Our Team
Louisa SLAVKOVA
Founder & Executive director
Louisa Slavkova is a political scientist and author with extensive experience in foreign policy, democracy development and civic education.
Louisa has held various positions throughout her career, including a visiting fellow at Columbia University, programs manager at the European Council on Foreign Relations and adviser to Bulgaria’s former foreign and climate ministers.
In 2013, she founded the Sofia Platform Foundation. She is the co-author of two textbooks on civic education in Bulgaria and has authored and edited several books and publications on foreign policy and democracy development.
In 2021, Louisa co-founded THE CIVICS Innovation Hub and now serves as one of its three managing partners, overseeing operations in Sofia.
Louisa has held various positions throughout her career, including a visiting fellow at Columbia University, programs manager at the European Council on Foreign Relations and adviser to Bulgaria’s former foreign and climate ministers.
In 2013, she founded the Sofia Platform Foundation. She is the co-author of two textbooks on civic education in Bulgaria and has authored and edited several books and publications on foreign policy and democracy development.
In 2021, Louisa co-founded THE CIVICS Innovation Hub and now serves as one of its three managing partners, overseeing operations in Sofia.
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.
Denitza VIDOLOVA
Project coordinator
Denitza has ten years of professional experience in the field of education, having worked for a number of Bulgarian and international organizations. Prior to joining the Sofia Platform Foundation team, Denitza was a consultant in a boutique global education consultancy firm in the UK, where she worked on evaluation and research projects and also managed learning assessment, girls’ education and refugee education projects. She has also worked as a teacher. Denitza is interested in supporting the teaching and learning of civic education and developing initiatives that forge civic skills and competencies.
Kameliya TOMOVA
Project manager
Kameliya has over nine years of professional experience working with high-performing international civil society organisations. The areas in which she specialised include organisational effectiveness and good governance, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion. As part of her various roles at Accountable Now, Transparency International, Greenpeace International, and Vessy.com Kameliya reviewed and assessed the management and governance systems of small, medium, and large entities and provided guidance on how to improve their management strategies by focusing on transparent and accountable processes and practices. Kameliya has a master’s degree in Social Sciences from the University of Bristol, having studied Contemporary Identities and Multiculturalism whilst also volunteering with a campaign to defend the rights of asylum seekers in the UK.
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.
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 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.
Sevdalina ABADZHIEVA
Digital marketing & communications specialist
Sevdalina is currently studying PR & Communications at Sofia University and is part of the Digital Marketing for Worthy Causes fellowship program of the America for Bulgaria Foundation. The program gives 12 young people the opportunity for an internship in NGOs, as well as for an introduction into the marketing world. Sevdalina chose to be an intern at Sofia Platform Foundation because of her interest in the history of the recent past and her aspiration to learn more about it.
Sibila KERELEZOVA
Project assistant
Sibila graduated with a bachelor's degree in industrial design from Technical University – Sofia and a master's degree in graphic design from The National Academy of Art Sofia. Her professional experience is in graphic design and contemporary art, while in her work as an artist, she is committed to various civil society projects such as social media campaigns encouraging Bulgarians to vote in the 2023 parliamentary elections. She is interested in educational and cultural initiatives that serve the broader community and sees her role as a project assistant in THE CIVICS Innovation Hub as a great opportunity to contribute to the development of civic engagement.
Teodora DANAILOVA
Оffice manager and project coordinator
Teodora has a bachelor's degree in French Philology from Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski". Before becoming part of the "Sofia Platform" team, she worked as a teacher-suggestopedagogue, as well as in managerial positions in companies in different areas.
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
Louisa SLAVKOVA
Borislav DIMITROV
Momchil METODIEV