Despina Gerasimidou is the director of the Future Library organization, a non-profit devoted to reinforcing the significance of public libraries as knowledge, creativity, and innovation-promoting institutions. She has held several roles at the Future Library one being where she worked as project manager, managing projects funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She also developed the Media Lab project, where Greek public libraries have since been transformed into state-of-the-art music studios as well as brainstorming and collaborative spaces. Previously she worked as production assistant at the Sani Festival and cultural manager for Thessaloniki's Department of Culture, Education and Tourism. During this time she developed and implemented with great success, the pioneering "Sleepover at the Museum" project with 10 participating museums. She holds a bachelor degree in Law from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a Master of Arts in Cultural Management from Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences in Athens.
