Our team
Meet the Swarm.
Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships."
The Hands-On Team
Tim Olsson
South Africa
Tim is the acting Director of Social Systems Lab.
He has a passion for designing human-friendly technology that might one day be part of the infrastructure of a thriving civilisation that will allow us to become an interstellar species. Because a guy can dream, can't he?
Zanna Katoka
South Africa
Zanna is a seasoned business advisor with a deep commitment to volunteering and a passion for improving the world.
Needless to say, she fits right in at the Lab and is the ideal person to turn lofty visions into tangible reality.
Herman Vercuiel
South Africa
Herman has a background as a serial entrepreneur in the intersection of technology, music and hospitality.
He is now using his experience as both a project manager and developer for the benefit of all mankind.
He also rides a motorbike.
Patrik Opacic
Sweden
Patrik is our lead developer and the creator of Circles. His inspiration stemmed from his hometown, where he recognised a profound need for systemic change, more creativity and a deeper societal involvement.
If the lab was a person, it would be Patrik.
Social System Foundation's Board
Alexander Laszlo
Argentina
Well before there was a Foundation there was an Alex&er who worked tirelessly to nurture and improve the vision, mission and products of the lab offering constant and crucial guidance to this day.
Alex&er is far too multifaceted to capture in a brief blurb such as this, but to allude to but one of his many talents, Alex&er certainly puts the fun in fundation.
Violeta Bulc
Slovenia
Arguably the board's international heavyweight. After leaving her post as Vice Premiere of Slovenia to serve as Transport Commissioner for the EU, Violeta did not pause. Instead she moved on to found the Ecocivilisation network, a guiding beacon for the Lab.
Ecocivilisation is our destination, and Violeta stays our course!
Robert Sevenius
Sweden
Robert is on a voyage through legal & financial space with the mission to boldly go where no legal economist has gone before. He also wrote the book on Due Diligence, literarily, which makes him ideal for his role as premier purveyor of purse stings.Rob's job is to make sure that the Lab's creative dreamers remain fiscally responsible.
'Mathapelo Mzizi
Sweden
The latests but by no means the leastest member of the board, Mathapelo brings a dearth of experience to the table.
Used to hobnobbing with Nobel Laureates, and Heads of State in her day job, she brings a new level of seniority to the Foundation's partnerships. And, of course, our shared mission of changing the world.
Read moreThe Rest of the Swarm
Andile Maphosa
South Africa
With a passion for humans and numbers alike, Andile makes sure we stay on top of cmmunication as well as balance our books. Andile is an experienced accountant as well as a social media manager, which makes her ideal for the multiple roles required to keep everything progressing smoothly at the lab.
Deven Merani
India
Deven can be found on the business end of 8One and has offered the lab support in many areas. A solid business acumen does in no way diminish his passion for creating a better world for all. His prime interest is the Altruistic Wallet, which he perceives as our most transformative offer, as do we, and thus, we get along most excellently.
Ferial Puren
Scotland
Ferial is a veritable one woman production agency. Her unbridled enthusiasm and near-infinite stamina allow her to power through more projects than we can mention.
She has been part of our extended family for years, filling many crucial roles. She currently heads up Living Cities Earth, one of our closest partners.
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Roberto Valenti
Italy
With a PhD in AI, a passion for open source, a talent for blockchain coding and being a visionary of note, Roberto fits right in with the rest of us congenial misfits at the Lab.
At the moment we are exploring decentralised solutions for Circles together, as well as new economic systems based on sharing.
Linus Svensson
Sweden
Linus has been a central part of our work for may years, acting as a "catalyst" to move the often slow and sluggish process of delivering a product forward.
Linus lives and breathes environment with a special focus on climate change. As a traveller by nature that does no longer fly, Linus is the founder of RailNomad, a community on Circles for those who prefer oil in the ground and travellers on the ground. Preferably on rails, in trains.
Daisy-Mae Bray
Britain
Daisy is another member of the team who goes back a while. Her areas and passion is community and growing food, two areas that go very much hand in hand.
Nothing, however, can grow without something to grow out of, and in this case, it's all about the soil. Daisy is the founder of SoilMates, a network that supports composting, worm farming and community gardening. Needless to say, we are doing our outmost to offer a virtual home for SoilMates on Circles.
Arti Ahluwalia
India
Arti is one of those super hero humans that never wears spandex (at least not to the best of our knowledge). She heads up more projects and has more roles than are humanly possible,
Arti works tirelessly with everyone and everything, from mental health in youths through her BE WELL organisation to representing the Commons Cluster at the United Nations, and all of this on top of her day job. We are immensely grateful to have Arti's wisdom and presence shaping the output of our lab.
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Vladan Lausevic
Sweden
Having escaped the war in Bosnia as a child with his parents, and being to no small extent influenced by the experience, Vlad is one of the most driven democracy and civil rights activists you are likely to come across.
Democratic, open nations are, by and large, far less likely to deteriorate into civil war but at the same time, most of the world's democracies are in dire need of an upgrade. This is what pulled Vlad to us an us to him. And you don't second-guess gravity!