Oliver Loode
Oliver began working with indigenous Finno-Ugric peoples
in 2009, after attending a Finno-Ugric youth forum in Kudymkar (Perm
Region, Russia) as a speaker on cultural tourism. Inspired by this event and by
the untapped potential of Finno-Ugric collaboration, Oliver joined the board of the Youth
Association of Finno-Ugric Peoples (MAFUN) as a representative from Estonia
(2011-2013). During this time, Oliver initiated the programme of Finno-Ugric
Capitals of Culture which was established in 2013 and which, under the leadership of URALIC Centre, continues to evolve. In 2012, Oliver attended for the
first time the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issue (UNPFII) as a
representative of MAFUN. A year later, Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs succesfully
nominated Oliver as an independent expert to the UNPFII for the term of
2014-2016. During these years, Oliver served as the Permanent Forum’s
Vice-Chair (2015) and Rapporteur (2016), leading key aspects of UNPFII’s internal
reforms of its work methods. Between 2015-2017, Oliver worked at Minority
Rights Group International (London) as Head of Cultural Programmes where he
oversaw a large EU-funded project to promote minorities’ and indigenous peoples’
rights in the Middle East and North Africa via street theatre and other
cultural expressions. Since 2014 Oliver has also been collaborating with the
Estonian Institute of Human Rights. Prior to immersing himself in indigenous peoples' rights and issues, Oliver was a tourism development and marketing consultant,
focusing on cultural tourism and place marketing. Oliver holds a B.Sc. Econ in
Economics degree from the University of Pennsylvania.