Meet our team

Glyn Ford

Founder, Executive Director

Glyn Ford was a Member of the European Parliament for over 25 years (1984-2009). Serving on both the International Trade and Foreign Affairs Committee, particularly on dossiers related to Asia, his experience gave him unrivalled knowledge and networks in Brussels and across the world.

Alongside Polint, Glyn continues his engagement with the DPRK on a non-profit basis in the framework of the NGO Track2Asia. In a personal capacity, he is a Board Member of the North East Asian Economic Forum.

A published author, Polint’s Executive Director has released several widely acclaimed books, including Talking to North Korea (2018), North Korea on the Brink: Struggle For Survival (2007), and Making European Progress (2002).

Guillermo Gallent

Account Manager

Guillermo is originally from Spain and holds a BA in East Asian Studies from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and an MA in International Relations from the Barcelona Institute of International Studies. Guillermo has also spent a year studying at Ryukoku University in Kyoto (Japan) and half a year at Seoul National University (South Korea).

Previous to joining Polint, he interned with the European External Action Service in the Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Pacific unit. Moreover, Guillermo gained experience on EU affairs while working as a trainee at the Catalan Government’s External Action Office.

Ilia Bekou

Account Assistant

Ilia is originally from Greece and holds a BA in International and European Studies from the University of Macedonia (Greece) with a minor in political science and diplomacy, and an MSc in Crisis and Security Management from Leiden University (Netherlands). She has also spent a year studying at the University of Liege (Belgium) focussing on EU law and affairs.

Previous to joining Polint, Ilia was a trainee at the External Policies Unit at the EPP Group in the European Parliament, focussing on Indo-Pacific and African affairs. In the past, she gained further experience working as an intern for the Embassy of Greece in Madrid and the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps in Thessaloniki.

Elisabetta De Franco

Research Trainee

Elisabetta comes from Italy, has a BA in Political Sciences and an MA in International Relations from the University of Siena (Italy), where she focused on EU law and diplomacy. She also spent a semester at the Sciences Po of Strasburg (France).

Before joining Polint, Elisabetta was a trainee in the External Policies Unit at the EPP Group in the European Parliament, working in the Committee on Development and focusing on ACP Countries. In the past, she gained further experience in EU Law as a trainee at the Law School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece).

Will Devereux

UK Office Manager

Will Devereux is a photographer based in Manchester. He has a BA in Photography from Nottingham Trent University. Before joining Polint he worked as a photographer’s assistant and exhibited his work concerned with increasingly perverse methods of public surveillance, at Surface (Nottingham) and Freerange (London).

At Polint UK, Will manages the UK office and provides business administrative support to the Director.