Project Lead
Hanna Israel took over the project leadership for all MCT projects in October 2020. A journalist and moderator, she worked as editor for the leading German quality TV talk format "Anne Will” until summer 2020. In 2019 she became a freelance journalist, presenter and author for ZEIT ONLINE. In 2015 she co-founded “InPerspective”, an online magazine for international perspectives, that aims to develop a worldwide network of journalists.
Technical Lead
Sara Cooper is responsible for technical project management at My Country Talks. She has a bachelor's degree in international studies and a master's in public policy. Sara has worked for several organizations and startups in intersection of media and technology, as well as cross-border dialogue, in both the U.S. and Europe. Before coming to My Country Talks, she was a business intelligence and strategy analyst at the Berlin-based media startup Opinary.
Project Manager
Ulrike Zimmerman joined the My Country Talks team in March 2020 as project advisor. Before that, she was head of office and social secretary at the Austrian Embassy in Washington D.C. (2016-2018), project coordinator for “Europeana Newspapers” (2012-2014) and project consultant for several EU- funded projects (2010-2014). Her area of responsibility includes media partner management, external communication, funding and financial monitoring.
My Country Talks started in 2017 in the newsroom of the prominent German news outlet, ZEIT ONLINE. With the work and support of the original team of journalists, it has grown into an international platform today.
Jochen Wegner - Editor-in-Chief, ZEIT ONLINE
Maria Exner - Editor-in-Chief, ZEIT Magazin
Philip Faigle - Special Projects Editor, ZEIT ONLINE
Sebastian Horn - Deputy Editor in Chief, ZEIT ONLINE
Together with our founding team, our dedicated media partners, and the support of our funders, we are able to bring My Country Talks events to dozens of countries every year. Watch the video below to learn more about everyone who makes My Country Talks possible - including our participants!