Team

The ETNO Director is supported by a team with responsibility for specific aspects of the Association’s work. The team undertakes Secretariat functions for the Association and engages in advocacy efforts on behalf of ETNO members.

  • Lise Fuhr
    Director General

    Lise Fuhr is Director General of ETNO, the association representing Europe’s leading telecom operators, which she joined in 2016. Lise is a Board member of European Cyber Security Organization (ECSO) and Chair of the Danish cyber security organization Security Tech Space. In August 2022, Lise was nominated as a member of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum Leadership Panel, serving a two-year term. From 2016-2022 Lise served as Chairwoman of the Boards of Public Interest Registry (.org domain name registry) and the Public Technical Identifiers (PTI), formerly IANA, and affiliate of ICANN.

    Before joining ETNO, Lise was Chief Operating Officer of DK Hostmaster and DIFO, the company managing .dk domain names. From September 2014 to October 2016, Lise also chaired the Cross Community Working Group for the IANA Stewardship Transition, building on her strong network within the internet community. Lise has 20+ years of experience in the internet and telecoms industries. She is a lifelong member of ATV – the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences – an independent think tank.

    fuhr@etno.eu +32 (0)2 227 10 87
    Lise Fuhr
    Director General
  • Alessandro Gropelli
    Deputy Director General - Strategy & Communications

    Alessandro Gropelli is Deputy Director General of ETNO, the European Telecoms Association, as well as a Board member and Treasurer of GeSI, the Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative. At ETNO, Alessandro is in charge of strategy and communications. He is an expert of tech policy, the geopolitics of tech as well as sustainability in ICT.

    Prior to joining ETNO, Alessandro was European affairs advisor at Vodafone Group and vice-Chairman of the m-commerce Working Group of mobile operators’ association GSMA Europe. Prior to that he also worked in the Brussels team of Telecom Italia and as a public relations officer at the European Parliament.

    Alessandro holds an Executive MBA from Copenhagen Business School (2021). He graduated in public management from Bocconi University in Milan (2009), but also spent short periods of study at the Hitotsubashi University of Tokyo (2008) as well as at the MIT (2018) and Berkeley Haas (2016).

    gropelli@etno.eu +32 (0)476 94 18 39
    Alessandro Gropelli
    Deputy Director General - Strategy & Communications
  • Paolo Grassia
    Senior Director of Public Policy

    As Senior Director of Public Policy, Paolo oversees ETNO’s work and institutional engagement on a range of regulatory and policy issues, including privacy and data protection, the data economy, cybersecurity, and digital services. In this capacity, he currently serves as a Board member of the European Internet Forum (EIF).

    Paolo joined ETNO in 2017 from the economic section of the United States Mission to the EU, where he covered technology, telecommunications, and data privacy as a policy advisor. Prior to that, Paolo was a consultant with APCO Worldwide and Community Public Affairs. In his consulting roles, he advised global companies in various sectors, with a particular focus on technology and telecommunications. Paolo started his career with two internships, respectively at DG COMP in the European Commission and in the EU affairs team of Telecom Italia.

    Paolo holds a Master’s degree from Bocconi University in Milan and completed an Exchange program at Seoul National University. He is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional and Manager accredited by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).

    grassia@etno.eu +32 (0)2 227 10 80
    Paolo Grassia
    Senior Director of Public Policy
  • Maarit Palovirta
    Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs

    Maarit has an extensive expertise in telecoms, broadband and internet matters. She joined ETNO from the Internet Society, where she served as a Senior Manager Europe and where she has acquired strong experience of broadband policies as well as extensive links with internet and tech stakeholders. Maarit also had direct experience of the telecoms business during her 6 years at Cisco and has developed a strong service-oriented, hands-on profile acquired in leading consultancies Interel and Schuman Associates. She also has a strong European academic background from the College of Europe, LSE, King’s College and SciencesPo. Maarit is a Finnish national, she also speaks English and French.

    palovirta@etno.eu 022271083
    Maarit Palovirta
    Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs
  • Muriel Hirschfeld
    Office Manager

    Prior to joining ETNO, Muriel worked for several years for Cable Europe as Digital Communications, Events and Office Manager and in Communications and Public Affairs for Cosmetics Europe. Moreover, Muriel has held various types of administrative management positions within industries such as pharmaceutical, congress organisation and travel in London, Tel Aviv and Brussels.

    Muriel holds a Masters degree in English and Spanish translation from the Institut Supérieur de Traducteurs et Interprètes (ISTI) in Brussels. Muriel speaks English, French and Spanish. 

    hirschfeld@etno.eu 022271081
    Muriel Hirschfeld
    Office Manager
  • Xhoana Shehu
    Policy Manager

    As a policy manager, Xhoana is responsible for several policy areas: sustainability, consumer, platforms, content and spectrum. Xhoana joined ETNO in September 2020 and gained a solid experience on a broad range of telecom policy files from digital infrastructure to data and artificial intelligence.

    Before joining ETNO, Xhoana completed internships at the French Prime Minister’s General Secretariat for European Affairs (SGAE), working on foreign affairs and VoteWatch Europe, covering the European Parliament.

    She holds degrees in European Studies and political science from the College of Europe in Bruges and Sciences Po Grenoble. She specialised in European digital policies.

    Xhoana is French and speaks Albanian and English.

    Xhoana Shehu
    Policy Manager
  • Marcel Planagumà
    Digital Communications Officer

    Marcel joined ETNO in April 2022 as the new Digital Communications Officer, and supports Gabriel and Alessandro ensuring the delivery and promotion of ETNO’s communication work, media outreach and the success of ETNO's events, and managing daily communications including the association’s website, newsletters and social media accounts.

    Prior to joining ETNO, Marcel managed communications for several non-profit organisations including the Brussels-based Union of European Federalists (UEF) and garagErasmus Foundation (gE) or the Catalan Association of Political Science (Colpis), and supported events organization and press relations for a communications agency (Philinks). He also counts with a working experience in the field of consultancy at Barcelona (utrans), and a traineeship one at the European Economic and Social Committee.

    Born in Barcelona, he holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Administration by Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, 2011) -including an Erasmus exchange at the Karlova Univerzita in Prague- and a Master’s Degree in Political and Social Communication (FCRI Blanquerna-URL, 2013).

    Marcel is fluent in Catalan, Spanish, English and French.

    Marcel Planagumà
    Digital Communications Officer
  • Benedict William Gromann
    Policy Manager

    Benedict joined ETNO’s regulatory and public policy team in February 2023. His primary areas of focus within ETNO are competition, Artificial Intelligence and cybersecurity. 

    Prior to his time with ETNO, he worked as a Senior Policy Officer in the Brussels office of a national fibre association, where he gained broad ranging experience in European telecommunications policy and related EU legislative initiatives.

    As a graduate of the Economic University of Vienna and the Austrian Diplomatic Academy, he started his carrier path in European public affairs at the Secretariat of the European Parliament.

    Benedict is bilingual in German and English.

    Benedict William Gromann
    Policy Manager
  • Oscar Berardi
    Communications Manager

    Oscar joined ETNO in February 2024 as the new Communications Manager. He supports the comms teams in managing the external communication activities of the association. He oversees the relations with the media and ensures the dissemination of ETNO's messages and positions through various channels. He also contributes to the organisation of high-level events and the promotion of the association's brand and reputation.  

    Before joining ETNO, Oscar had a rich and diverse career in the telecom sector. He worked as a public affairs and media relations officer for Prysmian, a leading cable manufacturer, and previously for Fastweb, a major Italian broadband provider. Prior to that, he was part of the Brussels team of Telecom Italia, where he dealt with EU policy and regulatory affairs. He started his career as a trainee at the spokesperson service of the European Commission.    

    Oscar holds an advanced master in European Law from the Institute for European Studies (IEE) of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (2014). He also has a master's degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Milan (2012), which included an Erasmus exchange at Sciences Po Toulouse. He obtained his bachelor's degree in Political Science and European Studies from the University of Bari (2009).

    Oscar Berardi
    Communications Manager
  • Angela Coriz
    Public Policy Officer

    Angela joined ETNO in January 2024 as a policy officer. She is part of the regulatory and public policy team, and focuses primarily on artificial intelligence, taxation, international affairs, and naming, addressing and numbering. Prior to this, she was working as an assistant to the Regulatory Affairs Department of WSBI-ESBG, an association representing European Savings and Retail Banks.

    She holds a European Master’s in Global Studies from Universiteit Gent and Universität Leipzig, and holds a double Bachelor’s degree in Global Affairs and French from George Mason University in the US.

    Angela is a US national, and her native language is English. She speaks Dutch and French, and has a basic knowledge of Spanish and Arabic.

     

    +32 460 95 18 03
    Angela Coriz
    Public Policy Officer
  • Fabiana Victoria Iovino
    EU Project Manager

    Fabiana joined ETNO in February 2023 to support the policy team’s work on monitoring policies and supporting working groups management. Prior to that, she completed two internships at the Italian Consulate General in Caracas as Personal Assistant to the Consul General and within the EU Public Affairs team of CONCILIUS Europe in Brussels.

    Fabiana holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences from LUISS University in Rome and a Double Master’s degree in European Studies from LUISS University and Université Libre de Bruxelles.

    Fabiana is an Italian & Colombian national. She speaks fluent English, Italian and Spanish, and she is currently learning French.

    Fabiana Victoria Iovino
    EU Project Manager
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