In the seventh episode of Season 3 of the Thank You Democracy Podcast, we sat down with Mary Marjorie Martin-Chan to discuss her journey through public service, women’s leadership and representation in politics, youth empowerment and mental health, inclusive governance and representation of marginalized groups, and balancing motherhood with public service.

Mary Marjorie Martin-Chan was the City Councillor of Tuguegarao City, Cagayan and a member of is a member of Club de Madrid´s Network of Young Decision Makers. She is a lawyer and a public servant working to maximise her potential and passion for leadership by serving the community, and was elected as City Councillor in 2016. She has sponsored and authored various ordinances and resolutions on Gender-Related Ordinances, Women Empowerment, Solo Parents Empowerment, and Youth and Family Relations. She is a fellow of the Angat Bayi Women Empowerment Program and the JRMF Young Leaders for Good Governance. She was also chosen by different institutions to be a representative of the Philippines in various international Fellowships, Conferences and scholarships abroad.

To learn more about Mary Marjorie’s journey and insights, listen to the podcast episode.

In the sixth episode of Season 3 of the Thank You Democracy Podcast, we sat down with Flavia Pansieri to discuss her journey throughout the UN system, her vision of leadership, female representation in politics, the bridge between global multilateralism with local realities, and more.

Flavia Pansieri is the former United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights and member of GWL Voices. Her career with the UN spanned more than three decades and took her across the globe, from early posts in China, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, to senior leadership in Yemen, Vienna, New York, and Geneva. Along the way, she led the UN Volunteers programme, served as Deputy Executive Director of UNIFEM, and worked tirelessly to advance human rights, gender equality, and women’s political participation.

Learn more about Flavia’s public service journey and insights in this week’s episode. 

In the fifth episode of Season 3 of the Thank You Democracy Podcast alongside our Coalition Partner Asia Centre, we sat down with Pita Limjaroenrat, to discuss what it means to define democracy after being blocked from power, the emotional cost of public life amid structural resistance, and why hope, purposeful action, and civic courage remain central to democratic renewal, even when institutions close their doors.

Pita Limjaroenrat is a Harvard and MIT educated former businessman turned parliamentarian whose path has come to symbolize the promise and pitfalls of democratic change in Thailand. Pita’s political journey began with election to Thailand’s House of Representatives in 2019, as a candidate for the reform‑oriented Future Forward Party. After its dissolution, he became leader of Move Forward in 2020, guiding it to become the largest party in the 2023 general election, with 151 seats. Yet despite his electoral success, institutional barriers prevented him from assuming the premiership, and later legal rulings dissolved the party and banned its leader, including Pita, from politics for a decade, raising important questions about democratic representation and institutional power. Now, a fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, Pita continues to speak about democracy and reform from both a personal and political perspective.

Learn more about Pita’s public service journey and insights in this week’s episode. 

In the fourth episode of Season 3 of the Thank You Democracy Podcast, we sat down with Koketso Moeti to discuss the role of race and belonging in shaping participation, how migration and exclusion test the boundaries of democratic practice, and why centering marginalized voices is essential to the renewal of democracy everywhere.

Koketso Moeti is a South African activist and the founder of amandla.mobi, a civic engagement platform that harnesses mobile technology to organize collective action among marginalized communities. Often described as one of the most innovative voices in African civic tech, Koketso has spent over a decade building tools that allow low-income women, migrants, and other excluded groups to make their voices heard in policymaking. From advising the World Economic Forum to serving as an inaugural Obama Foundation Fellow and a Kettering Foundation Global Fellow, Koketso’s journey bridges grassroots activism and global thought leadership. Through amandla.mobi, she has mobilized hundreds of thousands of people to challenge unjust evictions, demand accountability from telecommunications companies, and push back against systemic inequality in South Africa.

To learn more about Koketso’s journey and perspective, listen to this episode. 

In the third episode of Season 3 of the Thank You Democracy Podcast, we sat down with Jorim Theuns to discuss transparency, inclusion, and accountability of digital tools, the feeling of true inclusion, and his journey in leading a civic tech initiative. 

Jorim Theuns is the CEO and co-founder of Dembrane, a civic tech initiative dedicated to transforming how democratic participation works in everyday life. At the heart of Dembrane’s work is the belief that democracy should be more than a political event every few years, it should be part of how we govern our cities, design public services, and make collective decisions.

To learn more about Jorim’s journey and perspective, listen to this episode.

In the second episode of Season 3 of the Thank You Democracy Podcast, we sat down with Lyudmyla Kozlovska to discuss the personal cost of activism, the shifting landscape of democratic values, and why solidarity, courage, and clear voices matter more than ever.

Lyudmyla Kozlovska is the President of Open Dialogue Foundation, an organization at the forefront of defending democracy, human rights, and the rule of law across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and beyond. Lyudmyla has spent years confronting authoritarian regimes and advocating for political prisoners, victims of transnational repression, and those silenced by state-sponsored disinformation. Her own story of exile, surveillance, and resilience is a powerful reminder of what it takes to stand up for truth in an age of authoritarian pushback.

To learn more about Lyudmyla’s journey and perspective, listen to this episode.

In the first episode of Season 3 of the Thank You Democracy Podcast, we sat down with Josh Lerner and Diana Dajer to discuss the Democracy Narratives Campaign, how narrative work shifts public understanding beyond the political sphere, and how to create personal and relevant narratives for young people or marginalized communities.

Diana Dajer is a Colombian lawyer, researcher, and the Manager of Democracy at Fundación Corona, with a strong background in legal innovation, civic technology, and public participation. Josh Lerner is the Co – Executive Director of People Powered, a global hub for participatory democracy, and a longtime champion of community-driven policymaking.

To learn more about Josh and Diana’s journeys and perspectives, listen to this episode.

In the final episode of Season 2 of the Thank You Democracy Podcast, we sit down with Danish activist and educator Karim Pedersen, a rare and powerful voice of cross-border solidarity in support of Belarus’s pro-democracy movement.

Karim is the only foreigner working in the Office of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, where he serves as Head of International Communications. Though he has no Belarusian roots, he’s spent the past four years working alongside Belarusians in exile in Vilnius, supporting democratic resistance through civic education, communications, and grassroots organizing.

This episode comes at a particularly timely moment: just days ago, Siarhei Tsikhanouski, Sviatlana’s husband and a prominent political prisoner, was released after four years of detention by the Lukashenka regime. A well-known opposition figure, Siarhei helped galvanize Belarus’s democratic movement in 2020 before his arrest and imprisonment, which prompted Sviatlana to run in his place and become the face of Belarus’s democratic resistance.

A former IT journalist and long-time democracy educator in Denmark, Karim has worked with the Danish-Belarusian association Talaka, developed civic education programs for Belarusians, and remains committed to the vision of opening a folk school in a free and democratic Belarus. In 2023, he was named an Obama Leader for his work.

In this deeply personal and wide-ranging conversation, Karim shares what drew him into this struggle, the turning points that led him from teaching to direct action, and what it means to act in solidarity beyond borders. We explore the lessons Denmark’s democratic past offers to today’s movements, the sacrifices involved in standing up for democracy, and the role education must play in rebuilding civic life after authoritarianism.

To hear Karim’s inspiring story and reflections on where hope lies in dark times, tune in to Episode 8 of the Thank You Democracy Podcast.

In the seventh episode of the Thank You Democracy Podcast, Asia Centre sat down with Saritha Irugalbandara, to discuss youth voter turnout and participation in South Asia and more specifically Sri Lanka, the outcome and implications of youth-led protests and the recent election, and the role of education and social media on political awareness.

Saritha Irugalbandara is a queer feminist researcher and consultant from Sri Lanka, specialising in mapping and documenting gendered subjectivities and expressions online. Her work, learning, and teaching lie at the intersection of race, gender, and economic justice, as well as youth engagement, particularly in relation to anti-colonial movements and solution-building in the Global South. She is motivated by a commitment to empowering young people with the tools and skills needed to make informed decisions about their lives, bodies, and communities.

To learn more about Saritha Irugalbandara’s journey and perspective, listen to this episode.

In the sixth episode of Season 2 of the Thank You Democracy Podcast, we sat down with Vlad Adamescu and Răzvan Petri from Politica la minut. This episode explores how they’ve built a powerful youth-oriented political platform in Romania, the challenges of political engagement among young people, the risks and rewards of social media, and how to defend democracy in an era of disinformation and polarization.

Vlad Adamescu and Răzvan Petri are co-founders of the Centre for Democracy and Good Governance, a Romanian think-tank, and Politică la Minut, a platform that has been making politics more accessible since August 2020. Through their Instagram page, they share timely political news and updates from Romania, the Republic of Moldova, and the EU, presented in a way that resonates with younger audiences and sparks informed debate.

Their initiative is committed to democratic values: the rule of law, civic engagement, integrity, good governance, and minority rights. They also firmly support Romania’s place in the European Union and other democratic institutions. In this episode, Vlad and Răzvan reflect on what inspired them to launch this platform, how Romania’s education system falls short on civic literacy, and why young people need more than just encouragement to vote, they need meaningful opportunities to shape the political landscape.

To hear more about Vlad and Răzvan’s journey, perspective, and advice, tune in to this episode.