The Secretariat supports the Society’s continuing work across administration, membership, convenings, governance and finance, external relations and institutional coordination.
Secretariat team
Dr. Jens Hillebrand Pohl
Secretary-General
Dr. Jens Hillebrand Pohl is President and Secretary-General of Helsinki Geoeconomics Society, Director of Helsinki Geoeconomics School and Editor-in-Chief of Hegemon and Springer Studies in Law & Geoeconomics. His work concerns international economic law, economic security and geoeconomics.
Rahma (Rara) Arifa
Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Treasurer
Rahma (Rara) Arifa works on trade policy and geoeconomic developments in Southeast Asia. She has contributed to the Hinrich Foundation, including analysis of the region’s artificial-intelligence economy. Her academic background includes the London School of Economics and Political Science, and she founded the education initiative Sekolah Kebon Kemang.
Munya Yusuf
Assistant Secretary-General and Chief of Staff
Munya Yusuf is a graduate of American University, where she earned a BA in International Studies. Her professional background focuses on public-sector strategy, institutional coordination and governance reform, with particular interests in economic policy across the Gulf and the wider MENA region.
Dr. Loren Bustos
Associate Director, Convenings
Loren Bustos’s work connects EU–ASEAN trade, human rights and international development. Loren has experience in research, cross-cultural project coordination and stakeholder engagement across non-profit, government and public-sector settings, including research at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität and a visiting scholarship at Singapore Management University.
Konstantin Ehrhardt
Head of Governance and Finance
Konstantin Ehrhardt has experience in global public affairs, geopolitical analysis and political-regulatory risk. His work at FGS Global has included corporate geopolitical resilience, cross-border investment and semiconductor policy. He has also contributed to the organisational development of the Eurasian think tank STEAR.
Dr. Laima Eicke
Head of External Relations
Laima Eicke researches the geoeconomics of decarbonisation and the international political economy of energy transitions. She holds a PhD from the University of Erfurt and an MSc in Socio-Ecological Economics and Policy from Vienna University of Economics and Business.
Dale Satre
Bureau Chief
Dale Satre’s work connects international relations, finance and the political economy of East and Southeast Asia. He studied international relations at Stanford University, focusing on economic development and the world economy. His research has examined weaponised interdependence, payment systems, central bank digital currencies and financial sanctions.
Jaakko Pakarinen
Head of Technology
Jaakko Pakarinen’s work combines economics, information technology and quantitative analysis. His experience includes energy trading at Sunly, developing frameworks for market pricing, power data and asset hedging. He holds a BSc in Economics from Aalto University and has also studied Information Technology. He is a Susan Strange Fellow and Business Editor at Hegemon.