SLYCAN Trust is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Marek Szilvasi as Director: Programmes starting from August 1st, 2024.

In his new role, Dr. Szilvasi will lead the management of project and research activities of SLYCAN Trust related to climate and health nexus, and their interlinkages with the UNFCCC and other processes, including spearheading the fundraising of SLYCAN Trust’s global portfolio. Furthermore, he will lead the coordination and contribute to the management of team members of SLYCAN Trust’s German office.

Dr. Szilvasi is a leader with a 15-year success record across strategy and programme development, grantmaking and managing multi-million-dollar budgets, multi-stakeholder partnerships, and funders collaboration. He has also worked extensively on policy-oriented research and advocacy, capacity-building and people management, spanning philanthropy, civil society organizations, and educational settings.

As a passionate and engaged manager committed to staff development with experience in leading global teams, he strives to create inclusive cultures for ownership and participation. Impact areas include climate resilience, the climate and health nexus, public health, water and food systems, environmental and social determinants of health, and structural change in race and ethnicity.

Before joining SLYCAN Trust, Dr. Szilvasi worked as a Manager with the Climate Justice and Public Health Programmes of the Open Society Foundations and as the Head of Research, Advocacy, and Human Rights Education Department at the European Roma Rights Centre. He has also conducted research and lectured at universities in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia, India, Italy, the Netherlands, and Portugal. He holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Aberdeen.