Vivian Kounio studied Philosophy and Pedagogy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and then received her Master's Degree in Sociology from the University of Amsterdam, specializing in Migration and Ethnic Studies.

Having a strong interest in issues of migration, human rights, socially vulnerable groups etc. she has been working since 2010 through various positions and in cooperation with different institutions and organizations aiming to further explore these fields. More specifically, she took a coordinating role in the Odyssesas project of the Youth and Lifelong Learning Foundation (INEDIVIM) for the creation of educational classes for adult immigrants to learn Greek as a second foreign language, while in 2013 she started working for ARSIS-Social Organization for the Support of Youth in Thessaloniki as a coordinator for the project "Social Structures for Combating Poverty in the Municipality of Thessaloniki". In 2015, remaining in the same organization, she worked in the field of protection and support of minors in Idomeni and Nea Kavala as well as in detention facilities where minors were kept in protective custody. In 2018 she started working with the City of Athens as the coordinator of the project "Curing the limbo" an innovative project aiming at integrating refugees into the urban fabric of the city, while from August 2022 she is working as a coordinator of the Democracy Program for the Thessaloniki Office of the Heinrich Bοell Foundation, while at the same time coordinating the Foundation's activities in Bulgaria.

Lover of the sea, the mountain and books.