Veronika Bylicki

Veronika is a strategic leader passionate about the intersection of governance, cities, climate, and democracy. She is particularly interested in the ‘how’: from ensuring that governance structures and decision-making processes enable transformative change rather than reinforce the status quo, to fostering collaboration in teams, organizations, and broader systems. She is driven by the possibilities of instilling hope, collectively reimagining systems in response to grand challenges, and drawing connections between problems, solutions and people towards more equitable and climate-friendly futures. In her role at Demos Helsinki, she supports cities and governments on their transformative paths.

Before joining Demos Helsinki, Veronika spent seven years as the Executive Director and Co-founder of CityHive, a youth-centred non-profit dedicated to transforming how young people engage in urban decision-making. Under her leadership, CityHive became an award-winning, go-to partner in Canada for governments seeking to co-create solutions with young people, pioneering participatory models for systems change and designing and running innovation labs, civic education programs and running engagement processes for governments. She is most proud of growing CityHive to a stable full-time team of 15+ staff that continues impactful work to this day. Through this experience, she also developed a deep passion for organizational leadership, managing teams through complex change, and building networks for systemic transformation.

After transitioning from CityHive, Veronika has the opportunity to learn and gain her MPA in Innovation & Public Policy from the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose at UCL, where she explored her curiosities and questions around how governments can drive transformative climate policy. She also earned a BSc in Global Resource Systems from the University of British Columbia, specializing in environmental policy and urban systems.

Beyond her work, Veronika can be found zipping around on her bike, gathering people around food, or embarking on very, very long walks.