OUR TEAM
Team
Louisa
SLAVKOVA
Founder & Executive director
Louisa is advisory board member of the European Network for Civic Education NECE. In 2016 Louisa was Ronald Lauder Visiting Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University, NYC. From 2013 to 2016, she was programs manager at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). Prior to joining ECFR, Louisa served for two years as adviser to Bulgaria's former Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov (currently ). Before that, she’s worked with the German Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb). She is author and editor of several books and publications on foreign policy, democracy development and civic education. Louisa is co-author of an upcoming text book on civic education in Bulgaria. Louisa is also co-founder of THE CIVICS Innovation Hub, a pan-European organization founded in 2021.
Borislav
DIMITROV
Deputy director
Borislav has an extensive experience in human rights. Before joining Sofia Platform he worked as a legal consultant for the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and project coordinator in other non-governmental organization on a wide array of topics such as rights of ethnic, religious and sexual minorities, refugees and asylum-seekers, rights of the child, protection from torture and ill-treatment, freedom of expression and association, problems of the criminal justice system.
Leonie
SICHTERMANN
Project manager
Leonie holds a MA in Peace and Conflict Research from the university in Frankfurt am Main and studied politics and sociology (BA) in Eichstätt and Brussels. Before joining Sofia Platform, she was working with the Berlin-based NGO Steps for Peace (2014-2016) focusing on social and political transformation processes in fragile contexts. Leonie is also project coordinator at THE CIVICS Innovation Hub since 2022.
Kristalina
ILIEVA
Project coordinator
Prior to joining the "Sofia platform" team, Kristalina gained diverse experience as a journalist, article author and content writer for online media, press and television. She was also engaged in translation of fiction, marketing and event planning. Kristalina coordinated foreign PhD students' educational process in Bulgaria while being part of an international company. She has graduated in "Sociology" and has a Master degree in "Media, communication and culture", a shared program held in three universities in Bulgaria, Germany and France.
Rumyana
HRISTOVA
Project manager
Rumyana holds a BA in Public Relations from Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. She has experience in project management, project coordination, account communications and administration in various industries, such as media, travel, and tech. Apart from her professional background, she has undertaken several voluntary and creative initiatives, related to preservation of the architectural heritage in Bulgaria, event coordination, and art management. She has experience in documentary cinema production, with emphasis on crisis, human rights, and cultural identity in terms of globalization.
Mirena
KOSTOVA
Digital marketing & Communications Expert
As a student, Mirena started working as an intern in the marketing department of a large international company. New technologies have always excited her and marketing in a digital environment immediately grabs her. After graduating from "Business Management" at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", she also gained experience in the Key Account Department. For several years she has been successfully partnering with Bulgarian and international companies, many of which have a strong online presence. Before going on maternity leave, she managed to combine her two passions and work as a digital and e-commerce manager.
Photographer: Gergana Pavlova
Advisors
Momchil
METODIEV
Academic advisor
Momchil Metodiev is professor of history in the New Bulgarian University, Editor in Chief of the Christianity and Culture Journal and Research Fellow in the Institute for Studies of the Recent Past, Sofia, Bulgaria. He has authored four monographs and numerous articles and took part in the compilation of several documentary collections published by the Bulgarian Dossier Commission. He also worked in several Bulgarian and international projects researching the communist past.
Board Members
Nikolay
MLADENOV
Board member
Vessela
TCHERNEVA
Board member
Programme Director and Head of the Sofia Office of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). Previously, she was Director of the Wider Europe Programme at ECFR (2013-2015) and Spokesperson of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2010 – 2013).
Julian
POPOV
Board member
Senior Policy Advisor to the European Climate Foundation, Minister of Environment and Water in the last Bulgarian interim government (2013), Chairman of the Board of the Bulgarian School of Politics (2006 – 2013).
Valeri
RATCHEV
Board member
Former senior government official and ambassador of Bulgaria to Iraq, expert at the Center for Security and Defence Management at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, associated senior research fellow at Geneva Centre for DCAF, with 34 years of military experience.