Despina Gkotsidou is a Program Assistant within the WRI Data Lab Product Studio.

Before joining the WRI, Despina worked at the Civil Society Engagement Department of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). There, she focused on stakeholder engagement and capacity-building projects in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Deeply fascinated by the great outdoors and the blue horizons, Despina finds herself exploring the oceans on a specialized high-latitude expedition yacht on a mission to help fight climate change. As a crew member, she sails to some of the world’s most at-risk coastal communities to research and document the impact of climate change.

Despina holds a Bachelor's degree in International and European Studies from the University of Macedonia (Greece) and an Master’s degree in International Relations from the Queen Mary University of London.