdoor setting. From time to time, she runs a half-marathon in a new city. Her native language is Serbian, and she speaks English and basic Dutch.

Claire Lemaire – Junior Consultant

Claire joined the CLERENS Project Management team in 2021. She is a junior consultant and manages three EU-funded projects on new battery technology and energy storage. Before joining CLERENS, Claire worked as a junior consultant for a non-profit organisation where she gathered experience in project management and advocacy in the field of international development. She is eager to broaden her knowledge and skills on the topic of energy transition.
Claire holds a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences from Erasmus University Rotterdam, a Master’s degree in Political Science from Leiden Universiteit and an Advanced Master’s degree in Management of International Programmes, with a specialisation in advocacy from the Institute of International and Strategic Relations in Paris. She is French and speaks English and Dutch.

Shenja Ruthenberg- Consultant

Shenja Ruthenberg joined CLERENS in 2020 as a project management consultant, supporting the management of European projects and proposal writing with the aim of building trust and know-how among European partners. Prior to joining the team, she has worked with transnational development in two Interreg programmes, where she developed, assessed and monitored a portfolio of European projects in the low carbon and resource efficiency themes. She has been working as project manager for private and public stakeholders, having been involved in the acquisition of two European projects on cross-border smart grid development (CEF) and on peak shaving (Interreg).

Shenja has a Bachelor’s degree in Cultural Sciences from the European University-Viadrina and a Master’s degree in International Business from the University of Orleans. She is German and speaks English, French and Russia.

Adeola Adeoti – Junior Consultant

Adeola joined the Project Management team in 2021 and is working as a Junior Consultant. She is currently involved in the management of three EU-funded projects on battery-related R&I, and energy storage. In addition, she supports the planning and implementation of communication activities related to the EU-funded projects and tenders in which CLERENS is involved.

Adeola joined CLERENS as a Communications and Events Assistant in March 2021, after concluding her studies in Multilingual Communication and International Relations at the Free University of Brussels (ULB). She speaks English, French, Dutch, Yoruba, and basic-level German.

Martin Bracken – Consultant

Passionate about the energy transition and eager to learn of the pivotal role of European industry in it, Martin joined CLERENS in 2020.

Martin has an academic background in Chemistry at King’s College London and finished his degree with a thesis on carbon capture and utilisation (CCU). Since joining CLERENS, he has participated in various areas of the consultancy such as supporting advocacy on policies related to waste management, renewable energy and CCUS, supporting EU-funded projects on Smart Grids (ETIP SNET, BRIDGE) and developing project proposals for the EU ETS Innovation Fund. He is Irish and Spanish but was born and raised in Belgium. He is trilingual in English, Spanish and French, and has conversational Dutch and Italian at his disposal.

Lucia Sardone – Junior Consultant

Lucia is a Junior Consultant currently working on three EU-funded projects on battery research and innovation and energy storage, also supporting the project management team with proposal writing.

Before joining CLERENS as an Assistant Project in May 2021, Lucia worked as an intern for the Italian Embassy in Zagreb; then, she did a volunteering project about renewable and sustainable energy in Finland. She holds a Master’s Degree in Sustainable Development from the University of Milan and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Law from the University of Bari.

Lucia is Italian and speaks English and a bit of Spanish and French.