Biography
Elizabeth V. Kassinis is a humanitarian aid, human rights and development expert with more than 20 years of experience in conflict resolution and economic development in multilateral, bilateral and civil society organizations.
She is currently Executive Manager of Caritas Cyprus, coordinating the operations and activities of a grass-roots, humanitarian organization supporting vulnerable populations, including migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. She is also a consultant to the Nicosia-based Research Center on Interactive Media, Smart Systems and Emerging Technologies (RISE) where she provides strategic guidance to ensure that this EU-funded Teaming project engages Turkish Cypriots effectively as it integrates academic research and industrial innovation to fuel scientific, technological and economic growth across the island.
She has previously served in various positions within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Cyprus from 1998 to 2015, where she was responsible for over $100 million in programming. She designed and implemented initiatives in a variety of areas including private sector development; environmental and cultural heritage management; and intercultural integration and workforce development, engaging the private and public sectors. Before USAID, she worked as a humanitarian affairs officer with Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) at the UN Secretariat in NY.
She has a master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy where she studied Development Economics with a regional focus on the Middle East and she received her bachelor’s degree in government from Cornell University.