Yianna holds a Business Administration (Marketing) degree, Frederick University, a Global MBA (Financial Management), Manchester Business School (Capital Markets in Hong Kong) and a research MA in Global Cultures, King’s College London. Yianna has trained in Art Business with Christie’s Education and in Cultural Diplomacy and Soft Diplomacy of Museums in the Digital Age with the Hellenic Institute of Cultural Diplomacy.

Early on she acquired substantial banking experience, working across departments in the Bank of Cyprus from 1991-2004. Trained on their management program. Further improving her competencies she undertook extensive training in innovation engineering on products, systems and services and human resource dynamics management through CRC Innovation Engineering.  Mentoring within the Junior Achievement Start Up Programme since 2020,  her team AKOU, TEPAK, made it as finalists for the 2022 Awards.

Eventually, her entrepreneurial instinct would lead her to forge her own path.

Innovation-driven entrepreneurship lies at the heart of her work, merging her studies in business, finance and strategy visualisation with her expertise in innovation engineering. Yianna has mentored numerous upcoming designers, drafting strategy maps, as well as several established design groups in business development. These collaborations saw her placing their work/products in various projects in Cyprus and Greece and Egypt. Work she has brought to the local market include: modular office furniture by MOVISI.com (ARPRO EPP 100% recyclable) ; coated foam (polyurethane-based lacquer) and hard plastic (rotational moulding LDPE) by feel.nl, making it highly recyclable and reusable within the industry. In 2010 introduced plumen.com locally, the first designer low energy light bulb 01 and shortly after 02 as well as innovative Lithuanian Contraforma and their best selling cardboard collapsible chair/storage the Mutabor

Equally, sustainable design plays an integral role in the portfolio of designers she chooses to work with; re-purposed furniture and objects from the humble Dutch post bag and sugar bags further interlinking it in the extensive Blended Heritage project where traditional Cyprus crochet and Dutch woollen blankets were crafted by artisan makers in forming tapestry comprising of these two heritage materials. Worked also with bokja.com where antique embroidery from the Levantine route was used to remodel vintage furniture items and objects; designer and sculptor petermarigold.com in making a whole chess set from fallen branches found in the park opposite his studio is yet another as is Contraforma MW chest of drawers, made from wooden panels salvaged from old Vilnius wooden houses coupled with innovative powder-coated laser-cut metal structures, to name but a few. Collaborations with design groups of the Global South (Ghana, Togo, Kenya) in supporting communities which are actively preserving their local craftsmanship, by working to develop the exposure of their weaved textiles used for home accessories, tapestry and fashion accessories.

Perhaps however what best defines her is heritage activism, a focus that has intensified since 2014, she tracks and participates in the evolving discourse of our cultural heritage which compel her in initiating a dialogue around them. Has conceived and materialised several initiatives under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with arts foundations and universities both locally and abroad.

Additionally, she curates the work for ΦΧΨ Heritage Design collective work fihipsi.com acting also as conceptual creator. She has supported heritage education during her 12-year term as chairperson JUSSAA (The Junior & Senior School Alumni Association), having built up momentum within this society. Here, a major milestone was initiating and curating a three-tier retrospective exhibition honouring Glyn Hughes, the renowned Cyprus-based Welsh artist, who taught art at the School for 30 years.

Ultimately, what brings together all the strands of her multi-disciplinary focus is a commitment to empowering the next generation of innovation and cultural entrepreneurs – mentoring their progress in uncharted waters, while sustaining and forging new inspiration from the past.