A former criminal justice officer with the United Nations, with degrees in Criminology and German from Melbourne and Vienna, Marlena Hellebø is also a law graduate. Film, music and art constitute a huge part of her life and a large part of the operation of Ex-Animo Foundation®. Marlena is currently working in the field of intellectual property law.

She has had over 15 years of fundraising experience, both from the US Fund for UNICEF and Ex-Animo Foundation®, and continues to channel funding into more exciting new projects, working with young people in the creative and musical arts.

Creative projects have taken her as far afield as South Africa, India, Israel and the United States. She is fluent in German and Norwegian and proficient in Spanish, French and Hebrew.