Katia Gaika is a Deputy Director of the IT Cluster of Skolkovo Foundation (Russia's Silicon Valley project) where she is responsible for connecting the dots between Russian and International Educational and Research Institutions as well as for all special activities of the IT cluster when it comes to media projects and public relations. Prior to Skolkovo she spent a year starting a new TV channel (“Russian Life”) for Sistema Mass Media. Ms. Gaika first made a career as a photo-journalist and worked for Vogue, Paris Match, Harper's Bazaar, GEO, Marie Clair and Elle among many others. At the top of her journalist career Katia decided to switch gears and went to look for new challenges. She got accepted and went to Columbia University in the City of New York to study Economics. After graduating from Columbia with honors, she led a number of projects in media, financial and government sector for Booz Allen Hamilton in New York, Dubai, Cairo and Moscow.
