Announcing My Team

It’s high time to announce my team, which will be working with me in the coming years working for Europe. My office is taking shape and I have so far hired three talented parliamentary assistants for now: Ásta, Fahad and Nana in addition to a communications intern, Magnus.

Digital agenda and equality will be the cornerstone of my work in the next five years in the Europea Parliament, and my new team reflects that!

Ásta Guðrún Helgadóttir: Chief of Staff and Digital Policy Advisor

Ásta is my Chief of staff and Digital policy advisor. Ásta will make sure that everything in the office is running smoothly and advise on digital files, with a particularly eye on IMCO, but also as they come up in JURI or elsewhere. Her expertise lies in copyright, platforms, and intermediary liability as well as freedom of expression and censorship.

Ásta holds a Master degree from Oxford Internet Institute. Her Master thesis was on the human rights implications of mandated automated content filtering and control. She previously was elected for the Icelandic parliament from 2015-2017, but before that she had interned in the European Parliament and worked on ensuring democratic and digital rights in the EU with NGOs, including the Democratic Society and SPARC Europe.

You can follow Ásta on Twitter @asta_fish and if you have any enquiries about the office, digital rights or our work, feel free to send her a line astagudrun.helgadottir [at] europarl.europa.eu

Fahad Saeed: Political and Communication Advisor

Fahad is my political and communication advisor. He will bridge the gaps between the inner workings of the EU and communities in Denmark what is sometimes called communication and media relations. Another responsibility of Fahad’s will be equality policy on LGBTQI+ and minority-rights, assisting me with ensure that equal rights are respected online and offline alike.

Fahad has worked with human rights, with a focus on minority rights for the last 13 years. Fahad is the former Chief of Projects in Mino Danmark, an NGO advocating for minority rights in Denmark, and the Head of Communications in The Danish Center for Conflict Resolution. Furthermore Fahad is the co-founder of Sabaah, Denmark’s only organization for ethnic minority LGBTQI+ people.

If you have any enquiries about our communication, press for the office or work on LGBTQI+ and minority-rights, feel free to send him a line on fahad.saeed (at) europarl.europa.eu

Nana He: Administrative Assistant and Policy Advisor

Nana is my administrative assistant and policy advisor for the FEMM committee. Nana will be ensuring that my day-to-day meetings, correspondence, and various administrative tasks are taken care of. She will also be making sure that transparency is not only something we talk about, but something that is put into practice. Furthermore, she will be my policy advisor for the FEMM committee, focusing on women’s rights and gender equality.

Nana has a Masters degree from the Vrije University in Brussels in New Media and Society of Europe and also holds a degree from Groupe Sup de Co La Rochelle in international business management. Nana has worked in the European Parliament for the past two years on a wide arrange of issues, including women’s rights and transport.

Magnus Lund Nielsen: Communication Intern

Magnus is currently studying rhetorics at the Copenhagen University.

Before turning to political communication Magnus played jazz in Sweden and his voice has been taking the stage all around Copenhagen for the last four years. Meanwhile, Magnus has been working as a rhetorical trainer at Politiken and a digital project lead at the young Danish start-up, Kvalifik. We plan to keep Magnus on board until summer.

HajHaj: Emotional Support Shark

Last but not least, I want to introduce HajHaj. He is the office’s emotional support shark. He lives in the office and ensures that there is a good working envinroment and that everyone is happy! HajHaj moved into the office on the occasion of Karen’s birthday 2019.

Before moving into the office, HajHaj swam around the warm waters of Anderlecht. HajHaj was park of a school of BlåHaj Sharks keeping the fish population down and serving Swedish Meatballs. His parents are still in the kitchen, while his siblings may have found new seas to swim.