With a Masters in international migration and a specialization in conflict and security, as well as years of experience working with migrant and refugee communities, as well as being the daughter of Greek immigrants, Niki has academic and first-hand experience with both the micro and macro implications of migration-related policy and practices.
What is your favorite travel memory?
My favorite travel memories are the moments that I reunite with my family in Greece or Cyprus and get to spend even just a couple days together enjoying the soul-warming beach and sun and their heart-warming company.
One time in particular, when we had dinner with my entire extended family on my mom's side (which is upwards of 30 people including cousins and second cousins!), my closest cousin and I escaped from the chattiness and went for a star-lit walk through the city. We ended up chatting all night about our parents, their hardships to raise us, and, despite how different our lives were, we were family. It's those moments that mean the most and despite being miles away, make me feel at home.
How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?
Beyond the concrete skills related to project management and development (among many others), SB OverSeas has taught me that even a small group of determined and passionate people can make a life-changing difference for thousands. Each time I speak to a person that I meet or hear stories about someone that has supported our programs, it's a story of someone who has seen a need - the passion for helping others and true empathy that drives them to do what is necessary to fill that need.
What is the best story you've heard from a return student?
Returning volunteers often talk about how impressed they are with the resilience and love in the hearts of the children in our classes. Most recently, a volunteer told me about a boy who he described as "an actor," meaning one of the most dynamic and captivating children he's ever met. This experience showed the volunteer that, despite the loss and hardship that the children and families in our centres experience, their love and passion for life is what drives them to move past this difficult time and work towards their future.
If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?
While I spend most of my time in Brussels with the SB Espoir project, spending time in the Ouazi or Bukra Ahla centres with the children, women and youth in our communities allows me to try to begin to understand the power of human resilience - particularly from young people - and how this resilience needs support to grow to allow an individual to flourish.
What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?
While we have a massive responsibility to our community and ambitions to grow them even further, SB OverSeas feels like a small family - people coming together no matter what their individual troubles, to help each other because that's just what we have to do. Not doing something that could help our mission is not an option that exists in our minds. When we come across a problem, we work together to creatively find a way out - it's these moments of problem-solving and collective brainstorming that make me the proudest.
What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?
For us, success comes from hearing stories of perseverance, resilience and growth from the people in our community. It's not a matter of how many children we teach a day, but rather how many of those children finally see a future because they passed the exam to go to public school. It's the woman who feels ownership of and appreciated for her abilities when she creates and sells a hand-made canvas bag or doll. They are not factors, but rather stories of hope that mean success to us.
