Scientific Director
Xenophon Contiades
Xenophon Contiades is Professor of Public and Social Law. He is also Scientific Director of the Themistokles & Dimitris Tsatsos Foundation – Centre for European Constitutional Law (since 1995). He has published 30 monographies in public and European law, over one hundred fifty articles in the Greek, English and German languages in the fields of public law, social security, and EU law. He has participated as scientific coordinator, researcher or expert in many international research, instititution building and technical assistance projects worldwide.
Executive Director – Scientific project manager
Maria Mousmouti
Maria’s work throughout the years consists in supporting, documenting and assisting reform initiatives through research and capacity-building in areas related to judicial independence, public administration reform, constitutional reform, human rights and quality of regulatory systems and legislation. She has actively worked in more than 20 countries in Southern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia.
She holds a degree in law (University of Athens), a post-graduate degree in comparative social security law (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) and a PhD in law and legislative studies (University of London). She has a broad specialisation in different aspects of legislating and quality of legislation, having followed specialised courses on regulatory impact assessments (College of Europe), Legislative Drafting (Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London) and having worked extensively on projects aiming to make legislation simpler and more accessible, introduce evidence-based methods in legislating and reduce bureaucracy-related costs. Her doctoral research focused on the effectiveness of legislation and the ways in which it can be promoted, particularly with regard to human rights legislation.
Maria is a lawyer called before the Bar of Athens since 2000 and served as Research Associate to the (late) Member of European Parliament Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Dimitris Th. Tsatsos (2002-2004). She has been cooperating with the Centre for European Constitutional Law since 1999, having worked there as project manager (1999-2002), as Director of International Projects (2002-2007) and as Executive Director (2007- today).
Director of International Projects
Dimitra Malandraki
Dimitra Malandraki holds a degree in Balkan Studies from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a postgraduate degree in Southeast European Studies: Politics, History, Economics from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She has been working on management of national and European programs since 2005 and possesses more than 10 years of experience in the design and implementation of large technical, institutional assistance and research projects funded by the European Union, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and other international organisations. She is fluent in English and German and basic user of Russian.
Financial and Administrative Director
Antonia Kagia
Antonia Kagia holds a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration from the School of Social Sciences of the Hellenic Open University, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with major in Accounting and Finance from the American College of Greece, Deree College and a M.Sc. in Applied Risk Management – Internal Auditing from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She has more than fifteen years of experience in the fields of accounting and financial project management, and she became the Financial and Administrative Director of Themistokles & Dimitris Tsatsos Foundation – Centre for European Constitutional Law in 2014. She is also the Quality Manager for ISO 9001:2015.
Head of Development and Scientific Planning
Zoe Anna Kasapi
Zoe Anna Kasapi is a legal expert, whose alma mater includes the Athens Law School (bachelor’s degree, LL.M. in Public Law) and Queen Mary University of London (LL.M. in Human Rights Law). She has been registered with the Athens Bar Association since 2013. She joined the CECL team in 2018, as a research associate and project manager, and has been the Data Protection Officer since 2021. She is the Head of Development and Scientific Planning since 2025. Her scientific interests focus on human rights issues related to criminal justice (the rights of victims, suspects, and accused), penitentiary law and policy and prisoners’ rights, as well as the implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in Greece – as a researcher for the interdisciplinary network of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).
Team members
Natasha Alexopoulou
Natasha Alexopoulou is a legal advisor, a graduate of the Law School of Athens (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) and holds a Master’s Degree (LL.M) in Criminal Law – Criminal Procedures from the Law School of Athens. Since 2020, she has been active in research and implementation of co-funded projects by the European Union (REC, CERV, AMIF, JUST) in the areas of combating human trafficking, gender-based violence, protection of children’s rights, etc. She speaks English and German.
Melina Chalkidi
Melina Chalkidi is senior project manager of the Themistocles & Dimitris Tsatsos Foundation – Centre for European Constitutional Law, from January 2024. She holds a degree in International and European Studies from Panteion University and a Master’s degree in International Political Economy from the University of Newcastle, UK. Since 2013 she has been involved in academic research and project implementation in various fields, specialising in fundamental rights, child protection and migration, having led initiatives, in collaboration with ministries and international organisations, to improve the lives of vulnerable populations. She speaks English, Italian and Spanish.
Olga Katsarou
Olga Katsarou is the Financial Project Manager of the Themistokles & Dimitris Tsatsos Foundation – Centre for European Constitutional Law. Her role includes the financial management of all EU funded projects, reporting to the European Commission and budgeting new project proposals. She holds a BSc in Accounting & Finance from the University of Macedonia (Greece) and an MSc in International Financial Analysis from the University of Glasgow (United Kingdom). She has extensive experience in the financial management of EU funded projects in a wide range of funding programmes, including: JUST, CETC, HORIZON, ERASMUS+, INTERREG, CEF.
Olga Kelesidou
Olga Kelesidou is a graphic designer, specializing in print design and book and magazine pagination. She has long experience in the Publishing field as well as in Event Planning and Management.
Maria Koumianaki
Maria Koumianaki holds a degree in Social Anthropology from Panteion University and a Master’s degree in Education and Human Rights from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the Institute of Education (UCL) in the United Kingdom. Since 2012, she has worked as a researcher, scientific associate, trainer and project coordinator in areas related to minority education, human rights, child protection and migration. She has collaborated with international organizations and academic institutions, participating in initiatives focused on combating social inequalities, strengthening the protection of vulnerable groups and protecting children’s rights.
Sofia Ouranou
Sofia Ouranou holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics from Athens University of Economics and Business and a Master of Science in Services Management with specialization in Management Consulting from the same University. She is member of the Economic Chamber of Greece with B Class Accountant license. She works for CECL’S Financial and Administrative Department since 2020. She speaks English.
Antonis Rapanakis
Antonios Rapanakis is a graduate of Panteion University’s department of International European and Area Studies. He speaks English and French.
Sophia Stichiou
Sophia Stichiou holds a degree in Russian Language, Philology and Culture from the Democritus University of Thrace and a master’s degree in Cultural Organizations Management from the Hellenic Open University. She speaks English, French, Russian and has a good knowledge of Turkish.
Christina Tsoulfidou
Christina Tsoulfidou studied Social Anthropology and holds a master’s degree in political philosophy, equipping her with a strong academic foundation in social issues and human rights. Since 2016, she has worked closely with refugees and survivors of gender-based violence, focusing on collaborating with young women and adolescents with refugee and migrant backgrounds to promote empowerment, gender equality, and community participation. In recent years, she has served as a Project Manager, leading initiatives focused on advancing fundamental rights, gender equality, and prisoners’ rights.
