Addi Manolopoulou

Profile

In my current position as a PA and Project Assistant to the Head of School, I support several aspects of strategic planning, administrative support and with the handling of all confidential and senior matters associated with such a role.

Born in an authentically international family, I was raised in Greece and Thailand before moving to Spain to progress with my studies. I am trilingual in Greek, Spanish and English. My background is in public relations and translations, with a working career that began in Madrid, Spain.

Some of my proudest moments include working for the Spanish Chamber of Commerce as an Interpreter and as a PA for the Pérez-Llorca law firm, formed by one of Spain's Ministers of Foreign Affairs – José Pedro Pérez-Llorca. Following this I was headhunted by a prestigious Global Media Agency and during my time there, I coordinated events in Cannes and travelled for work to Barcelona and Paris.

My interpersonal skills, international background and extended work experience lends itself well to working in a diverse and International environment such as the University of Leeds. Since 2015, I have supported three Heads of School in the School of History and created the History Wellbeing programme that led to receiving the first ever University of Leeds, VC Wellbeing Achievement Award in 2017.

Passionate about education and public engagement, my community work leads me to create award winning collaborations with external partners, helping to inspire the public with some of the University of Leeds’ internationally world-leading research. In recent years, these activities resulted in BBC radio appearances, public talks, national award nominations and funding opportunities. Some memorable moments include:

• Finalist at the Yorkshire Choice Awards 2017, in 3 categories, including ‘Inspirational Individual of the Year’.
• Finalist at the University of Leeds, Sustainability Awards 2018, in the 'Making the most of resources’ category.
• A Funding Award by Water@Leeds for a research trip 2019 (School of Geography) University of Leeds.
• British Canoeing’s National Award Community Champion Award 2019, for impact on interdisciplinary research on the topic of biosecurity.

Since February 2021 I am delighted to have joined the School of Design and to work side-by-side with Professor Maria Lonsdale because for me the greatest award is doing something I’m proud of with people I value.