Who We Are?
Our team members have extensive experience working with a variety of organizations, including nonprofits, social enterprises, impact investors, foundations, and government agencies. We bring a deep understanding of the social impact landscape and a commitment to excellence to every project we work on.
Our values of integrity, accountability, excellence, and impact guide everything we do. We are committed to delivering high-quality, tailored, and strategic support to our clients to maximize their impact and create positive change.
OUR TEAM
Jorge Gimeno Pawlowski
Founder and Director — EU Affairs, European cooperation, strategy Jorge is the founder of Atland and the main architect of its European approach.
He has more than 15 years of experience working across the EU ecosystem — from cooperation with European Commissioners, MEPs and national governments to advising NGOs, research networks, employer confederations and innovation-driven companies.
His work focuses on institutional relations, European strategy and multi-country cooperation.
Organisations work with him when they need to understand how Europe moves, how to position their work within EU priorities and how to build meaningful relationships with institutional and sector partners.
Jorge has advised organisations active in health innovation, education, social policy, digital transformation and regional development.
He also serves as:
Proxy for Pomeranian Employers to the EU institutions
Board Member of the European Outdoor Learning Association
He works in English, Polish and Spanish and divides his time between Brussels, Warsaw and Edinburgh.
Sertac Yeltekin
Senior Advisor — Impact Investment & Financial Strategy Sertaç brings more than 25 years of international experience in finance, investment and ESG-driven strategy across Europe, Asia and the United States.
His background spans banking, private equity, asset management and executive education, giving him a rare combination of strategic financial vision and sustainability expertise.
At Atland, he advises on impact investment logic, funding architecture and long-term financial strategy, strengthening the financial dimension of our clients’ European work.
His work supports organisations exploring models that combine financial viability with social or environmental value.
Alyn Smith
Alyn Smith has spent the last 25 years explaining law and politics to people in Brussels, London, Scotland and elsewhere.
A qualified corporate solicitor, Alyn was elected to the European Parliament in 2004 to represent Scotland. He won re-election three times, serving 16 years in Brussels and Strasbourg. He worked on various committees, developing a deep familiarity with Industry Research and Energy, Regional Development, Agriculture and Foreign Affairs. He served on the Parliament’s Middle East Working Group, the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq Delegations and the Switzerland, Iceland and Norway Delegations. He was elected to the UK House of Commons in 2019, serving as Foreign Affairs Spokesperson and Europe and EU Accession Spokesperson covering all aspects of the UK/EU relations negotiations. He served on the UK-EU Parliamentary Partnership Assembly the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
He was a lead campaigner in Scotland in the 2016 EU Referendum and has wide-ranging expertise on Third Country-EU relations, EU Accession, Energy, Research, Trade, Cultural Policy and Agriculture.
Stuart Nicolson
Stuart Nicolson served in the Scottish Government for 15 years, most of which was spent as a senior advisor in the role of head of communications and senior spokesperson for two First Ministers of Scotland.
His time in government encompassed some of the most era-defining moments in recent
Scottish, UK and European politics – as well as helping manage the policy and communications challenges they posed – including the 2014 independence referendum, the Brexit referendum of 2016 and its aftermath, and the governmental response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to that, he worked as a journalist, including roles as a political editor, news editor and Brussels-based EU correspondent.
His time in the media and in government has provided him with a keen insight into political
trends and developments at national and international level and how they impact organisations. He is a contributor to various media outlets as a political commentator. In his spare time, Stuart is an occasional hillwalker in Scotland’s mountains, a sometime
runner and an ever-hopeful tennis player.
Marzena Dąbrowska
Senior Advisor — Finance, Budgeting & Compliance
Marzena is a specialist in public finance, audit and structural budgeting with more than two decades of experience in education, social welfare and regional development.
She ensures that Atland’s work — especially in public funding — is grounded in solid financial planning, realistic budget structures and audit-ready documentation.
Her expertise provides clients with reliable financial frameworks and clarity on compliance requirements for European-funded initiatives.
