Debate // Connect // Grow
Announcement
KULMUN 2024
President
Pippa Maertens
Email: pippa.maertens@kulmun.be
Pippa joined KULMUN in 2019 and immediately found it to be a source of interesting debate, friendship, and joy.
After a year of serving as the Secretary and Socials Manager on the Executive Board, Pippa now takes on new challenges as the President of the Executive Board. As president, she is responsible for leading the entire board towards a successful working year.
Pippa divides her time between the two most beautiful cities in Belgium: Ghent, where she’s originally from, and Leuven, where she studies Law at the KUL. When she’s not MUN-ing or working for university, you can either find her catching up with friends at a bar, trying new recipes in her kitchen, or practicing bass guitar in her room. She often attends MUN conferences as chair, where she leads and coordinates the debate.
Vice President
Koen Kockx
Email: koen.kockx@kulmun.be
Koen is a law student born in Antwerp, who started his MUN journey in 2021 when he joined the KULMUN association and immediately fell in love with debating about international issues. He has done several MUN’s this year and wanted to bring his passion for this concept to more people in Leuven.
He is now studying international law at KU Leuven and is very passionate about international issues, especially geopolitics. When he is not studying (which happens often), you can either find him in a local bar tasting some of the better Belgian beers or at a local court playing basketball.
Being the Vice-President this working year, Koen is in charge of making sure the KULMUN trainings will be of top-notch quality and supporting the President in managing KULMUN's daily tasks. Koen hopes to guide the new and experienced members within the world of MUNing and support them in creating life-changing memories!
Conference Manager
Steven De Keyser
Email: steven.dekeyser@kulmun.be
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Steven’s curiosity for politics and social issues has led him to pursue a bachelor’s degree in political science and sociology at KU Leuven. As his interest only continued to grow, he decided it was time to hone that passion into skills by becoming a member of KULMUN in 2021.
KULMUN is a place of personal and professional growth but most importantly it became a source of happiness and lifelong friendships.
After two years of membership, he wants to give back to old and new members by granting them the same extraordinary experience he has already enjoyed twice: an unforgettable conference that can only be described as a week of a lifetime. Together with his partner Noure, the Vice Conference Manager, he wants to pass on their MUN-love and provide a marvellous week of debates, growth, friendships, and fun.
Vice Conference Manager
Noure Akki
Email: noure.akki@kulmun.be
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Noure only joined KULMUN in 2022 and was thrilled to spend her spare time debating and meeting new people. She was amazed by the professionalism and warmth of the organization so naturally she was honored to become part of the executive board.
The highlight of her year in the association was definitely the KULMUN Conference. That is why she hopes to organize an even better conference this year, together with the Conference Manager.
You can always hit Noure up if you are in for random political discussions, especially about Belgian and Middle-Eastern politics. A cup of tea will do to unlock all her controversial opinions. When she has a day off, you can either find her reading a good book or rearranging her Spotify playlists.
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Secretary & Socials
Sylvia Oyobagie
Email: sylvia.oyobagie@kulmun.be
Sylvia is a 20-year-old law student, born and raised in Antwerp. She became a part of KULMUN in 2021 thinking she would just be engaging in a very academics-focused extracurricular activity but ended up being hooked by it being the best of both worlds: academics and fun.
Not only did MUN’ing cause her interest in international politics to grow into a true passion, but she has also had the time of her life at different conferences, meeting lifelong friends.
As secretary, she is looking forward to organizing the social side of KULMUN with the post-training socials and activities throughout the year. She also can’t wait to be a leading figure in the membership application process to get to know and welcome the new members with open arms!
Treasurer
Arno Van Muysen
Email: arno.van.muysen@kulmun.be
Arno Van Muysen is a 23-year-old law student hailing from the scenic region of de Kempen who has a deep-rooted interest in politics and debating.
Arno joined KULMUN in 2021, where he was met by an awesome and warm community. Since 2023, he has taken on the role of treasurer, utilizing his extensive knowledge in finance and tax. With a keen eye for detail and a drive to contribute, Arno strives to help KULMUN flourish, ensuring members have ample opportunities to enhance their diplomacy and public speaking skills. Additionally, he aims to create a memorable experience for attendees at the organization's annual conference.
Beyond his commitment to KULMUN, Arno harbors a peculiar fascination for history, maps, and flags and finds solace in operating drones, indulging his love for aerial exploration.
Partnerships Manager
Bryan Weets
Bryan is a 21-year-old law student with a particular interest in international politics and international relations.
He joined the association last year and immediately fell in love with it. His interest in international relations brought him to KULMUN, but there he found more than just an association that attends Model United Nations conferences. He also found a group of friends with whom he can learn and share his passion and perhaps most importantly, can have loads of fun!
In his free time, Bryan likes to listen to French rap music, a genre he doesn’t get to hear at the "oude markt", to his great regret. Besides this, he likes to spend time with his friends, travel, and do a lot of other things when it involves being around people!
As this year’s Partnerships Manager, he will focus on deepening the relationships with our international and local partners network.
Marketing Manager
Nina Vanoverbeke
Email: nina.vanoverbeke@kulmun.be
Nina is a 20-year-old law student at KU Leuven. She is half Japanese and half Belgian. Her multiculturality sparked her interest in international relations from a young age.
After moving to Leuven last year as part of her law program, she had the opportunity to be part of KULMUN. Thanks to this association, she made friends for a lifetime and learned new skills such as public speaking and forming arguments on the spot. She believes that an association like KULMUN can only bring good experiences by merging professionalism, academics, and parties. In her free time, Nina likes to dance and do anything that involves art. She also enjoys socializing and getting a cup of coffee!
After a year of membership, she wants to contribute to the growth and continuation of KULMUN. As the marketing manager, she would like to represent KULMUN as the loving and welcoming association that it is. Anyone with questions can always contact her and she will be happy to help!
Fundraising
Alicia Dobronte
Email: alicia.dobronte@kulmun.be
Alicia is a 20-year-old law student with an affinity for debating and international politics who started her MUN journey last year when she participated in our conference. After joining in the fall, she immediately took a liking to the association, in which she discovered an intelligent and lively group of students who welcomed her with open arms.
Hailing from a Belgian-American family, she is no stranger to international contexts. When she’s not studying at the library or catching up with friends, Alicia spends her time traveling, reading, and drinking concerning amounts of caffeine.
This year she will be spending her spare time attempting to help KULMUN reach its full potential as a well-funded association. As Fundraising Manager, she reaches out to potential sponsors to persuade them to fund KULMUN so that we can keep hosting our international conference and maintain our day-to-day activities as an association. Alicia is happy to assist anyone who has any general or sponsor-related inquiries.