Elena joined the RSO in March 2026 as the Programme Manager for International Migration and Regional Priorities, bringing over 15 years of experience in programme management, policy development, and applied research on migration and displacement across the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Europe. Having worked with IOM, UNHCR, DRC, and Oxfam, Elena has led large multi-donor protection programmes, designed regional strategies on migrants protection and displacement, and represented organisations in intergovernmental forums. Her previous tenure at the RSO gave her a strong foundation in the institutional architecture and priorities of regional migration governance.
Rejoining the RSO, Elena brings both that institutional familiarity and a broader set of experiences accumulated since in the region— across emergency response, and applied research— that she looks forward to putting in service of the Bali Process member states. Her work has sat at the intersection of data, policy, and operations: developing research frameworks and advocacy strategies as much as managing protection programmes and supporting team capacity. She is motivated by the practical and solutions-oriented cooperation that can make a real difference to how states prevent exploitation, protect migrants, and manage displacement together.
Recommended book: Nel mare ci sono i coccodrilli (There are crocodiles in the sea), written by Fabio Geda, tells the true story of Enaiatollah Akbari, a young Afghan boy who travels alone across Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and Greece before reaching Italy—abandoned at the border by his mother in an act of desperate love. Told in Enaiatollah’s own voice, the book is for anyone wanting to truly understand what it means for a child to flee and search for safety and for a real chance in life.
Recommended podcast: Many Roads to Here gives voice to migrants and refugees from all over the world to illuminate, through the prism of their own lived experience, the broader themes of human migration, persecution and refuge.
Email: elena.bartoloni@rso.baliprocess.net