The Team
Meet the core team behind thirdPlaces, collaborating with a global network of creative consultants and academics. We approach each project with agility and purpose, assembling teams of experts to ensure the cultural sensitivity and technical expertise your project deserves.
Lina Silisty
Founding Director
Lina Silisty is a cultural policy expert and strategy consultant praised for her ability to design and lead strategies that place culture, community, and care at the heart of regeneration. With over 20 years of experience in the MENA region and beyond, she is a collaborative and trusted guide for key stakeholders in developing cultural landscapes — including governments, cultural authorities, institutions, and communities.
She leads thirdPlaces’ strategic partnerships and portfolio with a deep commitment to regenerative thinking—designing cultural strategies, creative economy frameworks, and place-based interventions that enable systemic and sustainable change.
Qualifications:
MA in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy, Goldsmiths University of London.
Graduated with distinction and two specialisations:
- Culture, Tourism and Urban Regeneration
- Cultural Diplomacy and Relations
BSc Economics, American University of Beirut
Mahita El Bacha Urieta
Associate Partner
Mahita El Bacha Urieta is a cultural strategist and curator with over 30 years of international experience in cultural policy, institutional design, and art curation and production. With a background in curatorial practice, cultural programming, and development, she brings a systems thinking lens to the design of visionary and context-sensitive strategies and programmes.
Mahita contributes to shaping thirdPlaces’ regenerative approach with expertise in cross-sector collaboration and ecosystem building. Her work spans geographies, disciplines, and languages, thus supporting long-term cultural transformation in different national and cultural contexts.
Qualifications:
MA Arts Policy and Management, City University, London
MA Psychology, Middlesex University, London
BA in History and Archaeology, American University of Beirut