Born and raised in Kazakhstan, I was living in a very ethnically and culturally diverse place. Every year on May 1st, Kazakhstan celebrates People's Unity Day. On Unity Day, I just like any other person, would be going outside and visiting fairs where non-Kazakh residents would share their culture and traditions. This day symbolizes peace and mutual respect that every person in Kazakhstan has for another. Probably, that would be a pivotal factor in my decision to study cultures and apply for a university abroad. That's how I ended up at JAMK University of Applied Sciences and on my academic track, Cross-Cultural Management. Since studying there, I managed to participate in multiple global virtual teams and even spent a whole year in South Korea as a part of my exchange program. Basically, I likes to move a lot.

Besides traveling, I love everything that connects people. I like literature, visual arts, martial arts, music, dance, and I even try to pick up cooking traditional dishes from other countries. Nowadays, I am working on my thesis and I am determined to finish my studies this year of 2022. I am very excited to see what working with diversophy® will bring into my life and curious about projects I will participate in. I am very happy and grateful for the opportunity to grow and assist diversophy® in the incredible work.

Maria has been a PhD researcher at the University of Luxembourg and currently at Tilburg University, The Netherlands investigating attitudes towards multiculturalism and intergroup relations in different countries. Her work in diversophy® involves developing and adapting intercultural training games for professionals working with migrants and refugees.

She has lived and studied in different countries, mostly spent time in Greece, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, and Canada. She has received a master’s degree in Social Psychology from Tilburg University and a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in Greece. She has gained experience working in different settings as a researcher, academic tutor, psychologist and graduate school admissions consultant. She has presented her work in international conferences and has published scientific articles in social and cross-cultural psychology journals. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, reading literature and dancing.

I was born and raised in the south of Austria, where I got to develop a love for nature, different languages and cultures. One year ago, I moved to the capital, Vienna, to study cultural & social anthropology and Romance languages at the University there. Furthermore, I have spent some time abroad in the north of Italy studying and working. My interests also include activism and current political affairs. In my free time I like to do sports in the mountains and do creative activities.

I am very grateful to have the opportunity to work for diversophy®, a company that shares my values.

I was born and raised in Ecuador, since young my interest for cultures and different languages was present because of the diversity that exists in my own country. I joined the ONU club of my high school, where we developed simulations of the assembly of this organism, and allowed me to learn about different realities and ways of thinking around the world.

In 2015 I had the opportunity to travel to USA what helped me to decide to study abroad, and in 2018 I received the acceptance letter of JAMK UAS, and subsequently moved to Finland to pursue a Bachelor’s in Business Administration. Currently I am studying a double degree on ESC Clermont Ferrand on Global Management, and looking forward to see what next adventures life will bring.

I was born and grew up in the beautiful city of Montería, a town with Caribbean flavor in northern Colombia. My interest and passion for cultures are latent from the moment I was born with a mix of indigenous, Spanish, and African roots. Very proud of my cultural background and naturally being a curious mind, I decided to study International Business at Universidad EAN, to have a wider perspective of global dynamics and international flows and seek opportunities to interact with people from all around the world. In 2020 I came to Jyväskylä, Finland to study at JAMK University of Applied Sciences.

One of my hobbies is mixing flavors of different cuisines and create new ones - this is an amazing way to discover different cultures as well. And here I am, continually learning about this infinite world of cultures and identities.

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I am from Los Angeles, California, and I am studying computer science at Oberlin College in Ohio. I am experienced in Python, C/C++, Java, and JavaScript, and I am now learning to work with web development technologies along other things. Being named after the jazz legend Miles Davis, I also have a large passion for music. I play bass, both electric and upright, and piano. I love to play and write for a variety of genre’s as I have had a bunch of amazing mentors from different backgrounds. My favorite, however, must be the time I played in a salsa band.

Growing up in Los Angeles, I grew up speaking some Spanish. Now, I am learning French as a lot of my family comes from Switzerland and I would like to get to know them better.

I was born and grew up in Florence, Italy. Since I was young, I have always been drawn to languages and foreign cultures. To my eyes, languages were codes, and to decode one meant to be able to understand someone who came from far-away places. In time I discovered that communication is not as straightforward as that often times, and that is why I decided to begin my studies in Languages and Intercultural Communication at Edinburgh Napier University.

Having lived in the United Kingdom for three years and met people from around the world during travels and cultural exchanges, I had the opportunity to improve my skills in the foreign languages I attempt to speak, English, French, Spanish, and German. Above all, they challenged me to conceive the world we live in and its diverse realities in ways different to the ones I had got too used to. In hindsight, I can say this process was enriching as it was transformational: I learnt a lot about cultures and interpersonal communication. The benefits for intrapersonal skills were equally enormous.

In my free time, I am studying towards a diploma in Forensic Linguistics, but do not forget to leave screens alone and take a relaxing walk in the green, or maybe pick up a good book and let it carry me, yet again, into other worlds and realities.

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I was born in a small village in Switzerland where my family has always lived. French is my mother tongue and I learned English at school and university. I was always interested in multicultural environments as I do sport where all cultures are mixed and yet we speak the same language.

I am currently in my 3rd year in Bachelor of Science HES-SO in Economy and Services program. I do my Bachelor thesis concerning the Swiss market development for diversophy®.

I am Thai and Italian, but I was born and raised in Switzerland. I have always been fascinated by languages and cultures thanks to my cultural background. I learned French (my native language), German, English, and Thai. In 2016, I had the opportunity to go to Japan for to learn Japanese and about Japanese culture. It was one of the best moments in my life, I could connect with many people with different backgrounds.

In my 3rd year in Bachelor of Science HES-SO in Media Engineering, I will do my Bachelor's Thesis concerning the UX/UI design of diversophy® game in digital form. Thanks to this experience, I decided that I would like to work in a multicultural environment and I would like to understand people's behavior in a business context.

I was born and raised in Slovenia where I pursued a degree in Graphic Design and Photography. Upon attaining the degree I moved to the Netherlands, Groningen, where I am pursuing a degree in International Communication. As a part of my curriculum I was interning at diversophy® focusing on intercultural facilitation, consulting, visual design and creative writing, gaining a deeper comprehension of the diverse conscious and unconscious ways people operate in, growing both professionally and personally.

I believe that understanding how our outer environment influences our inner selves greatly contributes to the way we live. This is essential for understanding ourselves, and others, in order to reach a consensus through effective communication. I am most passionate about making people be compassionate towards themselves, and one another.

I was born and raised in Germany, lived in Australia and Netherlands. I am studying ‘International Communication’ in Groningen a little town in the north of the Netherlands. As part of my curriculum and to improve my intercultural competencies, I went to Jyväskylä, Finland for one semester. At JAMK university in Finland I focused on Leadership, Cross-cultural Management and Intercultural Communication. I improved a lot personally by being surrounded by different cultures.

Another part of my curriculum is an internship abroad. In Finland I met George Simons who taught the class about facilitation practices and intercultural communication. George Simons gave me the opportunity to start my internship at diversophy®.

I was born and raised in a Muslim home in a predominantly Islamic society and culture in Nigeria. I moved to the francophone Republic of Benin as a young adult, where I acquired my BSc in mass communication and journalism. I moved to  Finland to earn a degree in international business at the school of business in JAMK University of Applied Sciences. I have volunteered for several NGOs, working as a teacher for young people and in immigrant centers. I am deeply concerned about social issues and passionate about creating a world where everyone has space and fertile soil on which to thrive and grow to their full potential.

I am a polymath who loves Arts, music, creative writing, poetry, history, theater, photography, philosophy, psychology, creative mindfulness and the natural sciences. I am training to becoming a personal development and life coach, a Mindfulness Meditation teacher and I am writing my first book.

Favorite quote: “To Transform the world, we must first begin with ourselves .” (J Krishnamurti)

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I was born and raised in Russia, Saint-Petersburg. At the age of 18, I decided to change my life and move abroad for my bachelor studies. As a destination I chose Central Finland, a city called Jyväskylä. Studying in English, meeting people from all over the world, and living on my own, changed me completely as a person.

After my first year of studying in JAMK University, I found an internship related to event management. I was in charge of establishing partnerships with different companies and managing the social media channels. In the two years I spent in Jyväskylä, this city has become my second home. For my third year, I had a chance to go further abroad for student exchange, Spain. I adapted to the new culture easily and I enjoyed my stay very much. During my exchange year I decided to expand my working experience with diversophy®, when I had an amazing chance to test my business skills and gain more knowledge about international communication processes.

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I was born in Moscow, Russia. After graduation from the Lyceum of the High School of Economics in Moscow, I entered JAMK University of Applied sciences in Jyväskylä, Finland. There, I studied International Business and actively participated in the New Horizons project development and facilitations. I wrote my Thesis contributing to the development of the Youth game. Later, I was interviewed by George Simons for summer Internship for diversophy®. During the internship, I worked on database management, cards’ development, and digital marketing.

I was born and grew up in Finland. I am studying International Business at JAMK University of Applied Sciences in Jyväskylä, focusing on Cross-Cultural Management and Economics of Competitiveness. I lived in Switzerland, Denmark, and traveled around Europe.

I was first acquainted with diversophy® in my first year of Intercultural Communication studies, when we played version of the diversophy® New Horizons. I found the game extremely well-executed and the lectures presented by George Simons inspired me even more. Last autumn part of our course in Cross-Cultural Management involved facilitating New Horizons with a variety of companies and organizations. This let me a number of new insights for developing diversophy®.