Julia Minin
People operations
Originally from Victoria, BC in Canada, Julia was partially raised in the United States, but now calls Berlin her home - not surprisingly given her German and Russian roots. A self proclaimed “ever-evolving human”, Julia is highly curious and loves learning. As a member of the People circle, her role is to help guide team members through their employment journey at Catalyst. Julia is the go to guru for navigating these processes of big life changes and new paths.
Before Catalyst Julia finished her Master's degree in human rights and international law at the Central European University. Her research focused on activist movements, particularly in Russia and the former Soviet Union. Raised in an academic household, universities have always been a place of comfort and inspiration for Julia - and Catalyst combines a personal love of the arts and appreciation for higher education. Certainly a “people person”, she finds creating a working community that reflects the shared values of Catalyst team members and institutional missions is an exciting and fulfilling challenge.
Aside from a yearly rewatch of Gilmore Girls during Autumn, when not at Catalyst, you can find Julia deep in creative projects in the visual art and craft mediums. From painting to crochet garment design and beyond, creating is part of what makes Julia feel whole. No surprise that discovering new creative mediums sparks Julia’s drive and curiosity. This spark usually comes through exposure to new communities, cultures and individual artists sharing their practices. Julia believes Berlin offers a unique international community that heightens this kind of exposure and Catalyst reflects this exciting cultural dynamism - and we couldn’t agree more!