IN THE SPOTLIGHT
KULMUN PRESIDENCY MEETS ANTÓNIO GUTERRES, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE UNITED NATIONS (CLICK HERE)
Meet our Governing Board
The Governing Board consists of dedicated KULMUN alumni who stay engaged with the association's workings. The Governing Board members safeguard KULMUN's long term vision and they support the functioning of the Executive Board wherever they can. Find out more about our current Governing Board here.
President
Manon Duymelinck
Email: manon.duymelinck@kulmun.be
Manon is a 22-year-old law student with an affinity for international politics and everything that comes with it. After joining the association in her first year at the KU Leuven back in 2019, Manon instantly felt like she had found a passion and some lifelong friends within MUN’ing. MUN’ing is about much more than just debating, it is about growing, learning, and having fun while you’re at it.
​
After being part of the Executive Board for the past two years, one as President and one as Fundraising Manager, Manon felt like she wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to KULMUN yet. She decided to start a three-year mandate in the Governing Board, serving as their President this year. As GB Director, Manon will support the current Executive Board to the best of her abilities while also keeping an eye on maintaining a healthy long-term vision for the association.
​
When she’s not busy with KULMUN, you can often find Manon at the local pool, hanging out with friends, or dancing her heart out at some nice Leuven bar.
Vice President
Raoul Cardellini
Email: raoul.cardellini@kulmun.be
Raoul Cardellini (they/them) is an Advanced Master's in Air and Space Law candidate at Leiden University. They first came in contact with KULMUN during their Erasmus experience at KUL, when they applied without knowing how much this association would affect their experience in Belgium and their life after that.
Once their first Erasmus came to an end, they travelled back to attend the KULMUN conference, and later on became a co-opted member, a decision fuelled by their desire to keep in contact with the association despite the distance between Leuven and their hometown. Having managed to keep strong bonds with both old and new members of KULMUN, they decided to run for a spot on the Governing Board and put their love for the association to use.
When it comes to the Governing Board itself, after serving as Secretary for the 2021-2022 working year, in 2022-2023 they added to that position the one of Vice-President of the Governing Board as well as responsible person for the EB-GB Relations. In this third year of their mandate, they will be the Vice-President of the Governing Board.
On a personal level, they are an avid MUNer and enjoy every aspect of it thoroughly, which has led them to be a Delegate, a Chair, Organizer and Secretary-General a few times. They enjoy writing, reading, and learning about space law. They have three master's, one in Law, one in European Legal Studies and one in Space Institutions and Policies, and are pursuing their fourth at Leiden Law School. They have a background in conducting academic research and have done so in a few universities, and intend to pursue an academic career.
Secretary
Wendy Dewit
Email: wendy.dewit@kulmun.be
Wendy has always had a keen interest in international relations and global issues. After obtaining her bachelor's and master’s degrees in International Politics at KU Leuven, she is now changing disciplines and working towards a Master's in Statistics and Data Science, with a specialty in Official Statistics.
Wendy became a member of KULMUN in 2018 and has since built up her positive reputation within and outside of KULMUN. She joined the Executive Board in 2019-2020 as Secretary, was elected as President in 2020-2021, and finished her Executive Board years as KULMUN Conference Manager in 2021-2022. Wendy has also attended countless international MUN conferences as a delegate, journalist, chair, and editor-in-chief.
​
She is now excited to let a new generation enter the Executive Board and to guide them during her 3-year mandate in the Governing Board. Throughout these years, she will serve as Secretary on the Governing Board and focus on the long-term vision of the association and the KULMUN Conference.
Fundraiser
Andreas Simons
Email: andreas.simons@kulmun.be
Andreas has been a dedicated member of the KULMUN family since 2020. Coming from theoretical physics and AI, it is still quite unclear how he ended up serving on the Executive and now Governing Board of an association dealing with international politics and debate. Regardless, he cares deeply about providing an international and diverse environment in which young people can hone their soft skills and learn to overcome their differences through diplomacy.
As Finance Director, he focuses on fundraising and reaching out to long-term sponsors to persuade them into supporting the KULMUN project and our Financial Support Program. He does this so that we can keep hosting our international student conference and maintain our day-to-day activities as an association, as well as provide equal opportunities to all students, regardless of their background.
Hailing from the Limburgish countryside, Andreas enjoys hiking, brewing strong coffee, and listening to the Kurt Darren remix of Kaptein. Andreas is always happy to assist anyone interested in our association or anyone with sponsor-related inquiries.
Treasurer
Fausto Zeevaert
Email: fausto.zeevaert@kulmun.be
Fausto is a history student born and raised in the lovely province of Limburg. He had an interest in international politics and diplomacy since high school. After five years of being a KULMUN member and two years as the Executive Board treasurer, he joined the Governing Board of the association.
Through the Governing Board mandate, he wants to keep on contributing to the organization in the long term, mainly through his experience in finances.
Fausto is a big fan of historical crisis committees due to his background as a history student. Aside from KULMUN, Fausto is a big fan of Age of Empires 2 and strategy games in general, as well as a good session of Dungeons and Dragons. He also is a self-proclaimed (and no one can stop him from doing so) beer expert.
Relations EB/GB
Eva Rito
Email: eva.ritosilva@kulmun.be
Eva is originally from Lisbon but moved to Leuven for her Master's in European Studies. She joined KULMUN in 2021, after a year of learning a lot, Eva decided to run for the executive board as Partnerships manager, which was a year filled with fulfilling establishing and deepening of KULMUN's relations.
​
Eva is graduating in the Summer of 2023 (hopefully), and moving on from her position as Partnerships manager in KULMUN. However, she wishes to continue helping KULMUN by joining the Governing Board and advising the Executive Board on their work to help ensure continuity.
Eva will be in charge of the Executive Board-Governing Board relations, as well as advising the Executive Board on long-term strategy based on the Action Planner.
.
​Alumni relations
Emily Reyes
Email: emily.reyes@kulmun.be
Emily has a background in political science and International Relations at KU Leuven. She has been part of the KULMUN association since 2019 and has functioned as Vice President and Conference Manager. She has participated in numerous MUNs in Europe and even got the opportunity to chair at a conference in India.
Professionally, Emily works as a cyber resilience consultant at PwC, while keeping one foot in the academic world as a researcher in cyber security.
In her spare time, she loves being in the mountains, whether it's to snowboard, hike or climb. On the side, she still loves to be in touch with our association by being part of the GB and focusing on the alumni network.