Executive Team
Andrey Bystritskiy
Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, Professor, Dean of the Faculty of Creative Industries at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics, member of the Union of Writers
In 1985-1991, Andrey Bystritskiy was engaged in research as a Senior Fellow at the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences. He has been in the media industry since 1991, starting as the Head of the Audience Research Department of the All-Russia State Television and Radio Company (RTR), author and host of radio and television broadcasts. In 1993-1996, Andrey Bystritskiy headed sociological research at the Company. From 1996 to 1997, he was in charge of the "Society" Department at the Itogi (Russian Newsweek) magazine. In 1997-1998, Andrey Bystritskiy was Deputy Director General for Information at TV Tsentr. Between 1998 and 1999, he was the Producer of the Russian news service on BBC. In 1999, he joined the Organizing Committee of the Unofficial Moscow Festival as one of its Co-Chairs, he was also a member of the Editorial Board of the Moscow Alternative newspaper and Chairman of the Mayak State Radio Broadcasting Company (main information radio in Russia). In 2000, Bystritskiy became the Director General of the Vesti State Television Company (an entity of RTR). From 2000 to 2008, he was Deputy Director General of RTR and the Director of the Department of Information Programmes of the Russia TV. In 2000-2013 Bystritskiy was a member of the Board of Directors and Vice President of international broadcasting company Euronews. Between 2005 and 2007, he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Apologia monthly magazine. From 2008 to 2014, he was the Chairman of the Voice of Russia State Radio Company (Russian international broadcaster in 44 languages).

Andrey Bystritskiy has been at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics since 2001, as a Dean of the Faculty of Creative Industries since 2014. Since 2008, he has been the head of the Council of the Heads of Government and Public Television and Radio Organizations of CIS Countries. Since 2014, Bystritskiy has been the Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club and the Chairman of the Public Supervisory Council of the Russian Ministry of Communications.

Andrey Bystritskiy is a Professor and PhD (Pedagogics, 1989). He is a member of the Union of Writers. In June 2007, he received the Order of Honour.

Andrey Bystritskiy is the author of books, including such works as Youth Subcultures and Russia's Intelligentsia During the Demise of the Soviet System (1991), and numerous publications in newspapers and magazines.
Nadezhda Lavrentieva
Executive Director of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club
In 1997-2002, Nadezhda Lavrentieva was in charge of the financial activities of the first satellite television broadcaster, NTV Plus, as the Head of the Budget Planning Department. From 2003 to 2014, she was Deputy Director General of the RIA Novosti News Agency, curating issues of economy and business analysis. In 2014, she was the Advisor to the Director General of the TASS Russian News Agency.

Since 2014, Nadezhda Lavrentieva has been the Executive Director of the Foundation for the Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club.

By Presidential Decree, Nadezhda Lavrentieva received the title of the Honoured Economist of the Russian Federation.

Fyodor Lukyanov
Research Director of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club
Fyodor Lukyanov was an international journalist in 1990-2002. He collaborated with numerous newspapers, radio and television broadcasters. Since 2002, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in Global Affairs journal. In 2012, Lukyanov was appointed as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy – one of the oldest Russian NGOs.

Since 2015, Fyodor Lukyanov has been the Research Director of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club.