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Board of Administrators
Ayse Siyma (Sheema) Barkin Kuzmin (Turkiye and Switzerland), President
Since she was a teenager, Siymaβs dream has been working with and for children and their parents. She studied psychology in Istanbul, Turkiye where she is originally from, and Human Development and Family Studies as a Masterβs Program in Pennsylvania USA. Her dream came true when she got an offer to join UNICEF to develop their program on children living and working on the streets in Turkiye. Since then, she worked in UNICEF for about 25 years promoting child rights and strengthening child protection systems in many countries.
Siyma is the proud mother of 2 children. When her older child came out as LGBTI+ it was natural for Siyma to become an activist for rights of LGBTI+ people. She joined parents groups in Turkiye and then in Switzerland (TransParents) where is currently residing. She has been part of ENP since 2022 and has been on its advisory committee during 2022-2024 before being elected to be its president for the 2025-2027 period. She has been taking part in panel discussions, providing trainings and giving speeches in different countries and platforms to build understanding of the plight of LGBTI+ children and the important role parents play in supporting their children to be themselves. She is now working as a family and parent coach and mental health/ child rights/ child protection consultant.
Siyma is a firm believer in the role parents play in the healthy upbringing of their children through love, acceptance and full support and continues to advocate for the realisation of ALL rights for ALL children.
Joseanne Peregin (Malta), Treasurer
Joseanne is a Catholic mother of three children, one of whom is gay. She has been a voice for parents of LGBTI+ children since 2008 when she co-founded Drachma Parents, to support those struggling with their childβs βcoming outβ experience. As a life-long member of the Christian Life Community (CLC) she also served as President of CLC Malta and believes in building bridges with the church hierarchy, to protect and affirm LGBTI+ persons. She also co-founded the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics (GNRC) and the European Network of Parents of LGBTI+ Persons (ENP) where she served as President (2022-24) and now serves as Treasurer. She has been active in promoting acceptance of LGBTI+ people and instrumental in influencing public opinion during the legislative improvements that Malta undertook. She presented a book, Uliedna Rigal (Our Children a Gift) produced by Drachma, to the local authorities and Tell it Out, produced by ENP, to many across Europe.
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Marisol Ortiz (Spain), Secretary
Marisol is married and is the proud mother of two daughters, one of whom is part of the LGBT+ community. She is a member of AMPGYL, the Spanish Association of Parents of LGBT People (families against gender intolerance). AMPGYL is one of the founding members of ENP.
Since 2017, Marisol is part of ENP as a representative of AMPGYL (She served as the secretary of ENP Board of Administrators (2022-2024) and was re-elected to continue in this role for the 2025-2026 term as well. In the eighties, Marisol joined the Christian Life Community (CVX.- CLC), an international association of lay Christians who have adopted an Ignatian model of spiritual life. Focused on family pastoral care, she is nowadays in charge of the CVX Family mission team.
Marisol believes that her activism consists of building rainbow bridges between people, society and religion. She has an MBA in business administration and she is working in the financial department of a publishing company.
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Committee of Consultors:
RΕ«ta TrumpickienΔ (Lithuania)
Ruta has been a professional social worker for 20 years with a masterβs degree from the Vilnius diversity. Her child came out as a transgender boy at the age of 13. Since then, Ruta got involved into LGBTQI+ rights movement. She is a member of βMothers for LGBTQ+ children organizationβ in Lithuania. She served in the advisory committee of βEuropean network of parents of LGBTI+ Personsβ during 2022-2024, and will continue in this role for the next 2 years as well. She is interested in ways to educate the public about transgender people, increase tolerance for LGBTQI+ persons, mobilize parents of transgender children for activism, initiate education on LGBTQI+ topics in schools, increase the inter β institutional collaboration. Ruta`s main objective is to help transgender minors to get proper help and support.
Mirjana KiΕΎevski (Serbia)
Mirjana (born in 1978.) is master of vocational education, employed in the Preschool institution since 2009. Before that, worked professionally as a journalist in a daily newspaper. Awarded the Annual UNICEF Award for the best journalistic text in print media in Serbia on the topic of children and childrenβs rights for the text βA disabled child also is a victim of incestβ in 2008. Awarded for her literary works at various international competitions. Literary works represented in more than thirty poetry, prose and essay collections and co-authored books. The story βShavasanaβ was included among the most successful in the competition dedicated to the LGBT+ theme in 2020. (under the auspices of the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights in Serbia).
Professional co-authored works published in collections dedicated to preschool education. Participant in the ERASMUS+ project of non-governmental organizations from Malta, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Serbia dedicated to providing support to trans and gender diverse children and young people. Advocates the democratization of society and the strengthening of civil rights and freedoms, with respect for individuals and society as a whole. Presented at international conferences in Portugal (2022), Malta (2023) and Moldova (2024). Wrote basic recommendations for schools and colleges in Serbia for working with transgender students. Single mother of two young adult girls.
AntΓ³nio Vale (Portugal)
Antonio is the father of two children, the youngest is a trans boy. Since 2019 he has been an activist for LGBTQIA+ causes. He is often contacted to give interviews. He is frequently invited to give talks at conferences, schools and enterprises about LGBTQIA+ issues. He is also a regular speaker at the Portuguese Parliamentβs parliamentary groups about new laws and improving existing ones related to.
Antonio has been a member of Amplos since 2019 and is the current President of its board since 2023.
Dinka Huremovi, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dinka is from Tuzla. She is married and a proud mother of two sons one of whom is transgender. She is the daughter of special parents, and she is a sister who lost her brother to a vicious disease. While she studied economics, she has been working in multiple fields. She is a long-time member of the Cultural and Artistic Society, and a passionate dancer and folklorist. She worked as a shift leader in the laundry at the UN base, as a translator, administrative assistant, financial officer, financial manager, and director. Currently, she is working in the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Transport of the Tuzla Canton as Advisor for Trade and Tourism.
In addition to her professional work, she has an active role as a member of the βZAGRLJAJβ (Eng. HUG), an informal group of parents of LGBTQ children in Bosnia and Herzegovina that gets support from the Sarajevo Open Centre. Sarajevo Open Centre is a civil society organization that works on advancing human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They initiate and create systemic social changes, emphasizing gender equality and the position of LGBTI+ persons.
Together with her son and husband, Dinka participates in many events related to and in support of the transgender and LGBTQ+ community in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Piotr Ε»bikowski, Poland
Piotr is a member of the Polish parentβs organisationβ We, the Parentsβ. He has been taking an active role in this parentsβ organisation since 2024 and was elected as a board member. He lives in the uburban village of Krakow, southern Poland. He has been married for over 25 years, and he is the proud father of two adult queer kids. He has been involved with ENP since September 2023 Europride which was hosted in Malta. He has been recently elected to be on the advisory committee for 2025-2027.
His main mission as a member of queer families is to educate others. He believes in being open and supporting other parents whose kids just came out. His motto is βWhat I can do is to change small things around me and my family.β
Piotr graduated from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, with a master’s degree in journalism and political science. In his professional life, he has been working for over 20 years in various roles in logistics in an automotive innovation centre.
He likes outdoor activities: hiking, cycling, sailing β cruising β kayaking.
Kleoniki Giannakopoulou, Greece
Kleonike is a proud mother of four children, one of whom is identifying as trans. She is a licensed Clinical Psychologist and Systemic Psychotherapist to be. She is also the founder of `ANIMA`, a Greek NGO focusing on mental health since 2005.
Her experience with her child has led her to seek support and information from `Proud Parents, Greece, a support group for parents of LGBTQI+ children which has since been registered as an association.
As part of `Proud Parents Greece` she has taken part in both Athens and Thessaloniki Prides, as well as in Europride that was held in Athens in 2024.
Through ANIMA, and the colleagues there, she has initiated an awareness campaign titled βSupport Trans Kidsβ, to help communities understand the struggle of these children and ways to support their mental health and acceptance.
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