Transformative Learning & Development
Faye Orfanou
Strategic Director
Head of L&D Design - L&D Instructor
AELIA Co-Founding Partner
Faye is the Strategic Director of AELIA, leading the way in the new era of AELIA, as AELIA evolves from a welfare organization into a learning & development agency. She is also Head of L&D Design and a major L&D Instructor.
Faye co-founded AELIA in 2013 together with Sofia Makri, as a welfare organization, with an ardour to support people in their employability, in their transition from education to worklife, their lifelong learning, and their professional development path. Ever since, AELIA had supported people of all ages, social groups and professional backgrounds in remote areas, small and big islands, in towns and cities across Greece.
About Faye
Faye is a multidisciplinary professional combining an activity in technology transfer & innovation management, a well-founded legal background (with a former career as business lawyer) and a wide-ranging experience in learning & development (L&D design, L&D instructor, trainer, mentor) within AELIA and beyond since 2006.
​Founding AELIA was the inevitable next step for Faye after a 3-year career as a policy maker for Education, Lifelong learning & Research as Special Secretary for EU funds in the Ministry of Education & Research (2009-2012). Even though she pursued a career in technology transfer and innovation management after her government position, founding AELIA was the way to invest her energy and knowledge to an area so close to her heart, corresponding to her natural calling to guide and mentor people and her passion for cognitive science.
​In AELIA, Faye has been designing capacity building (learning & development) programs for skills building, employability acceleration & entrepreneurship, which combined training, mentoring, networking and guided -learning-on-the-job projects, for professionals as well as for entrepreneurs, in 6 diverse industries. She has designed 22 types of learning experiences, in 14 thematic areas and has been trainer in more than 500 workshops training over 1000 people & learning experiences, she has mentored over 200 people and more than 50 entrepreneurial ventures.
​Moreover, Faye has been exploring the world of learning & development, constantly studying neuroscience, human resources development and exploring state-of-the-art practices, leading her to develop specific methodological tools and practices for AELIA in learning and development. She is a dedicated learner on cognitive science and neuroscience, while also passionate for strategic design thinking.
​Faye is a fluent speaker of 6 languages, with a citizen-of-the-world mindset, having studied in Greece, Germany and the UK. Her graduate and postgraduate studies were in law and she has had executive training in innovation management and business strategy.
​In parallel with AELIA, Faye is an active tech transfer professional. She is also the co-founder & administrating partner of Science-2-Business, a non-profit organization which supports scientists, sciencepreneurs and Universities in the process from lab into market as well as companies pursuing innovation.
​Overall, Faye has had an intensive career path, which passed through consulting firms, law firms, public policy and research organizations. She also had attempted a consulting firm venture, experiencing a knowledge-rewarding business failure. Her path led her to technology transfer and innovation development, as advisor to major Greek research institutions eg Demokritos Research Centre, National Technical University, University of Crete, Agricultural University, Athens University for Economics & Business & as associate expert for Grant Thornton Greece (2014-2020). becoming a pioneer in the Greek tech transfer ecosystem and a national expert, appointed for 2nd tenure member of the national Sectoral Council for IP and Tech Transfer.