Matyas Supka
Co-founder · Mentorship & Programme
Works one-on-one with every Navi student, every week, for all eight.
Matyas was himself mentored by two older students in debate from the age of 11, and it was the experience that opened up a world outside school, one of opportunity rather than obligation. It made him believe in the impact more experienced peers can have when helping younger ones. The work he did in mentoring, including this programme, is to recreate this effect for more young people.
He is the Czech national debate champion. He founded two debate clubs and has personally worked with over 100 young people aged 7 to 20: coaching, running workshops and providing feedback. He's worked with schools, the Czech national team, and an international coaching organisation. Which is to say, the mentoring behind Navi isn't coming from theory, it's the thing he's been doing for years.
He was one of three lead organisers of a national media-literacy olympiad that 30,000 students participated in last year, responsible mainly for the regional rounds, coordinating schools and teachers. He knows what it takes to run something at scale, because he's done it.
Elected three times as president of European Youth Grenaa, he grew it from 27 to 180 paying members, making it the largest local section of European Youth Denmark, while leading a board of 32 and managing over €25,000 in public grants directly, at seventeen. He also became the youngest member of the organisation's national board.
Heading to Amsterdam University College, the University of Amsterdam's honours college, to study psychology and behavioural science.