Youth Engagement and Intergenerational Partnerships Co-Chair & West Europe Regional Vice Chair
Email: diana_garlytska@hotmail.com

Diana Garlytska, Co-Chair of the Steering Committee at CoalitionWILD is a young expert who over 8 years of her career in academia has taught in more than a dozen of countries across Europe and Asia. In 2013 from business analytics at HQ of a multinational corporation in Leipzig, Germany, Diana Garlytska transitioned to teaching and research work in Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. Here she has used every opportunity to enhance her knowledge in the field of environmental economics and develop her skills in teaching, project mandated, proposal writing, research, creative writing, and storytelling. Diana has written several workbooks for BA level students and created her author course on ‘Sustainable Business Development’.

Diana Garlytska is IUCN CEC member since 2018, Steering Committee Co-Chair and has been on steering committee of CoalitionWILD since 2019, as well as Federation for European Storytelling consultant since 2022. Thus, her greatest passions are youth engagement in nature conservation, storytelling and academic work. In 2021 Diana Garlytska was a member of Youth workgroup for IUCN Global Youth Summit and co-authored IUCN GYS Outcome Statement. Currently Diana is Youth Task Force member for Stockholm+50 and actively contributes to youth work in environmental policy development. Diana is happiest when traveling and enjoying art in any form.

North America Regional Vice Chair
Email: marie-philippe.ouellet@canada.ca

Marie-Philippe Ouellet is a young professional working in the conservation sector as the Parks Canada Media Relation Officer. Born and raised in Berthierville (Québec, Canada), she has always lived with one foot in the country and one foot in the city, though it was only when she moved to Quebec City for her studies that she began to truly appreciate and prioritize finding balance between urban life and access to nature. She completed her bachelor’s at the Université Laval, and now holds a degree in public communications with a minor in sustainable tourism. 

Marie-Philippe first began her career at Parks Canada as a student in 2017, working as a core member of the Franklin Expedition team to shed light on the tragic story of the expedition and to amplify local Inuit knowledge on the historical shipwrecks. Since then, an amazing array of opportunities within the agency has come her way, from engaging with Canadians on northern national park experiences, to building partnerships and collaborations in the international conservation field, and most recently, serving as a lead organizer and host of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Global Youth Summit in April 2021.  

At the core of all of Marie-Philippe’s work is her passion for empowering young people to meaningfully participate in the conservation sector. She is a proud Student On Ice 2018 Alumni and an Ocean Bridge 2019 Alumni. In 2021, Marie-Philippe received the Micah Messant Young Professional Award of Excellence from the Canadian Parks Council in recognition of her leadership in building the first ever IUCN Global Youth Summit.

As a dreamer who pushes boundaries, Marie-Philippe is constantly following her passions and putting new projects in motion. You are most likely to find her somewhere in the great outdoors, hiding beside her camera, taking in the sunset, or laughing with friends and family.

Regional Vice Chair for North and Co-Chair of Youth Engagement and Intergenerational Partnerships

Email: khallafikenza@gmail.com  Mrs. Kenza Khallafi, is currently the Partnerships Officer and responsible of the education for sustainable programs at the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental protection, a non-profit organization based in Morocco that takes action by raising public awareness and education on sustainable development, especially among the youth.

The past ten years, Kenza has been working closely with the Ministry of education of Morocco on developing ESD projects and programs, on accelerating local level actions to make progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and on Empowering and mobilizing youth from preschool to university. Kenza also work to reinforce cooperation with United nations agencies, international and national organizations and the Hassan II International Center for Environmental Training, the academic branch of the Foundation, launched in 2019, in the areas of environmental education, biodiversity, Action for Climate Empowerment and ocean literacy.

Kenza is member of the Climate Change Competence Center of Morocco (4C) a national platform for dialogue and capacity building for the various actors and a hub for climate change information open to its regional, African, and international environment. Before joining the Foundation, Kenza graduated in Finance from an American University Al Akhawayn based in Ifrane (Morocco) and Bocconi University in Milan (Italy).