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.
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Lise Fuhr
Director GeneralLise is Director General of ETNO, the Association representing Europe’s leading telecom operators, which she joined in 2016. Lise is also the Chairwoman of the Boards of Public Interest Registry (.org domain name registry) and the Public Technical Identifiers (PTI), formerly IANA, and affiliate of ICANN. She is also a Board member of European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO). In August 2022, Lise has been nominated as a member of the United Nations Internet Governance Forum Leadership Panel, serving a two-year term.
Prior to 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 that utilises the combined knowledge of more than 800 Fellows and partner members – for the benefit of future generations.
fuhr@etno.eu +32 (0)2 227 10 87
Lise Fuhr
Director General -
Alessandro Gropelli
Deputy Director General - Strategy & CommunicationsAlessandro 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
Director of Public PolicyPaolo joined ETNO in August 2017 as Head of Regulatory Affairs. Since May 2019, Paolo is ETNO's Director of Public Policy. He oversees ETNO’s work and institutional engagement on a range of regulatory and policy issues, including privacy and data protection, data economy, cybersecurity, and digital services.
Paolo joined ETNO from the economic section of the United States Mission to the EU, where he covered tech, telecoms, and data privacy as a policy advisor. Prior to that, Paolo was a consultant with APCO Worldwide and with Community Public Affairs. In his consulting roles, he advised global companies in various sectors, with a particular focus on tech and telecoms. Paolo started his career with two internships, respectively at DG COMP in the European Commission and in the EU affairs team of Telecom Italia. He holds a Master’s degree from Bocconi University in Milan and completed an Exchange programme at Seoul National University.
In January 2017, Paolo was granted with the U.S. Department of State Meritorious Honor Award for his outstanding service on digital economy issues. He is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional and Manager by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).
grassia@etno.eu +32 (0)2 227 10 80
Paolo Grassia
Director of Public Policy -
Maarit Palovirta
Senior Director of Regulatory AffairsMaarit 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 -
Gabriel Daia
Senior Communications ManagerGabriel Daia joined the ETNO team in November 2016.
At ETNO, Gabriel leads on communications, media and events, including the Financial Times - ETNO, POLITICO, MLex. Moreover, he supports the team in writing content, coordinating the group of communications professionals within the ETNO Membership and oversees strategic media partnerships.
He had previously worked as Project Manager Assistant for EU40, the network of young Members of the European Parliament, in Brussels (2014-2016). He is co-founder of a student association in Brussels promoting cultural events, active since 2013.
He holds a BA in Economic Management (Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, 2012) and a MA in Management Science (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 2014).
His favorite passion is playing piano and organizing his concerts.
Gabriel speaks English, French, Romanian and basic Dutch.
daia@etno.eu +32 (0) 483 50 98 86
Gabriel Daia
Senior Communications Manager -
Muriel Hirschfeld
Office ManagerPrior 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 ManagerXhoana joined ETNO in September 2020 as an intern in Regulatory Affairs and became Policy Officer in March 2021. She supports the work of the regulatory and public policy team, particularly on digital infrastructure, data economy, spectrum policy and international affairs.
Before joining ETNO, Xhoana completed internships at the French General Secretariat for European Affairs (SGAE), working on foreign affairs and VoteWatch Europe.
She holds degrees in European Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges and Sciences Po Grenoble.
Xhoana is French and Albanian and speaks English and German.
Xhoana Shehu
Policy Manager -
Marcel Planagumà
Digital Communications OfficerMarcel 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 ManagerBenedict joined ETNO’s regulatory and public policy team in February 2023. His primary areas of focus within ETNO are competition, Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity and social dialogue.
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.
gromann@etno.eu +32 475 75 10 44
Benedict William Gromann
Policy Manager -
Fabiana Victoria Iovino
EU Project ManagerFabiana 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
