Thirteen years after Martin Thaulow had established the company Good people ApS, a creative studio specialised in storytelling and visual communication, he joined hands with Catinca Slavu and Ivan M. Nielsen to found Good people as a non-profit organisation.
The transition had been only natural, Good people ApS’ mission having evolved towards collaborating with diverse stakeholders have taken Good people to the forefront of societal engagement. While Good people ApS remains a separate company producing media, advertising and related content, Good people non-profit is taking forward our collective dedication to fundamental universal values.
Our work takes us to the far reaches of the globe, and our commitment remains unwavering: to make a tangible difference in the world. We are dedicated to cultural, educational and dialogue-based engagement, through strategies that create awareness, understanding and, utlimately, engagement. We specialise in stimulating public debate, facilitating exchanges, creating campaigns and art installations in public spaces designed to captivate and engage audiences on a large scale.
For selected work previously undertaken by Good people ApS, please visit the company website.
We also run the platform Refugee.Today, which is dedicated to bringing attention to the large population of refugees in our world today. Through visual journalism and personal stories, this platform documents and highlights the current situation in depth, offering a unique insight into one of the fastest-growing trends in modern society.
Martin Thaulow
Martin Thaulow, co-founder and Executive Chairperson, (and founder of Good people ApS), is a member of the Danish Union of Journalists, commissioned and working as a photojournalist for news media, magazines, NGOs and organisations such as Amnesty International, the Danish Refugee Council and the Red Cross, UN (UNICEF, UNESCO), among others. Since 2014, Martin Thaulow has been portraying and documenting the life of victims of oppression, including torture, and refugees as one of his main priorities, working in countries such as Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Poland, Rwanda, Spain, Sweden, Türkye and Ukraine, where during the past four years he has had more than 50 installations of photo exhibitions in public spaces, galleries and museums Originally, he was trained as a fine arts painter, but later expanded his work into photography, video art and multimedia installations.
Catinca Salvu
Catinca Slavu, co-founder and Executive Deputy Chairperson, is a governance and democracy-strengthening expert, with a focus on constitutional, political and peace processes. She has advised civil society, governments as well as state and multilateral institutions in post-conflict, transitional and fragile contexts in the Balkans, the Caucasus, South-East Asia and the Middle East-North Africa region as well as in Africa and Latin America. She has designed, run and evaluated large-scale EU, OSCE and UN programs for participatory processes and civil society engagement, including in Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan. Since 2018 she has been promoting fundamental universal values primarily together with South African, Syrian and Ukrainian partners. From policy development to strategic leadership, she has been focused on inclusion and participation as prerequisites for democratic transformation and sustainable stability.
Ivan M. Nielsen
Ivan M. Nielsen, co-founder and Executive Board Member, is an expert in leadership in human rights, conflict management and peace and constitution-making processes as well as strategic planning. Until he left the Danish diplomatic service in 2021, Ivan M. Nielsen served as Denmark’s Special Representative for the Syria Crisis for over eight years. As a human rights adviser to South Africa’s Constitutional Assembly, he was instrumental in conceptualising a value-based constitutional process. With the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the UN, he continued to provide value-based strategic planning and organisational development to human rights institutions across Africa, Asia and Latin America. His diplomatic focus before Syria was on state fragility and the nexus between foreign and security policy, including in senior positions in Afghanistan and Libya.
Magdalena Bobowik
Magdalena Bobowik, Ph.D., is a Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow at the University of the Basque Country, Department of Social Psychoplogy, and Ikerbasque Research Fellow at the Basque Foundation for Science. Her professional background includes research work at the University of Utrecht, Netherlands, where she has also been a member of the European Research Centre on Migration and Ethnic Relations. Her research is dedicated to advancing social justice, diversity and inclusivity, democratic culture, and respect for human rights in multicultural and post-conflict societies.
Mathias Findalen
Mathias Findalen is a trained historian and civil society leader. He has previously been head of Rapolitics, program manager at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, consultant at International Media Support and is currently Head of Programme at the Tuborg Foundation. He is engaged in different advisory boards and he also publishes books and lectures on democracy and social movements.
Edward Shalala
Edward Shalala is an expert in democratic constitution making, transitional justice, human rights, democracy building, security studies and advocacy. He has led the public participation process at South Africa’s Constitutional Assembly, and has advised South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He has led global programs, including with the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) and been a research fellow at the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies (IFS). He is the Executive Chair of the Centre for Constitutional Values in South Africa.
Thomas Trier Hansen
Thomas Trier Hansen is a jurist and lawyer specialised in responsible business conduct (RBC) and has also been a Danish judge and member of the Danish Refugee Appeal Board. He has over 20 years of experience in various aspects of human rights and from more than 50 countries across both the global South and the global North. For the last 12 years he has been focusing on RBC and advising companies, investors and organisations in virtually all sectors on RBC and complicated value chains.