Creative Innovators Mentors

Paolo Mercado is the Founder and President of the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines (CECP), a non-stock, non-profit organisation dedicated to helping the Philippines become a globally competitive Creative Economy. Paolo has worked in advertising for over 12 years. He was part of Nestle’s Dairy Strategic Business Unit in Switzerland, Nestlé China and Nestlé Philippines. He is passionate about consumer insight and its applications in advertising and marketing effectiveness.

Julia is an urban planner passionate about making cities liveable. She has worked with non-profits, international organisations and government agencies with the goal of developing sustainable solutions to urban challenges. She is the Chief Operating Officer for the Philippine Japan Initiative for Clark. Julia draws inspiration from walking around the city and collaborating on projects with creative communities in Manila.  She has a Masters in Urban Design from the City College of New York.

Pieter is a technologist and visual artist who explores future literacies by means of research, installations and performances. He co-founded the transdisciplinary and cross-cultural collective Space Ecologies Art and Design. Pieter works in community building by imagining and supporting virtual and physical environments that embrace socially engaged collaborations. He is a lector at the Erasmus University College in Brussels. He teaches at the University of the Philippines Open University.

Tuukka is a creative community strategist as well as a scholar of entrepreneurship, co-working and social innovation at University College London. His firm Creative Friction helps organisations build flourishing communities at a time when many innovative spaces struggle to adequately connect, empower and inspire their diverse members. Tuukka also regularly mentors creative hub leaders, founders and ambitious community managers.

Rachael is MadLab's CEO. Established in 2009, MadLab is the UK’s longest-running makerspace. MadLab encompasses a broad range of audiences and activities: from local grassroots making, through to curiosity-driven art-science-technology research, both in the UK and overseas as part of a growing international maker-hacker-tinkerer movement.