Svetlana does it all. She is the head of Association of Ethnocultural Centres and Heritage Preservation Organisations “ECHO”, founder and producer of a line of projects relating to creative industries “Mainstreaming Karelian handicraft: from tradition to trend”, instructor in the unconventional education programs in the field of culture, head of the “Rural Labs” project, which strives to develop rural territories with the help of culture.

Valentina graduated from art school, then subsequently from PetrSU with a degree of a civil engineer, and The International Slavic University with a major in environmental design. She has over 7 years of working with projects under her belt. Valentina believes that beauty can save the world, providing the rescue mission is carefully planned. Knows colour theory like the back of her hand.

Journalist, translator, experienced speaker, processional civil society leader and project manager. Chair in the Center for Support of Indigenous Peoples and Civic Diplomacy “Young Karelia”. A leader of the Karelian and Finno-Ugric peoples’ movement. Since 2013 as independent experts of the United Nations, co-author of studies and publications on linguistic, cultural, economic and other rights of indigenous peoples. One of the initiators of the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages. Tsykarev cooperates with UNESCO and the World bank, and performs as a guest lecturer on international human rights standards in universities across Russia, USA, Europe and Asia.

Elena was a full-time student of management at the Karelian branch of RANEPA from 1998 to 2003. Having graduated, she now applies her education to managing our projects.

Her area of expertise lays in ethnography and history of Karelians in XIX c., more specifically women’s lives in the period, when traditional social institutes were reformed and modernised. Believes that ethnocultural centres turn to elements of celebratory culture of Karelian peoples, reconstruct certain episodes of life-cycle rituals, such as birth, marriage, and burial. However, the symbols hidden in the ceremonies and rituals can easily go unnoticed. Moreover, recent times illustrated the success of interdisciplinary approach, that exposes new sides to the history of the every-day, specifically women's entrepreneurship in the context of Karelia.

Elena has 39 of working in tourism, during which she worked as a tour-guide, guide-interpreter, tourism manager, and as head of a company. She has personally devised and carried out many a unique route across Karelia: «In the footsteps of Lönnrot», «Runic villages», «A white whale song», «Wilderness of the White Sea», «Observing a Ladoga Seal», «Karelian Petroglyphs», and many others. From 2012 to 2014, Elena managed the 'Rock Art Bridge' project under the program of cross-border cooperation ENPI CBC Karelia.

Ekaterina has been a senior scientist at the National Museum since 2001. Her direct responsibilities include creating and putting together expositions and exhibitions, writing articles, as well as designing and giving guided tours, lectures, and workshops. She is the creator behind over 10 permanent exhibitions of 4 departments at the National Museum of Karelia, along with 4 multimedia programs. Her blog “Insightful things” on the “Petrozavodsk speaks” website has been running since 2012. The blog stands at 70 articles, concerning the history of Karelian household items. She also is an active moderator of the National Museum group on Vkontakte. Ekaterina’s areas of expertise include: history of Petrozavodsk in XIX c., museum history, Petrozavodsk architecture, Karelian ethnography, and Karelian traditional costume.