ალუმნი

რიდვან ბარი ურკოსტა

რიდვან ბარი ურკოსტა

a PhD Candidate at the Centre for Strategic Studies, University of Warsaw
რიდვან ბარი ურკოსტა

რიდვან ბარი ურკოსტა

a PhD Candidate at the Centre for Strategic Studies, University of Warsaw

He is currently a PhD Candidate at the Centre for Strategic Studies, University of Warsaw.

His research interests are: Black Sea region, Maritime Security in the Black Sea Region and Eastern Mediterranean; Russia and the Middle East; Human Right Situation in Crimea and the Crimean Tatars; Sea of Azov and Ukrainian Naval Policy.

Ridvan writes analytical articles to different analytical centers for example: ECFR, Jamestown Foundation, War Room (U.S. War College) The Proceedings (U.S. Naval Institute), Jerusalem Post and etc. He has experience of working in the European Parliament in the Subcommittee of the Security and Defense and responsible for the Eastern European and Black Sea regions and Russia.  And teaching an ERASMUS course – “Russia and the Middle East: Geopolitics and Diplomacy” in the University of Warsaw. Ridvan born in Abkhazia, Georgia and till Civil War was living there, at the begging of nineties he moved to Crimea where he lived until the annexation of Crimea.

At the moment of annexation he worked in the Sevastopol State Administration. Right after annexation worked as Human Rights Officer in Odessa, Ukraine in the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission. He finished Estonian Diplomatic Academy in 2015 and completed The Indigenous Fellowship Programme (IFP) is a comprehensive human rights training programme that was established by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva. Ridvan give a speech at the Human Rights Council in 2018 about situation in annexed by Russia Crimea

თამარ თორია

თამარ თორია

Executive Director at the Georgian Farmers’ Association (GFA)
თამარ თორია

თამარ თორია

Executive Director at the Georgian Farmers’ Association (GFA)

Tamar Toria has been holding the position of Executive Director at the Georgian Farmers’ Association (GFA) since January 2015. She is responsible for general operations of the organization, its advocacy mandate, as well as fundraising and overall supervision of donor-funded projects within GFA.She represents GFA and its member farmers at different working groups and boards and carries forward key messages respectively.

Prior to joining the Association, Tamar has worked on economic development and agriculture programs in the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia and with different donor organizations such as DfID, MCC, USAID, and others.

Tamar graduated from Tbilisi I. Chavchavadze State Institute of Foreign Languages and holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Georgian-American Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA). She has obtained numerous certificates from various courses both at home and abroad and is currently pursuing Mastery of Management Graduate Diploma program in Corporate Strategy & Planning at International Cambridge College.

ზურაბ ჭიაბერაშვილი

ზურაბ ჭიაბერაშვილი

Member of the Parliament
ზურაბ ჭიაბერაშვილი

ზურაბ ჭიაბერაშვილი

Member of the Parliament

Zurab Tchiaberashvili, MP, joined public service in 2003 as the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Georgia. He was Mayor of Tbilisi (2004-2005), Permanent Representative of Georgia to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, to the UN office and other organizations in Geneva (2005-2012), Minister of Labour, Health and Social Affairs (2012) and Governor of the Kakheti region (2013). He has a rank of Ambassador of Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia (since 2007).

Zurab Tchiaberashvili has MBA (2009) from Joint program with Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA, and WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar, Germany, and Ph.D. in Philosophy (1999) from Tbilisi State University, Georgia. He translated Robert Putnam’s “Making Democracy Work” (published in 2005) and John Rawls’ “Political Liberalism” (published in 2018) from English into Georgian.

ოლგა სტუჟინსკაია

ოლგა სტუჟინსკაია

International Relations and Development Professional
ოლგა სტუჟინსკაია

ოლგა სტუჟინსკაია

International Relations and Development Professional

Olga Stuzhinskaya is a seasoned international relations and development professional specialized in the region of the Former Soviet Union (FSU). She is the founder and former director of the Brussels-based Office for a Democratic Belarus (2006-2015) that sought to strengthen ties between Belarus and the European Union (EU). She is also a co-founder of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, and was Member of its Steering Committee. The EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative aims at closer political and economic ties with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

In her present capacity of independent Senior Consultant, Olga delivers expertise to the European Union and international organizations – Council of Europe, UN agencies, OSCE -, governments, NGOs and business companies on governance reform, leadership, and sustainable development in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and South Caucasus. Within the CDDRL alumni network, she is one of the co-founders of the Gender and Development Group. Olga holds a BS degree from the University of Maryland (USA) and an Executive MBA from the Solvay Business School (Belgium).

ალექსანდრე სოლოვიევი

ალექსანდრე სოლოვიევი

Ex-Chairman of the Open Russia Movement
ალექსანდრე სოლოვიევი

ალექსანდრე სოლოვიევი

Ex-Chairman of the Open Russia Movement

Alexander Solovyev is an Ex-Chairman of the Open Russia Movement.

He was born in 1987 and studied International Relations at the Russian State Academic University of the Humanities. Began his career as a specialist in international affairs in the Institute for the US and Canada Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, where he was a teacher and an analyst.

In 2013 he became assistant to Russian State Duma member Dmitry Gudkov, he assisted in lawmaking and amendment activities. Solovyev played a role in authoring bills for the return of direct elections for governors and majors, and on the abolition of food sanctions due to their incompatibility with the Russian Constitution. In 2016 Solovyev became a member of the Open Russia movement, and in April 2017 he was elected Chairman of the Open Russia Movement.

In 2019 during Moscow city parliament elections he was one of the independent candidates who managed to collect sufficient number of signatures but was still illegally rejected from being registered as a candidate. That caused mass protests in the city and all those candidates were arrested and put into jail for short terms, but simultaneously the authorities initiated dozens of criminal cases against ordinary citizens to frighten people and settle down the protests. Currently he is taking part in numerous initiatives helping to highlight the problem of political prisoners in Russia. Alexander is a federal board member of the Open Russia organization and also is in charge of the Party of Changes Moscow office (a new political party with Dmitry Gudkov as chairman).

თამთა შერმადინი

თამთა შერმადინი

Director of PwC Georgia
თამთა შერმადინი

თამთა შერმადინი

Director of PwC Georgia

Tamta Shermadini is the Director of PwC Georgia. Currently Tamta is leading Georgian advisory practice focusing on all the initiatives related to the Government and Public Sector (G&PS), Smart Infrastructure, and IFI / Donor funded projects. She is the Project Management Unit lead and Quality Assurance for all the Good Governance Projects implemented in the country.

In addition to the local role, Tamta is building up the G&PS practice for Eurasia region which covers 9 countries. During her almost ten-year career, she has been involved in various projects related to fund-raising, deals, feasibility studies, financial services consulting, project management and strategy consulting. Tamta holds MBA degree from the IE Business School, Madrid, Spain and BBA degree from the Free University, Tbilisi, Georgia.

თამარა სართანია

თამარა სართანია

Deputy Chief of Party for National Democratic Institute (NDI), Georgia office
თამარა სართანია

თამარა სართანია

Deputy Chief of Party for National Democratic Institute (NDI), Georgia office

Tamara Sartania is an international development professional with more than 12 years of experience in developing and managing programs with a particular focus on civil society development, parliamentary strengthening, elections and good governance systems. Currently she works as a Deputy Chief of Party for National Democratic Institute (NDI), Georgia office.

In her role, Tamara  oversees programs funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) aimed at increasing political pluralism and citizen participation in politics. In addition, she is in charge of the Institute’s election programing and has served as NDI’s Long-Term Analyst for Parliamentary Elections in Lebanon (2018) and as a Political Analyst for OSCE/ODIHR Election Observation Mission for Parliamentary Elections in the Republic of Moldova (2019).

Prior to joining NDI, Tamara  was a Senior Project Officer at CARE International, working with women at the grassroots level in the conflict-affected regions of the South Caucasus.  She  has also worked as an international development consultant for Eurasia Foundation in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and has served in the government of Georgia for three years. Tamara  holds a Master of Arts degree in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School, Tufts University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in International Relations from Tbilisi State University. Tamara speaks fluent Georgian, English and Russian and a little bit of French. In her free time, she runs marathons, climbs mountains and travels around the world.

სამირა საფაროვა

სამირა საფაროვა

Front-line Diplomat
სამირა საფაროვა

სამირა საფაროვა

Front-line Diplomat

I have ten years of front-line diplomatic practice, serving at the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Washington, D.C. (May 2015-January 2018) and the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the United Nations Office in Geneva (2008- 2012). In Geneva, I was responsible for the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Universal Periodic Review mechanism, and UN treaty bodies.

In Washington, D.C., I was a political and Congressional liaison officer covering the State Department with the human rights portfolio and the Senate. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2007, I have actively participated in bilateral and multilateral negotiations within and presentation of government reports to the UNHRC, UN treaty bodies, Council of Europe, etc. I have expertise in international human rights and humanitarian law and the U.S. political and legislative system.

I had the invaluable experience of being an OSCE short-term observer of the 2016 U.S Presidential elections. I have also three years of teaching experience at the law faculty of Baku State University on private international law, international human rights law and international organizations law theory. I earned my bachelor’s and master’s degree in international relations and international law from Baku State University, as well as a second MA from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights.

საბუჰი რზაევი

საბუჰი რზაევი

Leading adviser in Department of Public and Political Issues within the President Administration Office of Azerbaijan
საბუჰი რზაევი

საბუჰი რზაევი

Leading adviser in Department of Public and Political Issues within the President Administration Office of Azerbaijan

Mr. Sabuhi Rzayev is a leading adviser in Department of Public and Political Issues within the President Administration Office of Azerbaijan, since 2014. Currently, He is responsible to support the activities of local and international non-governmental organizations, development donors and link their activities with related state agencies and local executive authorities.

Mr. Rzayev obtained his bachelor degree in Management from Public Administration Academy under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2005-2009. He holds an MSc degree in Public Policy and Public Administration from the University of York, UK where he studied during 2009-2011. He has also travelled to more than 40 countries of the world and participated in more than 50 international conferences, seminars, training and fellowship programs.

Before his appointment to current position, Mr. Rzayev worked in the Department of political analysis and information provision of President Administration Office in the years of 2011-2014. His main responsibilities were preparing daily report of local and international news, analyzing the content of local media and information support of the president administration, managing the official web-site and all social media accounts of the President.

თენგიზ ფხალაძე

თენგიზ ფხალაძე

Senior fellow at the International Centre for Geopolitical Studies (ICGS)
თენგიზ ფხალაძე

თენგიზ ფხალაძე

Senior fellow at the International Centre for Geopolitical Studies (ICGS)

Tengiz Pkhaladze is a Georgian political researcher and public opinion maker. Former advisor-foreign relations secretary to the 4th President of Georgia (2014-1018). His background covers long standing working experience in government, civil society, think-tank and academia, mainly in areas of foreign and security policy, geopolitics, Russia and post-soviet countries, Eastern Partnership, European and Euro-Atlantic integration, institutional building and democratic development.

Currently he is working as Associated Professor, head of BA programs in political sciences at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) and as Senior fellow at the International Centre for Geopolitical Studies (ICGS). Editor and co-author number of books about Russia’s foreign policy towards neighboring countries.

გიორგი პაპავა

გიორგი პაპავა

Consultant of Economic Policy and Governance at Policy Management and Consulting Group (PMCG)
გიორგი პაპავა

გიორგი პაპავა

Consultant of Economic Policy and Governance at Policy Management and Consulting Group (PMCG)

Giorgi Papava is a consultant of Economic Policy and Governance at Policy Management and Consulting Group (PMCG). His policy research projects have looked into a number of challenges critical to Georgia’s social and economic development, such as facilitating international trade, internationalizing Georgia’s higher education system, evaluating competitiveness of economic sectors, financing mechanisms in agricultural sector, optimizing social protection system, etc.

He has been involved in evaluation of several existing and proposed legislations, including Law on Funded Pensions, Law on Public-Private Partnerships and Law on Anti-dumping. Giorgi holds an academic position of Associate Professor of Economics at Ilia State University (ISU), where he teaches courses in Managerial Economics and Principles of Economics. He is also an invited lecturer for courses in Law and Economics and Industrial Organization at International School of Economics (ISET).

In 2012, as part of his graduate studies at the University of Chicago, he received Master of Arts Degree in Economics and is currently working on his PhD thesis, Trade Policy in the Presence of Lobbying and Heterogenously Ignorant Voters, joint with Lasha Chochua. He also has a Master of Arts Degree in Economics (2008) from ISET.a

ელენე ნიჟარაძე

ელენე ნიჟარაძე

Deputy Executive Director at International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)
ელენე ნიჟარაძე

ელენე ნიჟარაძე

Deputy Executive Director at International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)

Ms. Nizharadze is the Deputy Executive Director at International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED). She is in charge of legislative reforms and policy research.

Elene started working at ISFED in 2012 as the project coordinator and since then she has been involved in election monitoring, legislative reforms, local selfgovernment projects, awareness raising campaigns, etc. Ms. Nizharadze has a vast experience of preparing legislative recommendations and advocating for relevant amendments. She has participated in different working groups created to implement electoral, constitutional and local government reforms. Besides domestic elections Elene was also involved as a short-term observer in international election monitoring missions organized by ENEMO and OSCE.

Before starting work at ISFED Ms. Nizharadze was a legal intern at Open Society Justice Initiative (Budapest, Hungary) working on freedom of information and legal clinics. She was also a legal expert of UNDP working for the Civil Registry Agency in Georgia on the legislative reform on identification documents, registration of civil acts, etc. Ms. Nizharadze holds LLM in Comparative Constitutional Law from Central European University (Budapest, Hungary) and Master’s degree from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (Tbilisi, Georgia).

ბადრი ნიპარიშვილი

ბადრი ნიპარიშვილი

Judge at District Court of Tetritskaro
ბადრი ნიპარიშვილი

ბადრი ნიპარიშვილი

Judge at District Court of Tetritskaro

Badri Niparishvili is the acting Judge at District Court of Tetritskaro. For over six years he has been working as a head of secretariat at the criminal chamber of Supreme Court and has been engaged in wide range of processes, including Criminal Justice Reform, Electronic Justice, Administration of Justice, making recommendations in terms of legal issues in Criminal Justice System etc.

He has been actively involved in Judicial International Conferences. Alongside, Badri Niparishvili has been actively engaged in academic life, both as a student and as a lecturer. He has obtained Master`s degree in law from Tbilisi State University and currently is enrolled on PhD program at the same University, conducting research in terms of the admissibility of evidence obtained by breach of law. He has been permanently publishing articles on matter of criminal procedure in law journal – “Justice and Law”.

At different times he has been teaching original courses at five different University in Tbilisi namely Political and Legal Aspects of Terrorism, reasoning of judgements, power of investigative judge, preventive measures, criminal proc. he is an Alumni of Tbilisi School of Political Studies a part of the Council of Europe Schools of Political Studies founded in 2000 which is the most demanding space in Georgia.

The School is supporting civil society and democratic process development in the country and unites wide range of professionals around the world. He is amateur artist and had 3 solo and 3 group exhibitions – expressionism, modern expressionism.

თამთა მურადაშვილი

თამთა მურადაშვილი

Chief Executive Officer of Mtavari Channel LLC
თამთა მურადაშვილი

თამთა მურადაშვილი

Chief Executive Officer of Mtavari Channel LLC

Tamta Muradashvili is a Chief Executive Officer of Mtavari Channel LLC. She has been serving at this position from August 2019, when former senior management team of Rustavi2 established a new broadcasting company, Mtavari Channel, with the vision to create an independent platform and serve development of democracy in the country.

Tamta Muradashvili was a Chief Legal Counsel at Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Company from 2008 till August 2019. Prior joining Rustavi2, she worked for nonprofit organizations. Her work experience includes teaching media law at Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) since 2017. Tamta Muradashvili holds LLM from Tbilisi State University (2006) and is a certified specialist in Civil Law. She is also a licensed lawyer in Civil Law (Georgian Bar Association member since 2010). She holds second LLM from University of Vienna (2015) in European and International Business Law.

She is an alumna (2001-2002) of a student exchange program (FSA/FLEX) that is administered by American Councils and fully funded by US State Department. Tamta Muradashvili has contributed to the amendments of the Broadcaster’s Code of Conduct adopted in 2009, and has been actively involved in discussions of draft law projects related to media sector and free speech in general. She has been engaged in the events and developments of Georgian media; participated in panel discussions and conducted public lectures on freedom of speech. She has brought the Rustavi 2’s high profile legal dispute case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. Free University of Tbilisi has nominated her as the nominee of the “Human Rights Defender of 2017” award for her contribution to human rights development and protection in the year of 2017. From 2019, Tamta Muradashvili serves as the Chairwomen of Media and Communications Law Committee at Georgian Bar Association and is a member of International Bar Association.

სალომე მუხურაძე

სალომე მუხურაძე

Senior Program Officer at the Eastern European Centre for Multiparty Democracy (EECMD)
სალომე მუხურაძე

სალომე მუხურაძე

Senior Program Officer at the Eastern European Centre for Multiparty Democracy (EECMD)

Salome Mukhuradze is a Senior Program Officer at the Eastern European Centre for Multiparty Democracy (EECMD) and has over 10 years of experience in support of democracy, political parties, policy development, and gender equality. Salome earned LL.B. and LL.M. in Public International Law from Tbilisi State University and holds an M.A. in Intercultural Conflict Management from Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences of Berlin. Since the final year of her bachelor studies, Salome has been employed by various state agencies, local NGOs, and international organizations. Additionally, Salome has worked as a trainer and invited lecturer on public international law and law of international organizations.

სანდრო მეგრელიშვილი

სანდრო მეგრელიშვილი

Head of Reform Coordination and Monitoring Division at the Ministry of Defense of Georgia
სანდრო მეგრელიშვილი

სანდრო მეგრელიშვილი

Head of Reform Coordination and Monitoring Division at the Ministry of Defense of Georgia

Sandro Megrelishvili is the acting head of Reform Coordination and Monitoring Division at the Ministry of Defense of Georgia (MoD).

For over six years, he has been engaged in wide range of dissimilar processes, including coordination, monitoring and reporting, policy formulation and system analysis. With the help of his colleagues, he has introduced the monitoring system for the ministry’s strategic documents. As a result, MoD has a properly working monitoring system that enables the pinpointing of the main challenges and malfunctions, offers profound material for thorough analysis and facilitates decision-making process. Apart from that, Sandro has been actively engaged in academic life, both as a student and as a teacher.

He has graduated from University of St Andrews with Honors Degree in International Relations and gained Master’s Degree in Political Science at Ilia State University. Currently, he is enrolled on PhD program at Ilia State University, researching the role of political parties in the democratic consolidation process. For two consecutive years, Sandro has been teaching ‘Introduction to Democracy’ at a summer school (Guivy Zaldastanishvili American Academy in Tbilisi), while, currently, he is lecturing ‘Democratic Governance’ at the Business and Technology University, the main goal of which is to support students to become active and responsible citizens. S

andro’s is keen to contribute to the strengthening of Georgia’s defense and security, and to its democratic consolidation and sustainable development. He hopes that through participation in LAD program, he will be better prepared to advance these goals.

ელენე ხოშტარია

ელენე ხოშტარია

Member of the Parliament
ელენე ხოშტარია

ელენე ხოშტარია

Member of the Parliament

In 2016 Elene Khoshtaria was elected to the Parliament of Georgia, where she is a vocal member of the following committees: Human Rights and Civil Integration and Healthcare and Social Issues. In 2017 she ran as a Tbilisi Mayoral candidate in the Municipal Elections.

Since 2012 she has been a Professor of Political Ideologies and International Affairs at the Tbilisi State University, Agrarian and Free Universities. In the period of 2007-2012 she held a position of the First Vice-State Minister of Georgia for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. During this period Georgia achieved the major milestones on its path to NATO integration. In 2004, she worked at the Ministry of Internal Affairs; later at the Ministry of Defense and further at the Office of the State Minister of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, she headed the process of Georgia’s NATO integration in the capacity of the Head of Foreign Affairs Department.

In 2012, Ms. Khoshtaria co-founded a non-partisan, non-governmental policy watchdog and think tank “Georgia’s Reforms Associates” (GRASS) and became an active defender of the Human Rights. From the Civil Society platform, Ms. Khoshtaria was vocal about democracy challenges, annexation of Georgia’s occupied regions by the Russian Federation and Georgia’s Foreign Policy. Elene Khoshtaria graduated from Moscow State Institute for International Affairs (MGIMO).

რუსლან ხოროშვილი

რუსლან ხოროშვილი

Country Managing Partner of EY Georgia
რუსლან ხოროშვილი

რუსლან ხოროშვილი

Country Managing Partner of EY Georgia

Ruslan Khoroshvili is a country managing partner of EY in Georgia.

With 20 years of experience in the accounting and auditing profession, he is one of the leading professionals in this sphere in Georgia. He started his career with GCG-Audit in 1999 as a trainee. First working on the joint engagements of GCG-Audit and Andersen and later joining EY in 2003, during their acquisition of GCG-Audit. Throughout his career at EY, Ruslan worked in EY’s Tbilisi, Moscow, Almaty, Astana and Bucharest offices. He served leading EY’s local and international clients, participated in IPO’s and bond offerings in Georgia, UK, Russia and Kazakhstan. In 2003, Ruslan was the first active professional from Georgia to obtain a US Certified Public Accountant designation. He was promoted to audit partner in 2001 at age of 31, becoming the first locally promoted partner for Big4 professional services firms in Georgia.

In 2003, Ruslan was promoted to lead EY’s Georgian practice as a country managing partner. Ruslan is actively engaged in the promotion and development of audit profession in Georgia. He represented audit profession on the first board of the Service for Accounting, Reporting and Auditing Supervision of Georgia. He is also active member of the Georgian Federation of Professional Accountants and Auditors, currently serving as a head of its Audit Quality Committee. Apart from professional endeavors, Ruslan is passionate about charity and social work. In the past, he has participated in large number of social initiatives.

He promotes the idea of social engagement both at EY and broadly in the Georgian society. Currently, Ruslan is a board member of not-for-profit organization First Step. Ruslan is a Bachelor of Business Administration from ESM-Tbilisi. He is active Certified Public Accountant from a State of New Hampshire, USA and is licensed auditor in Georgia. Ruslan has a wife and three kids.

ლევან კობერიძე

ლევან კობერიძე

Member of the Parliament
ლევან კობერიძე

ლევან კობერიძე

Member of the Parliament

Levan Koberidze is an elected majoritarian member of the 9th term of the Parliament of Georgia. He is a member of the Healthcare and Social Issues Committee in the Parliament of Georgia. Levan Koberidze is a main staff member of the parliamentary delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of Francophonie (APF).

As a member of the Parliament of Georgia, Levan Koberidze was a deputy chairman of the Healthcare and Social Issues Committee and a member of Sector Economy and Economic Policy Committee. He was a Head of the parliamentary friendship group with Japan, a main staff member of the Parliamentary Delegation in the EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly and a member of Gender Equality Council of Parliament of Georgia. Levan Koberidze was in charge of development of Georgian winery sector as he was a chairman of Georgian Wine Producers Union and gained enormous experience from working in “Georgian Wines and Spirits Company”.

Levan Koberidze holds an MBA Degree from Stockholm School of Economics and he also graduated from the department of medicine, general surgery at Tbilisi State Medical University

ნინო კიკნაძე

ნინო კიკნაძე

Director of the project “Law, media and Health” at the Open Society Georgia Foundation
ნინო კიკნაძე

ნინო კიკნაძე

Director of the project “Law, media and Health” at the Open Society Georgia Foundation

Nino Kiknadze is the Director of the project “Law, media and Health” at the Open Society Georgia Foundation.

Nino Kiknadze’s background spans such areas of Law as Civil Law (Corporation and Business Law, Labor Law and Health Care law) and human rights. Nina enrolled in Tbilisi State University (department of Jurisprudence) in 1995, which she graduated with honors in 2000 and acquired LLM degree. She also holds an MPA degree from the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs. In 2004, she completed the Leiden University and passed the BAR exam with success. In 1999 Nina worked for Georgian State Chancellery as a Lawyer, where her obligation was legal assessment of Georgian President’s radio speeches.

From 2000 to 2006, Nina Kiknadze worked for Children Central Hospital as a head of legal department. She also worked for Commercial Bank as a Head of Legal Department. Since 2003 till present  Nino Kiknadze  works for  European Union’s, USAID›s, UNDP and World Banks projects as a legal expert.

Since 2006, Nina has been working for Open Society Georgian Foundation as a Law, Media  and Health Initiative  Director. During this period, she has done  researches and till know provides lectures in “Labor Law”, “Contract Law” and “Health law” for different institutes. She is a professor at GIPA. She is an author of some articles published in International Journals and co-author of 3 books. In 2017-2018 Nino Kiknadze was a member of Prisoners Pardon Commission of Georgia. She is a founder of First Children’s Hospice “firefly World” in Georgia. Nino Kiknadze was awarded Order of Honor by President of Georgia. In 2018, in Rome, she was awarded first prize for commitment and dedication to children.

ფატიმე ჰაღიღაჯო

ფატიმე ჰაღიღაჯო

Executive Director of Nonviolent Initiative for Democracy Inc. (NID)
ფატიმე ჰაღიღაჯო

ფატიმე ჰაღიღაჯო

Executive Director of Nonviolent Initiative for Democracy Inc. (NID)

Dr. Fatemeh Haghighatjoo is a founding member and Executive Director of Nonviolent Initiative for Democracy Inc. (NID) and a founding member of Yalda Network for women’s political participation where she has led a training program to assist women to run for public office which previous training help 22 women got elected for local councils in Iran.

Dr. Fatemeh Haghighatjoo is an expert in Iran’s internal affairs and an advocate of human rights, women’s rights, and democracy in Iran. She was a member of Iran’s reformist parliament from 2000-2004. She has published book chapters and papers on the women’s and democratic movements in Iran. She wrote a book,  Search for Truth, which is an account to her trial sparked by her attempt to make the judiciary system accountable. She is also working on a book manuscript entitled A Voice for Truth. She has engaged in public speaking and Media appearance. She is a faculty member of the Eurasia Foundation where she teaches Advocacy and participatory decision making.

Alsi she was a faculty member of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the University of Connecticut.  She developed an online certificate on “Women’s Leadership in Global Perspective” for UMass Boston’s Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy. Also, a research fellow at MIT’s Center for International Studies and Harvard Kennedy School. She has over 6 years of experience in e-learning, strategic planning & project management, policy development, problem-solving skills, team building, staff development, organizational skills, monitoring & evaluation. Managed day-to-day operations, grant proposal writing, budget development and management, and financial report writing  and liaised donor. Adept at using project management technology and e-learning platform such as Webex, Blackboard, Adobe.

Skilled in qualitative & quantitative research, proficient use of SPSS & office software. She oversaw curriculum design, content development, delivery of training and 23 online modules on leadership and electoral campaign management  on women’s political participation. In 2005, Dr. Haghighatjoo earned her Ph.D. in Counseling. She was a faculty member of Tehran University and Shahid Beheshti University before moving to the USA. She was honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2005.

თამარ გვარამაძე

თამარ გვარამაძე

First Deputy Public Defender of Georgia
თამარ გვარამაძე

თამარ გვარამაძე

First Deputy Public Defender of Georgia

Dr. Tamar Gvaramadze is a legal professional, with over 12 years of cumulative experience, covering both managerial and administrative positions, as well as content-related analytical work at the public and non-governmental sectors.

Under her management in one of the leading NGOs in Georgia – Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) the rights of over a quarter-million individuals were protected, Dr. Gvaramadze drew forward major amendments into Georgian legislation and led the establishment of important human rights precedents at the courts – both at domestic and international levels. In her capacity as a human rights lawyer, her work covered protection and advocacy for the diversity of rights of hundreds of vulnerable individuals. Currently she holds the position of the First Deputy Public Defender of Georgia.

In addition to the successful career in non-governmental and public sectors, Dr. Gvaramadze has Ph.D. in Law, is Associate Professor of Law at the Tbilisi State University (TSU) and Board Member of the major human rights organizations in Georgia such as GYLA. In 2014-2016 she was member of Advisory Council of the National Preventive Mechanism under the Office of Public Defender of Georgia. Moreover, Dr. Gvaramadze is an author of various papers for widely acclaimed international organizations: Council of Europe, GIZ, DFG, and GBA.

გიორგი ღლონტი

გიორგი ღლონტი

Independent Member of Supervisory Board and Chairman of Audit Committee at Pasha Bank Georgia
გიორგი ღლონტი

გიორგი ღლონტი

Independent Member of Supervisory Board and Chairman of Audit Committee at Pasha Bank Georgia

George is a banker and financier with hands-on over 20 years, a professional manager with strong turnaround management practice.

George graduated from Tbilisi State University in 1994 with Master’s degree in Economics, majoring in Banking and Finance. Received bank auditor’s certificate from Georgian Chamber of Auditors in 2000, completed Harvard VPAL FinTech online course in October 2019.

 

Presently Independent Member of Supervisory Board and Chairman of Audit Committee at Pasha Bank Georgia, Non-Executive Vice President of GFTC – SWIFT Service Bureau in Georgia, Freelancer specialized in Management Services, Consulting, Business Turnarounds. Most recent Assignments include the following positions and achievements: 2014–2018 – CEO at Super TV (leading Pay TV company) – Doubling EBITDA, quadrupling Net Profit and increasing the volume of business by 25% in less than one year; 2009–2013 – CEO at KSB (Kor Standard Bank) (Presently Tera Bank) – remarkable turnaround from loss-making bank, to a highly profitable and reputable financial institution; 2008–2009 – CEO at People’s Bank of Georgia (presently Liberty Bank) – rescuing the bank from bankruptcy and transforming to one of the highest-return-giving banks; 2005-2008 – Vice President of the National Bank of Georgia (Central Bank) – optimization of the Central Bank’s operations and modernization of the regulatory framework for the Georgian Banks. Other positions during career include: 2003–2005 – Deputy CEO at People’s Bank of Georgia (presently Liberty Bank); 1999-2003 – CEO, Managing Partner and Founder at UBC International LTD (Audit & Consulting) 1992-1999 – Various positions at leading Georgian Banks. George is a Board member of Georgian Independent Directors’ Association. Speaks English (Fluent), Russian (Fluent) and Georgian (Mother-tongue).

ნინო გელაშვილი

ნინო გელაშვილი

Senior Editor at the RFE/RL Georgian Service
ნინო გელაშვილი

ნინო გელაშვილი

Senior Editor at the RFE/RL Georgian Service

Nino Gelashvili is a Senior Editor at the RFE/RL Georgian Service. She started practicing journalism in 1992 with the local Georgian newspaper.

In 1994 she as a young journalist took part in the US funded internship program. In 1995 Nino Gelashvili joined the RFE/RL as a freelancer. Prior to that she was hired by the newly opened European Commission Delegation in Tbilisi as a press assistant. In 2003-2005 Nino moved to the RFE/RL headquarters in Prague and worked as a broadcasted for the Georgian Service. She returned to Tbilisi Bureau as a Senior Editor and a moderator of a live radio talk-show. Today she hosts a daily radio program “Dilis Saubrebi” (Morning Talks) where she discusses various important topics with the guests and the listener.

Nino Gelashvili’s video interviews are published on the RFE/RL Georgian Service internet sites. She is mostly interested in politics (Georgia’s path towards the NATO, integration with the EU, relations with Russia, state of democracy in Georgia, judicial reform), human rights (minority rights, environment, rule of law) and economic issues. She is also invited to the various panels as a moderator. In different years Nino Gelashvili served as a teacher in news reporting and radio journalism with different students’ classes at the GIPA, the Caucasus University and the Liberty Media School. Nino Gelashvili graduated from Tbilisi State University Journalism faculty.

კატარინა გარდაფხაძე

კატარინა გარდაფხაძე

Leadership and strategic management practitioner
კატარინა გარდაფხაძე

კატარინა გარდაფხაძე

Leadership and strategic management practitioner

Leadership and strategic management practitioner with 25+ years of professional experience, ranging from public services and non-profits to multilateral organizations in Europe, the United States of America, South Caucasus and Central Asia. Experienced trainer with an Institute for Leadership & Management certification. 2019 recipient of the Ambassador for Liberty and Peace International Award of Excellence. Committed to responsible leadership rooted in ethical values, centered around human and social capital, and driven by sustainable social impact.

გიორგი დარჩია

გიორგი დარჩია

Component Lead at USAID Economic Security Program in Georgia
გიორგი დარჩია

გიორგი დარჩია

Component Lead at USAID Economic Security Program in Georgia

Mr. George Darchia was born in Tbilisi, Georgia in November 30, 1980. He graduated from Lincoln University (San Francisco, California) with his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration in 2003. His Studies, among other subjects, included International Trade, Macro Economics and Organizational Culture.

For more than 15 years he has worked for governmental and donor organizations, private enterprises and financial institutions; counseled business associations and unions on institutional development, competitiveness and economic growth. Renowned for providing pragmatic advice and delivering tangible results, He has worked in technical and leading roles on long- and short-term assignments. Institutions Mr. Darchia has worked for, include the National Bank of Georgia, Flag International, LLC, Deloitte, International Executive Service Corps, Land O’Lakes Inc, Enterprise Georgia, and DAI Global. Currently he serves as a component lead at USAID Economic Security Program in Georgia, implemented by DAI Global. Mr. Darchia has gone through numerous trainings and professional development endeavors resulting in gaining excellent communication, management, presentation and problem-solving skills.

One of the highlights among Mr. Darchia’s achievements is insurance market reform in Georgia, which he spearheaded through institutional development of Georgian Insurance Association, tailoring and implementation of co-financed agricultural insurance pilot project, and initiation of public-private dialogue resulting in adoption of law on subsidized agricultural insurance in the country. During his career, Mr. Darchia took a challenge of an expatriate life and went to Middle East, particularly to Afghanistan, where he spent three years working on private sector developmentoriented program of USAID. Being a big believer of liberty, equality, prosperity, and the pursuit of happiness, Mr. Darchia considers himself as a servant of private sector and economic growth and continues concentrating his efforts to achieve significant goals in his future career.

გიორგი ჩერქეზიშვილი

გიორგი ჩერქეზიშვილი

Chief Investment Officer at Wings & Freeman Capital (WFC)
გიორგი ჩერქეზიშვილი

გიორგი ჩერქეზიშვილი

Chief Investment Officer at Wings & Freeman Capital (WFC)

Mr. Giorgi Cherkezishvili is a Chief Investment Officer at Wings & Freeman Capital (WFC) – a financial advisory firm with special focus on structuring the financial transactions involving International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs). Before joining WFC, Mr. Giorgi Cherkezishvili worked on different high level positions, both in public and private sector.

He was a Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia in the years 2017-2018, covering Transport & Logistics, Communications & Innovations, Investment & Entrepreneurship sectors. In the years 2014-2016 Mr. Giorgi Cherkezishvili worked as a Head of Investment Department at JSC Partnership Fund, state equity fund with investment portfolio over USD 2 bln. Short before, for more than eight years, he held different positions at Corporate Banking Department of JSC Bank of Georgia, a leading commercial bank in Georgia. Mr. Cherkezishvili holds a Master degree in Business Administration, Specialization in Global Management from Grenoble Graduate School of Business (France) and Caucasus Business School (Georgia) Dual MBA Program and Master/Bachelor degree in International Economic Relations from the Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

გიორგი ბუტიკაშვილი

გიორგი ბუტიკაშვილი

Program Manager at Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in the South Caucasus office in Georgia
გიორგი ბუტიკაშვილი

გიორგი ბუტიკაშვილი

Program Manager at Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in the South Caucasus office in Georgia

Since 2019, I am involved in the Professional Development Program for Leaders “Carl Friedrich Goerdeler-Kolleg for Good Governance” organized by the The German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and Robert Bosch Foundation. In 2018, I have successfully completed a one-year research program at the Free University of Tbilisi and the University of North Texas on “Russian Hybrid Warfare and its Implications for Democracy,” which will be published as a hard copy at the end of 2019. Since 2013, I have been working as program manager at Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in the South Caucasus office in Georgia. At the same time, I am an invited lecturer at the Ilia State University in Tbilisi. I teach the political and legal system of Germany for various bachelor courses. In 2011, I completed my master’s degree in International Relations and Economics at the Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in Germany. Before that, I obtained my bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the Georgian Technical University.

ქეთევან ბოჭორიშვილი

ქეთევან ბოჭორიშვილი

Vice minister of Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia
ქეთევან ბოჭორიშვილი

ქეთევან ბოჭორიშვილი

Vice minister of Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia

Counting 17 years of management experience including 7 years of her dedication to Georgia’s public sector as a senior executive, Ketevan has successfully served as vice minister of Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, under four consecutive leaderships of two democratically elected governments. Her area of work included Economic Policy, FDI Attraction, SME Sector Development, Export Promotion and Development, Tourism Development, Special Development and Construction Policy, R&D, National and International Promotion Campaigns. Ketevan has an impressive record of cooperation with all leading International Financial Institutions and International Organizations through development and implementation of multimillion dollar economic development programs.

Ms. Bochorishvili holds MA degree in International Public Management from SDA Bocconi School of Management (Milan, Italy) and BA/MA degrees in International Conflict Resolution from Georgian Technical University. She has accumulated several intercultural experiences and developed entrepreneurial skills through participating in programs at Georgetown University (USA), the Iacocca Institute (USA) and Charles University (Czech Republic). In her capacity, as CEO of JSC Anaklia City, Ms. Bochorishvili aims to develop the city scale special economic zone, next to the deep sea port, encompassing such economic clusters as logistics, light manufacturing, tourism and hospitality and other services.

ოთარ ბერიშვილი

ოთარ ბერიშვილი

Business Development Manager at Adjara Group
ოთარ ბერიშვილი

ოთარ ბერიშვილი

Business Development Manager at Adjara Group

Oto Berishvili joined Adjara Group in 2010 and heads a visionary team of 50 people who runs the business development process of the company. He leads the company’s business expansion effort and is responsible for new international markets entry strategies. Oto is instrumental to project development and concept creation of the company’s ever-evolving initiatives. His interest in regional development and grassroots engagement drives him to focus on responsible business practices and generate knowledge sharing platforms for others to get inspired by.

ნიკოლოზ ალავიძე

ნიკოლოზ ალავიძე

Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia
ნიკოლოზ ალავიძე

ნიკოლოზ ალავიძე

Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia

Nikoloz is a qualified, experienced and responsible professional with more than 20-years of extensive experience in Banking, Finance, International Trade Finance, Consulting, Management and Coordination.

Now, he’s a Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia. Before joining Ministry Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, he was actively involved in private sector, particularly in Corporate Banking and Consultancy. For past 19 years, he acquired experience of working for largest Georgian and International Banks: Bank Republic – Societe Genarale Group, TBC Bank and Bank of Georgia, as Head of Corporate Banking Division and head of Regional Corporate Banking.

He has also been involved in numerous private initiatives, mostly as an angel investor oriented on Social Impact Investments; in 2016, he initiated and founded LLC Altitude (project – Altihut 3014) that is an innovative, Social Impact Investment Project, executed solely by private investment. He has joined Government team from TBC Bank, where he served as a Head of Regional Corporate Banking Business. He holds a Master Degree form Tbilisi state University in International Economics (2000) and Master Degree in Innovations management form Grenoble Graduate School of Management (GGSB), Grenoble, France (2015).

დამელია აითოჟინა

დამელია აითოჟინა

Researcher, the Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia Division
დამელია აითოჟინა

დამელია აითოჟინა

Researcher, the Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia Division

Damelya Aitkhozhina is a Researcher with the Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia Division. A lawyer by training, prior to joining Human Rights Watch, Aitkhozhina has worked on a number of projects aimed at promoting human rights in Central Asian region and the Russian Federation.

She has worked with the Street Law human rights education project; the European Human Rights Advocacy Center and the Russian Justice Initiative and as a Researcher with Amnesty International. She also has considerable experience working in UN in Central Asia, including OHCHR, UNHCR, UN Women and UNTOP.

She holds MPA from Harvard Kennedy School, LLM in international human rights law from the University of Essex (UK) and her law degree from Adliet Higher Law School (Kazakhstan).

ანა ჟვანია

ანა ჟვანია

Senior Research Fellow at Georgian Institute for Strategic Studies (GISS) / Director at Social Research Lab at Ilia State University
ანა ჟვანია

ანა ჟვანია

Senior Research Fellow at Georgian Institute for Strategic Studies (GISS) / Director at Social Research Lab at Ilia State University

Anna Zhvania is a Head of Social Research Lab at Ilia State University and Senior Research Fellow at the Georgian Institute for Strategic Studies (GISS). Social Research Lab aims to conduct research and facilitate public discussion on topics related to self-reflection of Georgian society, statehood building and institutional development, understanding public policy and reforms, their dimensions, development and transformation of society, other issues, which are essential for understanding of the current dynamics and perspectives.

Anna has a diverse work experience in non-governmental organizations, international donor institutions, academia and the government. She started with the Georgian national NGOs working in field of human rights and media freedom, public education and policy analysis. From 2005 Anna worked for different governmental institutions in fields of security and peace building, intelligence, CBRN preparedness and response, education and science, human rights and civic education. As a part of a government team, in close cooperation with partners and stakeholders at domestic and international level, she was involved in needs assessment, evaluation and planning, policy design and actual implementation of different reform elements.

During 2005 – 2013, Anna acted as Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Head of Foreign Intelligence Service, special adviser to the President in field of civic integration and Director of Richard G. Lugar Center for Public Health Research. The latter meant to be the unique international center of excellence in field of biomedical research. From 2002 Anna was pursuing her academic carrier, through carrying out different researches as well as teaching and mentoring future social researchers at Ilia State University.

თინა (თიკო) ცომაია

თინა (თიკო) ცომაია

Chairperson at Baltic to Black Sea Alliance Georgia and Professor at Caucasus School of Journalism and Media / GIPA
თინა (თიკო) ცომაია

თინა (თიკო) ცომაია

Chairperson at Baltic to Black Sea Alliance Georgia and Professor at Caucasus School of Journalism and Media / GIPA

Tina (Tiko) Tsomaia is a Professor at the Caucasus School of Journalism and Media Management (CSJMM) of the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), where she is completing her PhD in Mass Communications. She has a BA and MA in Medicine and an MA in Journalism and Media Management.

As a recipient of a Global Faculty Grant of the Open Society Scholarships Program, she was a postgraduate research fellow NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. She is a MC member of the Cost Action IS-1206 Femicide Across Europe and a board member of the Georgian Psychotrauma Society.

She is a Chairperson of the Baltic to Black Sea Alliance – Georgia, a nongovernmental organization with the aim to facilitate consolidation of free, democratic, socially and politically vocal society in Georgia. As a human rights activist she is involved in different campaigns in mental health, women movement, access to medicine, palliative care.

Her research topics are: pre-natal sex selection, trauma and addiction, ethical decision making and health communication.

ვერა ტკაჩენკო

ვერა ტკაჩენკო

International Programme Manager at United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDODC)
ვერა ტკაჩენკო

ვერა ტკაჩენკო

International Programme Manager at United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDODC)

In May 2015, Vera Tkachenko assumed her duties as International Programme Manager of Sub-Programme 2 “Criminal Justice, Crime Prevention and Integrity” of the Programme for Central Asia 2015-2019 that represents the overarching strategic framework under which United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) provides technical assistance within the Central Asian States. From 2010 to 2015 she served as UNODC International Project Manager leading criminal justice project in the Kyrgyz Republic aimed at strengthening the rule of law through enhanced multi-agency coordination and policy development on criminal justice, crime prevention and penal reform.

From January to August 2015 Ms. Tkachenko served as an Officer-in-Charge of UNODC Programme Office in Tajikistan. From 2008 to June 2010 she led the work of a non-political, independent research institute Legal Policy Research Centre (LPRC) based in Almaty that promotes legal reforms through research and pro-active engagement with policy makers in countries of Central Asia. From 2001 to 2006 she served as a Regional Director of Penal Reform International (PRI) for Central Asia.

From 1999 to 2000 she worked on implementation of human dimension projects of the OSCE Centre in Kazakhstan. In 2006-2007, as a Chevening Scholar, Ms. Tkachenko has received the degree of Master of Science in Criminal Justice Policy in the London School of Economics and Political Science. In 2007 she was a fellow at Stanford Summer Programme on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law. She also has bachelor degree in Law.

გიორგი ვაშაკიძე

გიორგი ვაშაკიძე

Researcher at Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration in the University of Lausanne
გიორგი ვაშაკიძე

გიორგი ვაშაკიძე

Researcher at Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration in the University of Lausanne

Giorgi Vashakidze has more than ten years of experience as a manager and researcher in good governance, institutional reform, public administration design and democratic development. Throughout his professional life, he has worked extensively with national governments and international organizations. Until recently, he worked as a program manager in the democracy and governance office of the United States Agency for International Development in the South Caucasus.

His portfolio encompassed programs to assist the Government to reform public administration, to help the Ministry of Education transform civic education culture in Georgia and to establish Centers of Civic Engagement to support democratic engagement between the local authorities and the population in ten regions in Georgia. Prior to that, he worked with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the United Nations Development Program to implement public administration reform in Georgia.

He was also engaged with the Netherlands Institute of Multiparty Democracy to design political party capacity building projects. Currently, he is an external researcher at the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP) at the University of Lausanne where he pursues his doctoral studies. Simultaneously, he works as an international consultant for the United Nations Development Program. He holds master degrees in Peace and Conflict Research from Uppsala University in Sweden and in Advanced Studies in Public Administration Design and Development from the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration.

მაია სიდამონიძე

მაია სიდამონიძე

Managing Partner at Protavel Georgia and The Terrace Boutique Hotel and Tourism and Hospitality Consultant at Channel Georgia
მაია სიდამონიძე

მაია სიდამონიძე

Managing Partner at Protavel Georgia and The Terrace Boutique Hotel and Tourism and Hospitality Consultant at Channel Georgia

Maia Sidamonidze is the former Head of Georgian National Tourism Administration. After obtaining her BBA and MBA Degrees in Tourism and Hospitality from Swiss and UK educational institutions, she pursued her professional career in hospitality industry in Georgia and in the UK. In 2010, she won an open competition to become the Head of Georgian National Tourism Administration at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development. She led for three years the tourism industry in Georgia that was determined by the Georgian government as one of the top priority sectors to develop the country.

Under her leadership, Tourism became one of the fastest growing industries in Georgia and achieved the highest growth of international tourism in the region according to the UNWTO report. Maia is currently the owner of a hotel and a leading tour operating business in Georgia. Before starting her own business, she was for two years the Dean of the Tourism Faculty at the Caucasus University in Georgia. Recently, she became tourism and hospitality consultant at the Channel Georgia investment consultancy firm and has been elected as the Head of tourism commission at ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) Georgia.

ნიკოლოზ რურუა

ნიკოლოზ რურუა

Founder/Editor in Chief at English-Georgian Magazine “Iveria”
ნიკოლოზ რურუა

ნიკოლოზ რურუა

Founder/Editor in Chief at English-Georgian Magazine “Iveria”

Nikoloz Rurua is a Georgian politician, and a former member of the Cabinet of Georgia in the capacity of Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia. Mr. Rurua previously served as the Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Defense and Security of the Parliament of Georgia. Mr. Rurua has graduated from Rustaveli State Institute of Cinematography and Theatre in 1992. Also he holds a JD degree from Georgia State University College of Law (Atlanta, USA) in International Law.

On his return to Georgia, he worked for GEPLAC (Georgian-European Policy and Legal Advice Centre), where he headed the project on harmonizing Georgian commercial legislation with that of the European Union. In addition, he has established the daily-newspaper 24 Hours (24 Saati), where took up a job of legal observer and editor of the newspaper’s weekly addition The Law. In 2003 published The Law of Freedom, a collection of essays and articles. Mr. Rurua is co-founder of the Web Newspaper ,,Iveria.biz”.

ალექსანდრა პავლენკო

ალექსანდრა პავლენკო

Barrister, former First Deputy Minister of health of Ukraine
ალექსანდრა პავლენკო

ალექსანდრა პავლენკო

Barrister, former First Deputy Minister of health of Ukraine

In the leadership of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine (2014-2016) Oleksandra Pavlenko curated regulatory work for the sectors of pharmaceuticals, medical services, market of medical products, etc. She headed direction associated with the management of the state corporate rights in health sector, developed the area of public – private partnership in medicine, and also provided communication with the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, The Administration of President of Ukraine, law enforcement agencies, the public and other authorities.

As a lawyer she has been practicing in the field of law since 2000, accompanying business in the resonant litigation, working with politicians and well-known businessmen. In different years Oleksandra held the position of authorized representative of the candidate in President of Ukraine and of the CEC of a political party in the Central Election Commission (CEC). Among the well-known and the resonance projects of Oleksandra Pavlenko – judicial protection of the Russian airline company “Siberia” in conflict with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine; protection of assets of the open joint stock company “Nikopol Ferroalloy plant” in the process of “re-privatization”; consulting and legal support of the President of Ukraine at the signing of international agreements etc.

პაველ პანასიუკი

პაველ პანასიუკი

Businessman
პაველ პანასიუკი

პაველ პანასიუკი

Businessman

After residing and working in Ukraine, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Russian Federation, Pavel Panasjuk has an extensive international business experience and understanding of international and local business contexts in this region. Pavel began his international career as an Assistant Director to Timur Bekvambetov in the Czech Republic.

He worked for several international companies, starting from entry-level positions and working his way up to the senior management. Pavel established and successfully launched private companies in Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and Ukraine, ensuring fast profitability and sustainability of newly established ventures. Currently, Pavel leads Central and Eastern European operations for a prominent advertising company, as well as invests in development and research of new energy efficient technologies in Ukraine, working in partnership with the Institute of Semiconductor Physics (ISP) of Ukraine.

Pavel holds a Master´s degree of Business Administration from Ternopil Academy of National Economy, Ukraine (1998) and a Bachelor’s degree in Financial Management from University of Utrecht, The Netherlands (1998).

გიორგი ონიანი

გიორგი ონიანი

Deputy Executive Director at Transparency International Georgia
გიორგი ონიანი

გიორგი ონიანი

Deputy Executive Director at Transparency International Georgia

Giorgi started his professional career in 2003 when he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Very soon he was promoted to the position of the Assistant to Minister where he worked almost a year till Autumn 2004. At MFA, Giorgi covered international organizations, Russia and the conflict regions of Georgia. He served as the MFA representative at Joint Control Commission –international negotiation format over the conflict in Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia.

In 2005 Giorgi moved to the National Security Council to serve as a Senior Advisor with the same area and regional focus. In September 2005, when he was invited to join the foreign policy team of the Prime Minister Nogaideli. Giorgi worked as an Assistant to Prime Minister (for 2 Prime Ministers) till 2008. Giorgi’s areas of competencies included support of Prime Ministers in their foreign policy activities, but also, at some point he was entrusted with PR activities of the Prime Minister’s office.

In 2009, when Giorgi returned from a year-long study break he joined another Prime Minister’s team as a Senior Advisor and worked there till 2011. This time, Giorgi’s portfolio was larger and apart from foreign relations it included participation in planning of various structural and economic reforms. Some of his accomplishments include participation in successful negotiations and coordinating relevant reforms for opening DCFTA negotiations with the EU, negotiations on Russia’s WTO accession, and successful negotiations and background work for US Millennium Challenge Corporation’s 2nd Compact (USD 120 mln grant) for Georgia.

In 2011 Giorgi was invited to serve as the Deputy Ombudsman at the newly established office of the Business (Tax) Ombudsman, where he basically contributed to the formation if the institution. In 2013 Giorgi left public sector for business and joined a local IT and consulting company Onyx Consulting. There he contributed to attracting a strategic investor – Asseco – the largest IT company of Central and Eastern Europe, and apart from being a Deputy Director, was made a partner with minority shares.

In early 2015 Giorgi joined Transparency International – Georgia – one of the largest and most active local NGOs, and a local Chapter of Global Anti-corruption movement. Giorgi graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO – University) and holds BA in Regional Studies/International Relations and MSc in International Relations/Political Science. Giorgi also holds MA from UCL in Comparative Business Economics. Giorgi is married and has a daughter.

გიორგი ნონიაშვილი

გიორგი ნონიაშვილი

Deputy Chairman at Georgian Farmers Association, Head of GFA Junior
გიორგი ნონიაშვილი

გიორგი ნონიაშვილი

Deputy Chairman at Georgian Farmers Association, Head of GFA Junior

Giorgi Noniashvli has a diverse, decade-long experience in private, public and non-governmental sectors, including being a start-up entrepreneur of the company that still runs with success. He is Founder and Director of LTD “Kingsfer Georgia” (distribution company) since 2007. The company is a subcontractor of Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation and Ministry of Internal Affairs. Having its own business, throughout 2012 and 2014, he simultaneously worked as Corporate Banker in Corporate Business Department of JSC “BTA BANK” – developing banking products.

In 2015, Giorgi moved to the public sector, to manage a 20 Million Gel entrepreneurship project in Entrepreneurship Development Agency, which subsides under the Georgian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development. After 2016, he joined Georgian Farmers Association (GFA) and holds the position of Deputy Chairmen, mainly leading new youth wing of GFA – GFA Junior. Giorgi is an MBA candidate at International Black Sea University

ანა ნაცვლიშვილი

ანა ნაცვლიშვილი

Chairperson at Georgian Young Lawyer’s Association (GYLA)
ანა ნაცვლიშვილი

ანა ნაცვლიშვილი

Chairperson at Georgian Young Lawyer’s Association (GYLA)

Ana Natsvlishvili is a lawyer with 8 years of practical experience in protecting and promoting human right and rule of law reforms in Georgia. Her particular fields of interest include women’s rights and gender equality, justice-system reforms, rights of victims of human rights violations and the issues of transitional justice. Ana holds a BA degree from Tbilisi State University (Georgia) in Public International law and LLM degree from Essex University (UK) in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.

Currently she serves as an elected chairperson of Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), the oldest and the leading human rights watchdog in Georgia. She also chairs national coalition of more than 30 NGOs working on judicial reforms and is the member of a newly established Constitutional Commission of Georgia.

ქეთევან ნადირაშვილი

ქეთევან ნადირაშვილი

Head of Centralized Risk Management Department at National Bank of Georgia
ქეთევან ნადირაშვილი

ქეთევან ნადირაშვილი

Head of Centralized Risk Management Department at National Bank of Georgia

Ketevan Nadirashvili has been working for the National Bank of Georgia since 2000, where she occupied various positions as the deputy head of Financial Markets department, chief specialist at Financial Risk management division, Project manager of Investment Management system implementation and Project manager of Business Continuity implementation.

Since 2014 Ketevan is heading Centralized Risk Management Department which supports and enhances the good governance principles in the bank. In her role, Ketevan is responsible for providing the overall leadership and direction for the department as well as implementing an integrated operational risk management framework and Business Continuity planning across the Bank. Ketevan has been participating in number of international projects and successful reforms followed by consultancy work delivered for knowledge transfer purposes for the Central banks of Post-Soviet countries.

In addition to abovementioned, Ketevan has been involved in academic life since 2009- teaching and supervising students in various Georgian Universities. Currently she is a doctorate student and researcher at Ilia State University. Her research interests span broad range of topics including management and leadership theories, enterprise risk management and business continuity concepts. She holds a master’s degree of Business Administration from Maastricht School of Management, master’s degree in Public Administration from Georgian Institute of Public Affairs and Bachelor’s degree in Science from Tbilisi State University.

გიორგი მუჩაიძე

გიორგი მუჩაიძე

Executive Director at Atlantic Council of Georgia
გიორგი მუჩაიძე

გიორგი მუჩაიძე

Executive Director at Atlantic Council of Georgia

Giorgi Muchaidze is a member of the Georgian Council on Foreign Relations. He started his career in the private sector as a business law consultant. In 1997 he moved to public sector. During next 13 years, as a public servant he held different jobs, including the positions of Deputy Defense Minister and Charges D’affaires. In 2011, he switched to the NGO sector and since then has been serving as an Executive Director at the Atlantic Council of Georgia.

Giorgi has actively contributed to cardinal reformation of the national security system of Georgia, which was widely recognized as a success. He has both, midand strategic level management experience in security sector institution and capacity building, as well as in embedding the democratic checks and balances and institutional change.

Giorgi is a co-founder of the Georgian-German Strategic Forum, a nongovernmental platform that brings together security communities of two countries for facilitation of strategic partnership. As an acknowledgement of his contribution to US-Georgian strategic partnership, on June 23, 2008, the US Flag was flown in his honor over the Pentagon.

Giorgi holds master’s degrees from Tbilisi State University (LLM with honor) and Harvard Kennedy School of Government (MPA). As the UN Disarmament Fellow and the Research Fellow at Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, he authored several research papers on the topical issues of regional and international security. Among his other special interests are wine, literature, music and rugby.

მარიანა მორგოშია

მარიანა მორგოშია

Director at Agricultural Projects’ Management Agency
მარიანა მორგოშია

მარიანა მორგოშია

Director at Agricultural Projects’ Management Agency

Since her appointment as the Director of the Agricultural Projects Management Agency in 2014, Mariana Morgoshia has been leading numerous agriculture development projects across Georgia. Her main responsibilities include managing the lifecycle of the projects from the initiation up to the launch as well as monitoring and evaluating the ongoing and completed projects in line with the global strategy of the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia.

Ms. Morgoshia has 16 years of experience in senior roles across business sectors – leading insurance, HR and deposits’ projects at an international bank, implementing IT systems and process optimization schemes; managing marketing, public relations, human resources and quality control directions at various private companies (2007 – 2014).

In 2000 – 2007, she was actively involved in primary healthcare development projects in Georgia, while also acting as manager-trainer. Ms. Morgoshia has worked on programs funded by the EU, World Health Organization, and the Department for International Development.

As for her educational background, she graduated from Georgian Technical University (Bachelor of languages and Translation – 1998 – 2002) and at the same time, she started a general management course at DFID Management School (2000 – 2003) and became the certified manager-trainer in primary healthcare sector. Later she obtained the certificate in Business Administration at Caucasus School of Business (Concentration – General Management – 2005 – 2007) followed by The George Washington University School of Business – PMC Professional Program in Project Management (2011 – 2012) and obtained Master’s Certificate in Project Management.

ნინო მირზიკაშვილი

ნინო მირზიკაშვილი

Director at American Clinic in Tbilisi
ნინო მირზიკაშვილი

ნინო მირზიკაშვილი

Director at American Clinic in Tbilisi

Nino Mirzikashvili is a professional with 14 years of expertise in managing multisector programs/projects as a direct implementer (Program Manager), a donor consultant and a public servant. She used to work for multiple international organizations, as well as Government of Georgia. Ms. Mirzikashvili served as a Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia (MoLHSA). She has an extensive experience in health care regulation field. Before this position Ms. Mirzikashvili the Head of the Regulation Department at the MoLHSA. She was involved in the different projects funded by Open Society Institute, USAID, DFID, Curatio International foundation, Center for Training and Consultancy” (CTC) and others.

Ms. Mirizkashvili used to teach epidemiology and public health at Tbilisi State University as well as at Private Medical School “Aiety” in 2003-2004. Now she is an invited lecturer at Ilia state University and Tbilisi State Medical University.

მაია მელიქიძე

მაია მელიქიძე

Advisor to the President of Georgia on Economic Affairs
მაია მელიქიძე

მაია მელიქიძე

Advisor to the President of Georgia on Economic Affairs

Maia Melikidze is an executive MBA graduate from Harvard University in the field of Global Strategic Management. Furthermore, she has academic education in International Economic Relations; and International Corporate Law. Currently she holds a position of an economic advisor to the President of Georgia Mr. Giorgi Margvelashvili. Before, she gained twelve-year experience of working in a private sector: International Audit Company “Ernst & Young” as a senior auditor; JSC Bank of Georgia – Tax Analyst; JSC Liberty Bank – Head of National Bank of Georgia and IFRS audit cooperation department.

As she shares the values of doing business in a fair, competitive environment she took a role of checks and balances, which means building bridges of relations between business and government. She invests her accumulated knowledge in the process of enhancing business-government friendly dialogue over important economic challenges that Georgia’s economy faces.

Simultaneously Ms. Melikidze is involved in educational process and encourages prosperity of new generation. She provides lectures on financial literacy, economic progress, investments, and management for students at Ilia State University; in addition, she is an associated professor at Business and Technology University, which ensures unique educational expertise by integrating business into technology and making innovations. She supports Silicon Valley Tbilisi and works hard in order Georgia to become an exporter of education in the region.

Ms. Melikidze is an author of several publications at Forbes focusing on diminishing unemployment and ensuring economic growth; involvement of Finance Institutions in mobilizing a public wealth.

ივანე მაჭავარიანი

ივანე მაჭავარიანი

Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia
ივანე მაჭავარიანი

ივანე მაჭავარიანი

Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia

Vano (Ivane) Matchavariani is a Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia. Prior to this, Mr. Matchavariani was an Executive Director in Georgia Development Foundation in 2015-2016. Before he served as an Adviser to the President of Georgia for Foreign Relations. Prior to this, he was a Deputy CEO in charge of External Relations in JSC Partnership Fund. Mr. Matchavariani served as an Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary of Georgia to Japan in 2007- 2009, Ambassador-at-Large/Special Envoy on Energy Security Issues in 2007. Mr. Matchavariani joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia in 1998 and worked in Permanent Mission of Georgia to the United Nations in New York until 2002. In 1996-1998 he was an assistant to Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia on foreign affairs. Mr. Matchavariani holds his Master Degree from SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, DC, USA, Graduate Diploma in European and International Studies from Central European University, Prague, Czech Republic and Undergraduate Diploma from Georgian Technical University. He was also a fellow in George Mason University. Mr. Matchavariani is a lecturer of Foreign and Security Policy in Tbilisi State University.

ნინო კვერნაძე

ნინო კვერნაძე

Project Director at Public Service Development Agency of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia
ნინო კვერნაძე

ნინო კვერნაძე

Project Director at Public Service Development Agency of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia

Nino Kvernadze has been the director of the Project “Fostering Public Sector Development through Efficient Delivery of Urban and Rural Services” Fostering Public Sector Development through Efficient Delivery of Urban and Rural Services, at Public Service Development Agency (PSDA) of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, since 2015. The project is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and aims at improving the quality of public service delivery processes and establish citizen oriented approaches, particularly on e-governance and public service innovation.

Nino Kvernadze has accumulated nearly 12 years of professional experience in various public sectors of Georgia, by being involved in decision making, assessment and implementation of governmental policies. She served from 2005 to 2008 as a specialist at the Ministry of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of Georgia, and as a Head of Sustainable Development Department at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia from 2010 to 2015. Her fields of expertise encompasses all areas related to the natural resources management, environmental policies, economic policies, namely manufacturing, agriculture, waste management, climate change, clean transport, energy efficiency, FDI, Greening SMEs, MDGs, DCFTA/sustainable development and so forth.

Throughout the years she has gained valuable experience by working on the institutional capacity building and empowerment projects of Georgia, delivered through the international assistance, from the main partners of Georgia: EU, OECD, UNDP, USAID, GIZ and SIDA. Since 2010, she was involved in building a new form of partnership launched by the EU, with Eastern Partnership Countries (EAP) by participating with various policy discussions, projects and workshops. As part of her academic background, Nino ha earned the Bachelor of Public Administration from Georgian Technical University and after receiving a scholarship from the Asian Development Bank, she acquired the Master of Public Policy (MPP) from the Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) Tokyo, Japan. In the meantime, due to her active involvement in academic and social activities at GRIPS, she became elected as the Head of Social Events (2013-2014) at the International Student’s Council (ISC).

თამარ კვანტალიანი

თამარ კვანტალიანი

Deputy Head at Agency of Protected Areas under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia
თამარ კვანტალიანი

თამარ კვანტალიანი

Deputy Head at Agency of Protected Areas under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia

Tamar Kvantaliani is an Oxford University graduate awarded by Weidenfeld Scholarship holding a degree in MSc – Nature, Society and Environmental Policy. Currently, she works as a Deputy Head at the Agency of Protected Areas under the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia where she supervises international relations and project management direction.

Before the degree at Oxford University where the topic of her thesis was “Governing Protected Areas: State and Non-State Actors in Post-Soviet Georgia” she started her academic educational background with the bachelor’s degree in Human Geography (Faculty of Social and Political Sciences) in Georgia directly followed by two-year master programme in the same field.

Tamar has more than 7 years of working experience both in private and public sectors. At first, she started her career in non-governmental think tank which was followed by the position of chief specialist at the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia after returning from UK. Later, she moved to the Agency of Protected Areas within the same ministry as a Head of International Relations and Project Management Service followed by the position of Deputy Head where she stands for now – dealing with numerous projects funded by various international organizations.

In addition, Tamar has got some international expertise. She has done a short internship in the Czech Republic at the Ministry of Environment and in 2015, she participated in the International Seminar on Protected Areas Management at Montana University funded by US Forest Service

თამარ კეკენაძე

თამარ კეკენაძე

Executive Secretary and Board Member at Political Party “Free Democrats”
თამარ კეკენაძე

თამარ კეკენაძე

Executive Secretary and Board Member at Political Party “Free Democrats”

Tamar Kekenadze, is a Secretary General of Political Party “Free Democrats”. Before joining the party, she was a Civilian Representative of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia to NATO and the EU. Prior, she served as a Head of the Euro-Atlantic Integration Division at the Ministry of Defense of Georgia. Before joining the government in 2009, Ms. Kekenadze worked for five years in civil society organizations on national and international levels in the fields of Security and Foreign Policy, Election Monitoring, Formal and Non-Formal Education, Sustainable Development and Youth.

In 2008 Ms. Kekenadze was awarded the “Young European of the Year” Prize for outstanding commitment to fostering international understanding and the union of Europe. In 2009, she was privileged to serve as an intern in International Affairs in the Cabinet of the President of the European Parliament in Brussels. Ms. Kekenadze holds a BA in Computer Systems and Networks (2003), and a MA in Computer Engineering, Information Science and Control Systems (2006), all from Georgian Technical University.

არჩილ ყარაულაშვილი

არჩილ ყარაულაშვილი

First Deputy Minister at the Office of State Ministry on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Georgia
არჩილ ყარაულაშვილი

არჩილ ყარაულაშვილი

First Deputy Minister at the Office of State Ministry on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Georgia

Archil Karaulashvili has graduated from the Faculty of International Economic Relations of Iv. Javakhishvili State University in 1995. He started his career at the State Committee of Foreign Relations of Georgia in 1995, where he worked as a chief specialist until 1996.

From 1996 to 1997 he worked as the Head of Division of Business-Plan Analysis at the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Georgia. In 1996 he was appointed as Deputy Head of the Department of Foreign Investment, Credits and Inter-branch Projects at the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Georgia and worked there until 2000. In 2000-2004 he was the Director of the Investment Policy Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For the 2004-2015 period he served as the Head of the European Integration Coordination Department at the Office of the State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. During this time he also was a Secretary to the Governmental Commission for the EU Integration.

In March 2015, Archil Karaulashvili was appointed as the First Deputy State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. He participated in a large number of conferences and professional trainings organized by the international donors and organizations. In 2011, Mr. Karaulashvili was awarded with an Order of Honor. He is a co-author of books and researches on the Euro-Integration. He is married and has two children.

ელენე ჯიმშელეიშვილი

ელენე ჯიმშელეიშვილი

Systems and Policies Director at Human Capital Management Department, JSC Bank of Georgia
ელენე ჯიმშელეიშვილი

ელენე ჯიმშელეიშვილი

Systems and Policies Director at Human Capital Management Department, JSC Bank of Georgia

Elene Jimsheleishvili is a Systems and Policies Director at Human Capital Management Department at Bank of Georgia. Her responsibilities include coordination of design and development of Human Capital Management policy, support of its implementation (guidelines and respective technology), impact and quality analysis to capture opportunities for improvements and constant development. She has more than 10 years of human resources management experience including young talents acquisition, personnel development and training, HRIS (360, PM). She is a Member of SHRM (Society for Human Resources Management), holds MPA (Master of Public Administration) from GIPA (Georgian Institute of Public Affairs).

გიორგი ისაკაძე

გიორგი ისაკაძე

Editor in Chief / Author and Project Manager of TV Shows Editor in Chief at Forbes Georgia
გიორგი ისაკაძე

გიორგი ისაკაძე

Editor in Chief / Author and Project Manager of TV Shows Editor in Chief at Forbes Georgia

Giorgi Isakadze has in-depth understanding of media field. He is an Editor in Chief and Managing Partner at “Forbes Georgia”. In addition, Mr. Isakadze is a Project Manager and Author of daily TV shows – “Business Contract”, “Analytics” and “Business Morning” TV. He was also a Managing Partner at Touch media and CEO at Georgian Media Production Group. He has also a valuable experience in economic policy making and reforming through senior level assignment in public service.

Furthermore, Mr. Isakadze specializes in lobbying and government relations, business association building, and mobilizing interest groups of stakeholders. Giorgi Isakadze has an extensive experience working for Governmental agencies as an Assistant to President of Georgia in fiscal and budgetary policy and Deputy State Minister (Vice Prime Minister) covering relations with IMF, EBRD, WB and other worldwide financial institutions. Prior to joining Foundation “Business Media Georgia” (producing TV Shows for TV Pirveli) and Forbes Georgia, Mr. Isakadze worked for Business Association of Georgia as a First Vice President and later, as an Advisor to the supervising board.

ფარუხ ირნაზაროვი

ფარუხ ირნაზაროვი

Country Director at Central Asian Development Institute
ფარუხ ირნაზაროვი

ფარუხ ირნაზაროვი

Country Director at Central Asian Development Institute

Farrukh Irnazarov is a Co-Founder and Country Director for Uzbekistan at the Central Asian Development Institute since 2011. He has been working on Central Asia for 14 years and he conducted research projects for the World Bank, ADB, GIZ, OSF, USAID, IOM, Volkswagen and Gerda Henkel Foundations. Previously, Mr. Irnazarov worked for University of Applied Sciences Goettingen, National College of Ireland, Schwarzkopf and Henkel and Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations of Uzbekistan. Mr. Irnazarov has experience in the area of labour migration, transport and trade, economic transition as well as public policy and good governance. Mr. Irnazarov also delivers master classes on communication and interviewing in difficult environments. In addition, he has a good track record in working with the Central Asian governments. He is completing his PhD in International Studies at the University of Groningen and has two MSc degrees – one in Business Administration and Economics from Stockholm University (2006) and another one in International and European Relations from Linköping University (2005).

გოგა გუგავა

გოგა გუგავა

CEO at “Dagi Construction Company”
გოგა გუგავა

გოგა გუგავა

CEO at “Dagi Construction Company”

Goga Gugava is a Financial Management specialist with more than 13 years of experience in the Corporate Sector as well as in the Government. Currently he serves on a position of a Chief Executive at DAGI LLC. This company is one of the recognized leaders providing construction services in the local market.

Prior to joining the Company in 2014, Goga Gugava has been working on the Key positions in Governmental Agencies. He has spent 4 years with the Ministry of Justice on the position of the Head of the Economic Department. He has been dealing with Ministry’s budget preparation and execution, financial accounting and reporting, planning and managing infrastructure projects. He was personally involved in designing and implementing one of the most successful projects in the Government sector – Launching Public Service Hall concept where hundreds of public services are rendered on the “Single-window” basis. Goga has been researching for innovative technologies, appraising their relevance to the project and implementing facilities and equipment.

Goga Gugava has extensive experience in the Public Finance Management Field from the Ministry of Finance. He has spent several years in the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance of Georgia starting from the entry level to the Department head. He has contributed substantially to implementation of successful reforms towards improvement of public finance transparency, transformation of public finance accounting system to international standards, establishment of medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) for government spending for all levels of the governance. As a result of these massive PFM reforms finally, Georgia is recognized as a PFM leader in the Region. Goga holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from Williams College (USA).

შოთა ღვინერია

შოთა ღვინერია

Ambassador at Large NATO and Security Policy Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia
შოთა ღვინერია

შოთა ღვინერია

Ambassador at Large NATO and Security Policy Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia

Since 2001 Shota Gvineria has been working on various positions in Georgia’s public sector. Currently he covers NATO integration and security policy related issues as the Ambassador at Large in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. In his previous capacity, he held the position of the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Georgia until August 2016.

From May 2010 till June 2014 he served as an Ambassador of Georgia to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Alongside with strengthening political, economic and cultural relations between Georgia and the Netherlands, Ambassador was also representing his country in international organizations based in The Hague.

In 2010, Mr. Gvineria was promoted to the position of a Director of European Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Prior to that mission, in 2008 – 2009, he served as a Head of NATO Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. In the period of April 2006 – October 2008, Mr. Gvineria was posted as a Councilor to the Georgian Mission to NATO.

In 2015 Mr. Gvineria obtained his Master’s degree in Strategic Security Studies at Washington’s National Defense University. He also earned his Master’s in International Relations from Diplomatic School of Madrid in 2005. Earlier he completed his Master’s in Public Administration at Georgian Technical University. Mr. Gvineria speaks Georgian, English, Russian, Spanish and some French.

ეკატერინა გველესიანი

ეკატერინა გველესიანი

Director at Data Research, Analysis and Planning Centre
ეკატერინა გველესიანი

ეკატერინა გველესიანი

Director at Data Research, Analysis and Planning Centre

Ekaterina Gvelesiani is the founder and director of Data Research, Analysis and Planning Center. Currently she has also joined hospitality business as she became partner at EG Holding, company which is constructing a hotel in Mestia, Svaneti.

Ms. Gvelesiani served as the Deputy Director of Defense and National Security Policy Department at National Security Council of Georgia in 2013-2014. From 2011 until 2013 she has been advisor to Deputy Secretary of National Security Council. In parallel, she successfully completed a variety of courses on Capacity-Building of Georgian Leadership Community for Improved Decision-making and Negotiation Skills, Policy Development and Negotiation Techniques, Managing Defense in a Wider Security Context, Regional Integration and Development Issues in South Caucasus, National Security and Public Policy.

Prior to turning into public service, Ms. Gvelesiani has gathered extensive experience in her roles of Marketing Manager at Tbilisi Aircraft Manufacturing company, Assistant International Affairs Manager at Deutsches Rotes Kreuz Kliniken in Germany, Assistant to the branch manager of the Bank Credit Agricole in France. Ms. Gvelesiani graduated from Caucasus School of Business with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 2007. She then pursued her graduate International Management studies in France. She is fluent in English, French and Russian languages, Georgian being her native.

ანდრო გიგაური

ანდრო გიგაური

Founder of the Institute for Non-Violent Communication / PricewaterhouseCoopers Ukraine / UNICEF Ukraine/Lecturer at Free University in Tbilisi
ანდრო გიგაური

ანდრო გიგაური

Founder of the Institute for Non-Violent Communication / PricewaterhouseCoopers Ukraine / UNICEF Ukraine/Lecturer at Free University in Tbilisi

Andro Gigauri is a lawyer and has a Master’s Degree in Public Policy. He has been working on public service and law enforcement reforms in Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia. Andro served as a Chief of Administration at the Ministry of Justice of Georgia (2010-2012) and as a Deputy Chief Prosecutor (2012). He founded Georgia’s Crime Prevention Center under the Office of Chief Prosecutor (2012).The Center is tasked to study crime statistics and victimization data. It awards grants to NGOs for projects, aiming to decrease crime level and to close existing safety and security gaps in communities.

Andro was a member of the working group, which developed juvenile diversion and mediation mechanism – an alternative to incarceration for children. Currently, the program counts over 1,800 participants and resulted in less than 4% of recidivism rate. Previously, Andro served at USAID (2005-2008), covering public service reform. He managed human and institutional capacity development programs targeted at government institutions.

Andro co-managed assistance to Civil Registry Agency project, which led to development of Public Service Halls. Currently, Andro is engaged with development of Ukraine’s National AntiCorruption Bureau – a corruption investigation agency. Andro teaches a one year long course on Public Policy Analysis at the Liberal Arts School of Free University in Tbilisi. He also consults UNICEF in Ukraine. Andro is a founder of Institute for Non-Violent Communication. Currently, the Institute is piloting a Safe School Project and a Financial Literacy Project at secondary schools.

თამაზ დაუშვილი

თამაზ დაუშვილი

CEO and Partner at DIO Ltd
თამაზ დაუშვილი

თამაზ დაუშვილი

CEO and Partner at DIO Ltd

Tamaz Daushvili is a co-founder, partner and Chief Executive Officer of a leading Georgian company DIO Ltd in the field of windows, doors and window accessories. Established in 1996, the company grew from a zero founding capital and 3 people to a highly reputable company with 140 employees, offices and dealership network all across the country and a well-equipped factory producing wide range of high quality products. Mr. Daushvili has an academic background in Economics.

He is a graduate of Tbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili State University. At different times, Tamaz Daushvili participated in business exchange and strategic management programs in the United States of America and in Western Europe. He has also hosted teams of international business representatives to discuss the best practices of the company. Under Tamaz Daushvili’s leadership, innovations in the organizational structure and management of the company were constantly introduced and successfully implemented at DIO Ltd, creating better products and services for the customers and a more enabling and comfortable working environment for the employees.

DIO Ltd demonstrates sound practices of corporate social responsibility by regularly supporting the actions for environmental protection, providing assistance to children in need, and supporting involvement of business in education sector development. At numerous occasions, Tamaz Daushvili participated as a guest speaker with youth on the topic of business start-up opportunities and economic development of Georgia.

რუსლან დაირბეკოვი

რუსლან დაირბეკოვი

Senior legal advisor at Anti-corruption Department of the Government of Kyrgyz Republic
რუსლან დაირბეკოვი

რუსლან დაირბეკოვი

Senior legal advisor at Anti-corruption Department of the Government of Kyrgyz Republic

Ruslan Daiyrbekov is a member of International Media Lawyers Association (IMLA). His background consists of two Diplomas with honors from International University of Kyrgyzstan, including Master of International Law degree as well as graduation from the Media Law Advocates Training Programme at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies’ Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy of University of Oxford. Also he completed the Draper Hills Summer Fellows on Democracy and Development Program, hosted by the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) at Stanford University, USA.

Ruslan is a Senior legal expert at the Anti-Corruption Department of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic. Since he is a member of the working group of the draft Law of the Conflict of Interest, he was additionally invited by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic to participate as a Legal expert on the further development a bylaw on Commission on Ethics arising from the aforementioned draft Law.

Ruslan is involved in the activity in improving the legal and regulatory framework in areas of media law, media freedom and media policy, providing legal consultation for mass media and expert opinions on draft legislation on mass media. Ruslan worked for Internews Kazakhstan. His responsibilities included: the participation in the creation of a national working group that outlines the vision for media law development in Kazakhstan; coordination of media advocacy campaigns; conducting legal due diligence audit of core media outlets and training of media employees on legal literacy. Through active collaboration with Government officials of Kazakhstan and Parliamentary representatives

Ruslan participated in the Working Group on the Draft Law of Kazakhstan on Information Access and was actively participating in discussion of the draft law at the level of its drafting by the Working Group by providing its preliminary comments and observations. Also he participated in a Working group on drafting amendments to the mass media law of Kazakhstan in 2007. Ruslan worked as a Protection Assistant for United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) which is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to lead and co-ordinate international action for the worldwide protection of refugees and the resolution of refugee problems. He provided principled, effective and sustainable responses to problems affecting the rights or legal status of refugees and asylum seekers, resettled refugees to the third safe countries.

გიორგი ჩიტაძე

გიორგი ჩიტაძე

Head of Trade Negotiations and DCFTA Coordination Division at Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia
გიორგი ჩიტაძე

გიორგი ჩიტაძე

Head of Trade Negotiations and DCFTA Coordination Division at Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia

Giorgi Chitadze, is a public servant and currently working at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable development of Georgia as a head of division for Trade Negotiations and Coordination of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade area between the EU and Georgia. His job is very broad and complex, which covers management and coordination not only inside of the ministry but also, with other public institutions involved in these processes. Due to its complexity, Giorgi’s job is extremely interesting and allows him to realize himself fully. Successful coordination and management of the work allowed the team to conclude free trade negotiations between China and Georgia in 7 months, even faster than negotiations on free trade agreement between Georgia and EFTA countries, which were concluded in 1 year.

The first significant step towards advancing Mr. Chitadze’s career was continuation of studies for a master degree at the GIPA (Georgian Institute of Public Affairs). After the graduation from the master’s program, in 2007, he started working at the Ministry of Economic Development of Georgia. From 2009, he was honored to participate in EU – Georgia’s pre negotiation process on FTA, later as a member of the delegation, he participated in negotiations on DCFTA, which entered into force from 2014. Giorgi’s experience as a manager in public sector started from 2011 when he was appointed as a Director of Standards Department, challenged to create EU shape organization from a soviet style institution and continues currently as a head of DCFTA coordination division which also includes coordination of DCFTA advisory group – one of the first public-private dialogue platform.

ვალენტინა ზასადკო

ვალენტინა ზასადკო

Senior Researcher at the National Institute for Strategic Studies
ვალენტინა ზასადკო

ვალენტინა ზასადკო

Senior Researcher at the National Institute for Strategic Studies

Valentyna Zasadko has 9 year experience in public policy research and is the author of more than 40 scientific publications and policy papers in this field. She co-authored the book “Cross-border Cooperation of Ukraine in the Context of European Integration” (2014). Her academic background includes a master’s degree in international economic relations and PhD in economics. Valentyna’s academic training and work experience have included both domestic and international perspectives on research and implementation of public services and local policy reform.

Since 2006 she works in a research team of Norwegian-Ukrainian projects devoted to analysis and assessment of local government policy (“Local government reform in Ukraine” (2012-2015), “Local government reform in Ukraine: Program for capacity building and research-policy dialogue” (2008-2009). The projects are joint initiative of the partner organizations – the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS), the Association of Ukrainian Cities (AUC), the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR). Besides, she is active in a Lviv-based NGO Center for Social and Economic Research “Initiative”. Currently Valentyna Zasadko is senior researcher at Regional Branch of National Institute for Strategic Studies in Lviv. Her research interests include local governance, cross-border cooperation and urban studies.

ნინო ზამბახიძე

ნინო ზამბახიძე

Chairwoman of the Georgian Farmers’ Association
ნინო ზამბახიძე

ნინო ზამბახიძე

Chairwoman of the Georgian Farmers’ Association

Nino Zambakhidze is the founder of L.T.D. “LBN Line Distribution Company”, an official representative of Coffee Vergnano and Tea Ronnefeldt in Georgia. Having started farming in 2008 she founded L.T.D. “Georgian Business Zone” (Milk Processing Farm and Animal Food Production Farm) in the village Tsnisi, Akahltsikhe Region where she also acts as an Executive Director. In 2010 Nino founded “Regional Development Association” in Akhaltsikhe and since then has been leading execution of various rural development projects. She became a prize winner for “Woman Entrepreneur of the Year” at the first annual Business-Award “Mercury 2011” ceremony, and was also the first woman leader becoming an honorary coordinator of the organization “Invest for the Future” from 2012, the organization functioning under the patronage of Hilary Clinton.

While actively being an entrepreneur, Nino founded “Georgian Farmers’ Association” with her partners in 2012, where she serves as a chairwoman of the organization. She is an active advocate of the farmers’ rights and the key driving force for the success of the organization. From 2014, Nino became the founder of Georgian Entrepreneurs’ Network supporting both beginners and experienced entrepreneurs in business development. Being a proactive person by nature, Nino is a member of almost all key governmental or nongovernmental boards and committees active in agriculture and not only. Since 2013 she’s also been an advisor in agro-directions at the State Partnership Fund. Nino is an MBA Candidate in Global Management (GGSB) & International Executive MBA (CSB) at Grenoble Graduate School of Business (France) and Caucasus School of Business (CSB).

დენის ვოლკოვი

დენის ვოლკოვი

Analyst at the Levada Center
დენის ვოლკოვი

დენის ვოლკოვი

Analyst at the Levada Center

Denis Volkov joined the Levada Center, an independent polling organization based in Moscow, as an analyst and head of the development department in 2007. He is an author of several publications on civil society, protest, and political attitudes in Russia. Denis is a frequent commentator in the media, and has presented at conferences and roundtables on Russia around the world. He contributes his analysis to the Carnegie Center Moscow website. Now he is also a visiting fellow at Chatham House in London and German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin until April 2015. He received his MA in Political Science from the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences and University of Manchester. He was a Draper Hills Fellow Summer Fellow on Democracy at Stanford University in 2013.

ნანა წიკლაური

ნანა წიკლაური

Deputy Chair of the Public Service Development Agency
ნანა წიკლაური

ნანა წიკლაური

Deputy Chair of the Public Service Development Agency

Nana Tsiklauri joined Public Service Development Agency (PSDA) of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia in August 2013. Since then she is intensely involved in the design and implementation of various projects and initiatives aiming at improving public service delivery in Georgia with a strong citizen-centric approach and focus on e-governance and public service innovation. Currently she is leading the Strategic Projects and Reforms Department of the Agency, while at the same time serving as the Deputy Chair of PSDA. Before moving to the public sector realm, Nana worked with a number of international agencies and local NGOs in the field of development cooperation.

Her experience in the public sector is underscored by a Master’s Degree in Public Policy and Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), along with a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA). Nana also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from the Tbilisi State University. Over the last years she has focused on Decentralization and Local Governance issues, agile governance models and citizen-centric public services. As part of the recent and ongoing projects she has been actively involved in initiatives aiming at introducing innovations into the way public services are designed and delivered, fostering e-skills development and application of human centered design to inform public policy.

ნიდალ სავეჰლი

ნიდალ სავეჰლი

Founder of Diwan Research
ნიდალ სავეჰლი

ნიდალ სავეჰლი

Founder of Diwan Research

Nidal Sawehli is the founder and manager of Diwan Research in Libya, a company that provides quantitative and qualitative research services to both commercial and non-profit organizations. After the 2011 revolution, he was part of the Temporary Financing Mechanism which channeled international funds to the new authority after the fall of the Gaddafi regime. He also took senior advisory roles with the Prime Minister’s office, Minister of Civil Society and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Nidal was previously awarded the Chevening Scholarship from the U.K. government and the Fulbright Scholarship from the U.S. government. He graduated with a BA in economics from the American University in Egypt, an MA in economics planning from the University of Glasgow in the U.K., and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh.

კატერინა რიაბიკო

კატერინა რიაბიკო

Project Coordinator, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights At the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Warsaw
კატერინა რიაბიკო

კატერინა რიაბიკო

Project Coordinator, Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights At the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Warsaw

For over fifteen years Kateryna Ryabiko has lived her passion for democratization and human rights, providing assistance and policy development in political accountability, parliamentary ethics, political participation and electoral processes throughout Central and Eastern Europe. She has worked for international organizations, private sector consultancies and government institutions. Currently, Kateryna leads Ukraine’s Civil Society Project at the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw. Kateryna was named a USAID Foreign Service National for outstanding achievements in promoting democratic development in Ukraine and her leadership in guiding the U.S. Government’s democracy assistance efforts. Ms. Ryabiko holds Master’s in Public Administration from the State University of New York (2002) and was honoured by a Stanford University Fellowship for Democracy, Development and Rule of Law (2009). She was recently featured in a documentary about the evolution of democracy, A Whisper to a Roar, and was published in the 2015 European Yearbook on Human Rights.

მარიამ რაქვიაშვილი

მარიამ რაქვიაშვილი

Deputy State Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration
მარიამ რაქვიაშვილი

მარიამ რაქვიაშვილი

Deputy State Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration

Mariam Rakviashvili was born on 6 April 1977 in Tbilisi. She has an academic degree of bachelor with a focus on Architecture and an academic master’s degree with a focus on International Relations and European Law. Mariam started her career in 2003 as a Second Secretary at the Department of Russian Federation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Then she served at the Embassy of Georgia to the Republic of Estonia as Deputy Chief of Mission and further pursued her work as a Deputy Head of Department of Asia, Africa, Australia and Pacific Rim. In 2012, Mariam moved to the Office of the State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration where she is currently occupying the position of the Deputy State Minister.

თამარ რაზმაძე

თამარ რაზმაძე

Head of Donor Coordination Unit at the Government Administration
თამარ რაზმაძე

თამარ რაზმაძე

Head of Donor Coordination Unit at the Government Administration

Ms. Tamar Razmadze, MBA, is the Head of Donor Coordination Unit at the Government Administration of Georgia as of March, 2014. She has set up the Donor Coordination Unit and streamlined the process of donor coordination from the perspective of policy planning and development within the Government of Georgia. Tamara has over 20 years of work experience in donor organizations, academia and private sector, with almost 15 years spent with different development partners such as USAID, IFC and the World Bank. Tamara’s expertise covers communications and marketing management, change management and strategic planning. Ms. Razmadze used to work as a Public Awareness Manager, Head of Marketing and Sales Department, Communications Manager and Business Consultant.

She has led different initiatives targeted at the country development, such as Increase of Economic Knowledge and Business Acumen, Marketing and Branding Training Program for Government Agencies, Awareness Increase of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, etc. Tamara’s extensive experience covers active participation in transformation process of an organization from NGO to a commercial institution, where through well-targeted marketing efforts the bank successfully penetrated the local market. During her consultancy, Tamara consulted leading local companies active in production, media and marketing fields. Examples include Nabeglavi (“Healthy Water”), Magi Style and newspaper Georgia Today. Ms. Razmadze is an author of more than 100 articles. She also led a Public Relations course in one of the leading business schools (ESM) in Georgia.

გიორგი ნანობაშვილი

გიორგი ნანობაშვილი

Economic Development Team Leader at the UNDP Georgia
გიორგი ნანობაშვილი

გიორგი ნანობაშვილი

Economic Development Team Leader at the UNDP Georgia

Mr. George Nanobashvili is an Economic Development Team Leader at the UNDP Georgia Country Office. He is responsible for developing and implementing poverty reduction and economic development projects. In 2006-2009 he served on the position of the Head of Economic Analysis and Policy Department at the Ministry of Economic Development of Georgia. He was Chief Advisor on Economic Security Issues at the National Security Council of Georgia (2003-2006). In 2001-2003 he worked as an Executive Director of Civic Initiatives Center (NGO). During his leadership at the Ministry of Economic Development concepts on reform of competition regulation, national statistics and technical regulation were developed. In 2002-2009 he was an elected Board Member of the Association of Young Economists of Georgia. He has published various articles and policy papers.

იური ნაბუტოვსკი

იური ნაბუტოვსკი

Member of the board of the Political party 5 of December
იური ნაბუტოვსკი

იური ნაბუტოვსკი

Member of the board of the Political party 5 of December

Yury Nabutovski holds Bachelor’s degree of Science in Economics from Moscow State University and Master’s degree in political science from the same university. During his carrier Yury has worked as a researcher and PR-manager until 2004. In 2005 he entered youth civil movement Oborona, a non-partisan network of youth, Oborona was presented in all big cities of Russia and was famous after its actions and performances aimed at civil problems. At the same time he became a member of political party Soyuz Pravykh Sil or SPS – the Union of Right Forces. He worked as a coordinator responsible for work with district organizations of Moscow branch of the party.

As an activist and member of Moscow council of Solidarnost, Yury met December 2011 protests on Bolotnaya Square and Academician Sakharov avenue, as a member of the team of organizers of those meetings that finally led to changes in Russian political legislation. The protests started 5.12.2011 so it was decided to try to organize a liberal party with that name, Party of 5 of December, and Yury was among the team of its organizers. Now he is a member of the political council and HR group leader; he is responsible for work with newcomers, organization of internal events and communications. Yury is also a volunteer at the Center for Interethnic Cooperation, an NGO that works with national and cultural minorities in Russia.

ფანია მუსაევა

ფანია მუსაევა

Social and Economic Policy Consultant
ფანია მუსაევა

ფანია მუსაევა

Social and Economic Policy Consultant

Faniya Mussayeva is a researcher and consultant, specializing in poverty, social inclusion, social protection, public finance and democratic governance issues. For the past 8 years, Faniya has worked as a Social Policy Specialist with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Kazakhstan, The Gambia, and Jordan. In the past, she worked for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI). Faniya is a Draper Hills Summer Fellow (2010). She holds an MA in theory and practice of human rights from the University of Essex.

ირაკლი ლაითაძე

ირაკლი ლაითაძე

Chief Financial Officer at GMT Mtatsminda LLC
ირაკლი ლაითაძე

ირაკლი ლაითაძე

Chief Financial Officer at GMT Mtatsminda LLC

Irakli Laitadze has graduated with honors from the department of Economic Geography of the Tbilisi State University in 1993. He has also graduated from Diplomatic School of Madrid (Diploma in International Politics) and from the University of Cambridge (MBA). Irakli Laitadze has also studied the Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics at the Lancaster University. Irakli Laitadze is Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of GMT Mtatsminda, LLC. Previously he has served as the Deputy CFO of the GMT Group, which has its capital invested across four portfolio companies in several industries. He has also worked as a sales executive covering South Caucasus in Belgian ”Group Thermote & Vanhalst”, which is the trader in a heavy industrial equipment. Prior to moving to the private sector, Mr. Laitadze has worked in the Georgian Foreign Service including at the Mission of Georgia to the EU in Brussels for more than a decade.

ირინე კვახაძე

ირინე კვახაძე

Deputy Director of the Business Association of Georgia
ირინე კვახაძე

ირინე კვახაძე

Deputy Director of the Business Association of Georgia

After working in management consulting and commercial banking sectors for 7 years, Irine Kvakhadze embraced an opportunity to work in a local nongovernment organization – Business Association of Georgia (BAG) as a Deputy Director. Business Association of Georgia unites large companies operating in the country and its main function is to hold a dialogue with the government on issues crucially important for the private sector. In this position Irine leads following directions: strategic development projects, research unit, partnerships with International Financial Institutions, Donor Organizations, and think-tanks. Irina acquired her degree, Master of Business Administration from one of the world’s top business schools, HEC Paris. During her career in advocacy, she has produced several articles, research papers and participated in local and international conferences as a speaker on the topics relevant to economic development and gender equality.

ბათუ ქუთელია

ბათუ ქუთელია

Vice President of the Atlantic Council Georgia
ბათუ ქუთელია

ბათუ ქუთელია

Vice President of the Atlantic Council Georgia

Ambassador Kutelia is the Vice President of the Atlantic Council of Georgia and the Next Generation Leader fellow at the McCain Institute for International Leadership. He served as the Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia, since January 2011 till November 2013. From 2008 until 2011 he was the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States of America, Canada and Mexico. In his previous capacities he has been First Deputy Minister of Defense (2007-2008), Deputy Minister of Defense and Foreign Aairs (2006-2007) and Deputy Minister of State Security (2004).

From 2005-2006 he functioned as the Head of the Intelligence Service of Georgia. Before this he was the Head of the Foreign Intelligence Department of the Ministry of State Security of Georgia and Director of the Political Security Department of the National Security Council in 2004, also numerous pol.-mil. positions at the Ministry of Foreign Aairs. Before turning into his diplomatic and political career Mr. Kutelia studied physics and holds a PhD in physics. However, he also holds a master in Public Aairs Administration. Mr. Kutelia is uent in English, Russian and Georgian languages.

ნათია ქორიძე

ნათია ქორიძე

Head of the Euro-Atlantic Integration Coordination Department at the Office of State Minister of Georgia on European and EuroAtlantic Integration
ნათია ქორიძე

ნათია ქორიძე

Head of the Euro-Atlantic Integration Coordination Department at the Office of State Minister of Georgia on European and EuroAtlantic Integration

Nata Koridze is currently head of the Euro-Atlantic Integration Coordination Department at the Office of State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. In 1997 she received a Bachelor’s degree from Georgian Polytechnic University. In 1995-1996 Nata won the Freedom Support Act Undergraduate program scholarship and spent one year at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. In 1999 Mrs. Koridze graduated from Georgian Institute of Public Administration/GIPA with Masters of Public Administration. In 2000 she participated at the Edmund Muskie Graduate Fellowship Program competition and gained a chance to study for two years in a graduate school in the US. In 2002 she graduated from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs/SIPA with a Master’s Degree in International Affairs. Nata started her carrier as a program assistant in American Councils for Education and Language Studies/ACTR-ACCELS in 1996 and then continued as assistant to European Food Security Network/RESAL country representative in Georgia.

Throughout her diplomatic career Nata worked on the European and Euro-Atlantic integration related issues, relations with UN, OSCE and Council of Europe, as well as conflict-related issues. In 2008-2012 she was posted as Counselor in Brussels, at the Mission of Georgia to the European Union. After returning from Brussels Nata continued working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until January 2013 when she was offered the position of the Head of EuroAtlantic Integration Coordination Department at the Office of State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.

ალექსი ხოროშვილი

ალექსი ხოროშვილი

Chief Executive Officer at the JSC “Liberty Bank”
ალექსი ხოროშვილი

ალექსი ხოროშვილი

Chief Executive Officer at the JSC “Liberty Bank”

Aleksi Khoroshvili graduated the faculty of Business Administration in Finance and Accounting from Caucasus School of Business in 2004. He began his Career in 2003 at ERNST & YOUNG Audit LLC, as an Auditor for Financial and non-financial Services Clients, up until 2009. During his career he held senior positions at ERNST & YOUNG’s various offices such as Moscow, Baku, New York and Tbilisi. Aleksi Khoroshvili joined JSC “Liberty Bank” in November, 2009 as a Chairman of the Audit Committee. In October, 2015 he was elected as a Chief Executive Officer at JSC “Liberty Bank”.

აკაკი ხელაძე

აკაკი ხელაძე

Rector of Bank of Georgia University
აკაკი ხელაძე

აკაკი ხელაძე

Rector of Bank of Georgia University

Professor Akaki Kheladze presently serves as a Rector of Bank of Georgia University (Tbilisi, Georgia) since its foundation. He is a Professor of Management at Grenoble School of Management (Grenoble, France) and distinguished fellow of New Westminster College (Vancouver, British Columbia), a member of the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association at the Caucasus School of Business. Prof. Kheladze holds a dual PhD degree in Management from Caucasus University (Tbilisi, Georgia) and Georgia State University (Atlanta, Georgia, USA). He earned MBA in Management in 2003 and a BBA in Finance in 2001, both from the Caucasus School of Business at Caucasus University.

Prof. Kheladze possesses more than 10 years of teaching experience, delivering lectures and training in the universities and at local and international private and public institutions. His expertise includes provision of training in the field of project management, decision making, leadership, management concepts, and Business plan development. In various time periods he served as Dean of School of Economic and Business at Tbilisi State University (Tbilisi, Georgia), Director of Undergraduate and Graduate Programs at Caucasus Business School (Tbilisi, Georgia), Management Professor at London School of Business and Finance (London, UK). Apart from the academic and higher education management activities, Prof. Kheladze is also actively engaged in training and consulting activities. He has also held leading positions at public and private organizations.

შიო ხეცურიანი

შიო ხეცურიანი

Chairman of the Public Service Development Agency
შიო ხეცურიანი

შიო ხეცურიანი

Chairman of the Public Service Development Agency

Shio Khetsuriani joined Public Service Development Agency (PSDA) of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia as a Chairman in September 2014. Since then he is working to improve public services throughout the country. As the Chairman of the agency, Shio is managing and overseeing the work of the civil registry, responsible for the issuance of ID cards, passports, civil certificates, residence permits; implementation of e-Governance in Georgian municipalities; development of Community Centers, ensuring access to more than 200 public and private services for the local population; activities of the in-house Innovative Service Lab that generates new ideas to design and deliver improved services for the citizens and different state and public entities; Overall, Shio supervises around 1300 employees of the agency across 75 territorial offices in Georgia.

Before moving to the PSDA, Shio worked at the Bank Republic, Societe Generale and at the Consulate General of Georgia in New York. Shio’s diverse professional experience is backed up by the Masters’ Degree in Banking from the Georgian Technical University, along with the Masters’ of Science Degree in Finance from Baruch College, City University of New York, United States. Over the past few years Shio has focused on public sector issues – attracting potential investors to Georgia; creating and developing public services, by increasing their accessibility, particularly in the rural parts of Georgia; improving Georgian travel document security and personal data protection, coupled with coordination of migration management processes in the Country and oversight over the implementation of the EU-Georgia Visa Liberalization Action Plan.

თინათინ ქაროსანიძე

თინათინ ქაროსანიძე

Dean of the Institute of Asia and Africa at Free University of Tbilisi
თინათინ ქაროსანიძე

თინათინ ქაროსანიძე

Dean of the Institute of Asia and Africa at Free University of Tbilisi

Tinatin Karosanidze is the Dean of the Institute of Asia and Africa (School of International Relations) at Free University of Tbilisi and Professor of International Relations (Terrorism and counterterrorism studies); Tinatin gives lectures in Arabic language, the Middle East Religions, International Terrorism, History of the Middle East, and Religion in World policy. In 1999 Tinatin graduated from Tbilisi Institute of Asia and Africa, faculty of International relations and History of Middle East Countries (Arabic department). In 1998-1999 she studied Arabic language at Cairo University (Egypt). In 2006 she got PhD in world history, the topic of the thesis was: “Islamic fundamentalism in modern Egyptian politics: Strategy of “Muslim Brothers” and other radical Islamic organizations”.

In 2006-2009 Mrs. Karosanidze worked as an Assistant in the near and middle east department at G.Tsereteli Institute of Oriental Studies. In 2008-2009 she worked at the embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Georgia as an assistant to the Ambassador and translator. In 2013 Tinatin got the Order of Honor from the President of Georgia for contribution in Georgian education and academic field. She was Carnegie Research Fellow and a visiting scholar in SAIS at Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC in January-May, 2014. The title of her research was: Islamic radicalism in the North Caucasus and ties to the Middle East Islamic fundamentalism. Tinatin is author of 20 publications and one monograph.

ელზა ჯგერენაია

ელზა ჯგერენაია

Head of Labor and Employment Policy Department at the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs
ელზა ჯგერენაია

ელზა ჯგერენაია

Head of Labor and Employment Policy Department at the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs

Elza Jgerenaia is heading Labor and Employment Policy Department at the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social affairs since 2014. During her carrier she served as a project coordinator at the Caucasian Institute for Economic and Social Research, as Chief specialist in the division of State Procurements and Property Management at the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Deputy Head of Social Policy Department at the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs. Elza has also worked at the Ministry of Economy as a Graduate Employee in the department of foreign economic relations. From 1999 to 2008 she was a senior lecturer at the Tbilisi State University, the Ilia State University and the Tbilisi Grigol Robakidze University. Elza is a PHD Fellow in Business Administration at the University of Minho, Braga in Portugal and a PHD Fellow at the Ilia State University. She holds master’s degree in Economics from the Tbilisi State University.

ბადრი ჯაფარიძე

ბადრი ჯაფარიძე

Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of JSC TBC Bank
ბადრი ჯაფარიძე

ბადრი ჯაფარიძე

Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of JSC TBC Bank

Badri Japaridze is a prominent Georgian businessman, founding shareholder and ViceChairman of the Supervisory Board of JSC TBC Bank, leading universal bank in Georgia, who has enjoyed successful career in both public and private sectors. In 1990 he was elected Member of Parliament of Georgia (1990 – 1992) and was a co-signatory of the Declaration of Independence of Georgia in 1991. In 1995, Mr. Badri Japaridze, together with his partners, founded “Georgian Glass and Mineral Water & Co N. V.”, now IDS Borjomi, producing famous mineral water Borjomi.

Graduate of both Tbilisi State University and Moscow State University, Mr. Japaridze’s academic background is in Psychology, where he holds a post-graduate degree from Moscow State University year 1985, he is author of more than 10 research papers. At present, Mr. Japaridze serves on the Board of Directors of American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia, is Vice-Chairman of the Board of EU-Georgia Business Council, founding partner and member of the Supervisory Board of Georgian Reconstruction and Development Company (GRDC) – leading real estate development company in Georgia, founding partner and member of the Supervisory Board of Geoplant Ltd – tea production company.

ოთარ გორგოძე

ოთარ გორგოძე

Head of Specialized Groups and Supervisory Policy Department at the National Bank of Georgia
ოთარ გორგოძე

ოთარ გორგოძე

Head of Specialized Groups and Supervisory Policy Department at the National Bank of Georgia

Mr. Gorgodze served as the Deputy Head of Offsite Supervision Department from 2009 to 2010. He held various positions in monetary part of National Bank of Georgia from 2005. Prior to joining the public sector, he worked in commercial banks as a credit officer and investment economic analyst. He also worked as the manager of market research at B-Consulting. Previously, he worked for Polish based NGO CASE-Transcaucasus Foundation to develop its regional economic publication. He also held various teaching positions at Caucasus School of Business, International Black Sea University and Georgian American University and worked as a Junior Researcher in Economics Institute of Czech Academy of Sciences. He has various publications on the topics of economic development/structural transformation and risk management. Mr. Gorgodze holds FRM designation certified by Global Association of Risk Professionals.

ეკა გიგაური

ეკა გიგაური

Executive Director of the Transparency International Georgia
ეკა გიგაური

ეკა გიგაური

Executive Director of the Transparency International Georgia

Eka Gigauri has served as TI Georgia’s Executive Director since December 2010. Born on April 14, 1978, she graduated from Tbilisi State University with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations. In 2001 Ms. Gigauri graduated from Caucasian University with an MBA degree. She received her second L.L.M degree in International Law from VU University Amsterdam. Eka Gigauri worked in different state institutions, mainly in the field of foreign affairs, including in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Until 2008, she served as Deputy Head of the Boarder Police of Georgia where she was in charge of legal and International affairs as well as supervising the overall reformation process of the agency. Ms. Gigauri also has in working for the private sector concentrated in Marketing and Public Relations consultancy.

გიგი გიგიაძე

გიგი გიგიაძე

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia
გიგი გიგიაძე

გიგი გიგიაძე

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia

Gigi Gigiadze graduated with Master’s degree the International Relations faculty at Tbilisi State University in 2001. In 2000 he entered diplomatic service and until 2003 was in charge of the bilateral relations with German language countries at the First European Department. 2003-2007 Gigiadze was Counsellor at the Georgian Embassy to the Hellenic Republic covering political and bilateral issues. Within the same period from August 2004 until January 2005 he was an acting head of consular section of the Georgian Embassy in Athens. From 2007 until 2012 Mr. Gigiadze served at different positions in the European Affairs Department the latest being the Director of the Department.

In 2012 was appointed as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Georgian Embassy to the German Federal Republic. Within the same period from February 2013 until January 2014 he was chargé d’affaires ad interim of Georgia in Germany. Since November 2014 Gigi Gigiadze is the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia responsible for the relations with the European Union, bilateral relations with European countries and Diplomatic Training Center at the Ministry. Mr. Gigiadze speaks English, German and Russian languages. He is a passionate swimmer and a former water polo player.

ოლგა ჩუბრიკოვა

ოლგა ჩუბრიკოვა

Deputy Director General for Europe 2 in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kiev, Ukraine
ოლგა ჩუბრიკოვა

ოლგა ჩუბრიკოვა

Deputy Director General for Europe 2 in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kiev, Ukraine

Olga Chubrykova is a Deputy Director General for Europe 2 in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, responsible for bilateral relations with the South Caucasus states, Turkey, Romania, Moldova and Belarus. She has been working in the Ministry since 1999, serving twice abroad in the Embassy of Ukraine in Turkey. She also served twice in Minister’s Office in the MFA. Chubrykova took various courses on European and security affairs in Geneva, Vienna, Birmingham (UK) etc. She is an oriental studies expert and speaks fluent Turkish. Chubrykova is an author of one book – ‘Turkey, that we don’t know’.

მედეა ჩხეიძე

მედეა ჩხეიძე

Business Services Team Leader at BP Georgia
მედეა ჩხეიძე

მედეა ჩხეიძე

Business Services Team Leader at BP Georgia

Medea (Dea) Chkheidze has been working in BP Georgia as Business Services Team Leader since 2007. Her responsibilities include but are not limited to: supervision of Business Services Team; Supervision of Maintenance, Travel/Accommodation & Catering contractors’ work activities; supervision of all aspects of office maintenance & refurbishment works; supervision of housing accommodation for BP expats; planning and monitoring of Business Services budget, etc. Initially Dea started to work in BP as an Administrative Assistant as an Agency representative (2002-2007). Before commencing work in BP, her working experience counts several workplaces like: Association for the protection of Landowners’ Rights, the International Center for Journalists, Volunteers Corps for Banking Reform, Information Center for Economic Reforms at the State Chancellery of Georgia, Newspaper Georgian Times, and the 1st TV Channel.

As to Dea’s studying background, after graduating from the Institute of Foreign Languages and Cultures (1997) Dea has entered and graduated Georgian Institute of Public Administration (GIPA 1998) where she received a Master’s Degree in Local Government and Self-Government Administration Program. Dea has graduated from Project Management College at ESI Free University (2010) acquiring George Washington University Master’s Certificate. Dea has passed various training courses throughout the time she has worked in BP: Employee Relations for Team Leaders; Risk Management; Supervisory Skills Workshop; Influencing Skills; Scheduling & Cost Control; Incident Investigation; Presentation Skills, etc.

ნინო ჩიჩუა

ნინო ჩიჩუა

Deputy CEO at EVEX Medical Corporation
ნინო ჩიჩუა

ნინო ჩიჩუა

Deputy CEO at EVEX Medical Corporation

Nino has over 14 years of working experience as a management executive with leadership and management functions in different structures of the government and private organizations of Georgia. She is skilled professional in delivering organizational and structural changes, general management, strategic marketing management, elaborating effective human resources management strategies, designing and marketing of effective service delivery procedures, customer flow management and retailing. Currently she is the Director of Marketing and Services at EVEX Medical Corporation.

Most recently, Nino served as a CEO at the Public Service Hall and previously as the Head of Marketing Department under the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, which finally resulted in making Public Service Hall project as one of the most successful government reform in Georgia, which further helped Georgia to be recognized as one of the world’s top reformer countries, with its rank of 9th place in the ‘World Bank Ease of Doing Business’ ranking and receive UN 2012 Public Service Award. Nino holds a Master’s degree in Executive Marketing and Sales Management from ESADE Business School and SDA Bocconi School of Management. Furthermore she has an MBA degree from the European School of Management (FreeUni).

რაბი ელ ჩაერი

რაბი ელ ჩაერი

Advisor to the Kuwaiti Parliament Kuwait City, Kuwait
რაბი ელ ჩაერი

რაბი ელ ჩაერი

Advisor to the Kuwaiti Parliament Kuwait City, Kuwait

Rabih El Chaer is a Senior Political Advisor and has 19 years of experience in public policy across Europe and the Middle East. Rabih has served as an advisor on speech writing, strategic planning, public affairs programs, media and communications strategy to a number of ministers, public authorities and political parties. At present Mr. El Chaer is an advisor to the Kuwaiti Parliament. Previously, he served as the President of the Lebanese NGO “Sakker El Dekkene” as well as the Senior Public Policy and Media Advisor to the Kuwaiti Minister of Information and Youth. Prior to that Mr. El Chaer was a Professor in Constitutional Law and a co-founder of the Human Rights Centre at the University of Saint Esprit (USEK). He was also the Managing Director of Transparency International Lebanese Chapter. In 2011 in the wake of the “Arab Spring” he worked as a political and media strategy advisor to a Tunisian newly formed Political Party after the “Arab Spring Revolution”.

Between 2008 and 2011, Mr. El Chaer also served as a Senior Political and Legal Advisor to the Lebanese Minister of Interior and Municipalities. The Ministry team won the UN best public service award for election management in 2010. Mr. El Chaer is a graduate of the National French School of Public Management (Ecole Nationale d’Administration, ENA) and holds two Masters Degrees in Human Rights and Public Law from France. He has also attended and completed fellowship programs at Harvard University, Stanford University, the International Development Center in the UK and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. He was also a lecturer in Public Law at the Institute of Political Sciences in Paris. Mr. El Chaer is a founder and a member of several NGOs. Rabih has received numerous recognitions including the Medal of Honor from the Lebanese Ministry of Interior and Municipalities, the Best Young Journalist award by Annahar Newspaper Lebanon, and he was also selected by the French Foreign Ministry for the 2010 “Personnalités d’avenir” program recognizing future potential international leaders.

დარკო ბრკანი

დარკო ბრკანი

President of the Association of Citizens “Why Not” Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
დარკო ბრკანი

დარკო ბრკანი

President of the Association of Citizens “Why Not” Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Darko Brkan, along with a group of young activists and friends, founded UG “Zašto ne” 14 years ago, becoming the president of the organization. UG “Zašto ne” is a Sarajevo-based nongovernmental organization that promotes civic activism, government accountability, and the use of digital media in deepening democracy in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH). He also is the president of the board of the regional network Action SEE (Accountability, Technology and Institutional Openness in the SouthEast Europe region). Darko was a founding member of Dosta! (Enough!), one of Bosnia’s most prominent citizens’ movements for social justice and government accountability. Darko began his career in civic activism more than ten years ago as coordinator of the Campaign for Conscientious Objection, a network of organizations that promoted peace and conscientious objection to military service in BiH. He graduated the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Department for Computer Science, and is currently an MBA candidate for Strategic Management of Information at the Faculty of Economics, University of Sarajevo.

His professional interests are mainly in the sphere of new technologies, digital and social media, elections and political processes, civic activism and participation, and international relations. Darko was a Draper-Hills Summer fellow of the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) in 2013 and a Reagan-Fascell fellow in 2012 at the Forum for International Democratic Studies in Washington, where he researched how new technologies can assist the efforts of civil society organizations. He is also Alumni member of the Council of Europe Academy of Political Excellence from the 2008 generation, Fletcher Summer Institute for Advanced Studies for Non-Violent Conflict from the 2010 generation, and is also a member of the Alumni for exchange student program with the United States after attending the IVLP program in 2009 and a member of the US Alumni Association in BiH. He is also a member of the board of the Center for Policy and Governance (CPU), the Human Rights Foundation of BiH and Foundation “Ekipa”, as well as a founding board member of the Center for Election and Political Studies in BiH. He was also a member of the board of the US Alumni Association in BiH in the term 2011-2015 and member of the ACIPS political council (POLIS) during the 2010 – 2011 mandate.

ნინო ჟიჟილაშვილი

ნინო ჟიჟილაშვილი

Dean of the Caucasus School of Media at Caucasus University
ნინო ჟიჟილაშვილი

ნინო ჟიჟილაშვილი

Dean of the Caucasus School of Media at Caucasus University

Nino has MA in Global Journalism of Orebro University, Sweden and Diploma of a Philologist, Specialist of Georgian Language and Literature of Tbilisi State University. Besides, Nino Zhizhilahsvili is a TV journalist with more than 15 years of experience. For the moment she anchors political talk shows at TV Pirveli. Her teaching qualification in related with journalistic field. She leads practical and theoretical classes as on undergraduate, postgraduate level as well. Her classes include: News Reporting, TV Broadcast News, Conflict Reporting, Media Monitoring, Media Research Methods.

ნათია ზამბახიძე

ნათია ზამბახიძე

Director of RFE/RL’s Georgian Service
ნათია ზამბახიძე

ნათია ზამბახიძე

Director of RFE/RL’s Georgian Service

Natia joined the RFE/RL in June 2018; Natia has an extensive background in TV journalism in Georgia; starting from early 1990s she has worked for the leading Broadcasting Companies, including TV company Rustavi2, (1999-2006) as a reporter, anchor, host and a producer of the news and political shows. During this time Natia has covered all major political and social developments in Georgia and the region including the Rose and Orange Revolutions. Natia has left journalism in 2006 and joined the foreign service; Before the joining the RFE/RL she worked as senior political counselor for the Georgian Embassy in Washington, D.C. Natia earned a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Tbilisi;

ოლენა სოტნიკი

ოლენა სოტნიკი

Lawyer and Politician
ოლენა სოტნიკი

ოლენა სოტნიკი

Lawyer and Politician

Olena Sotnyk is a Ukrainian lawyer and politician. Sotnykis a member of the Parliament of Ukraine, the secretary of the Parliamentary Committee on Issues of European Integration and vice-chairperson of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. Sotnyk’s main areas of expertise are judicial reform, police and security service reform, anti-corruption reform and adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to EU law. She provided pro-bono legal services for the “Heavenly Hundred,” the victims of Maidan and participants of the civil protests that led to the Ukrainian revolution in 2014. Sotnyk is also the coordinator of a range of projects to defend children’s rights. Sotnyk received a degree in Law from the National Academy of Internal Affairs of Ukraine specializing in economics and governance and a degree in Psychology from the National Pedagogical Dragomanov University.

ვასილ (დათო) სიხარულიძე

ვასილ (დათო) სიხარულიძე

Chairman of the Atlantic Council of Georgia
ვასილ (დათო) სიხარულიძე

ვასილ (დათო) სიხარულიძე

Chairman of the Atlantic Council of Georgia

Ambassador Sikharulidze was born on May 30, 1968 in Tbilisi, Georgia. He has been in Public Service for 17 years and held high ranking positions including those of the Minister of Defence of Georgia (December 2008 – August 2009); Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the United States,Canada and Mexico (Washington DC, US) (Dec 2005 – Dec 2008); Deputy Minister of Defence, Undersecretary of the National Security Council of Georgia, Deputy Head of Georgian Mission to NATO and Head of NATO Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Since September 2011 he is a Chairman of the Atlantic Council of Georgia. He is also lecturer at Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, Ilia State University and Tbilisi Open University, Tbilisi. Ambassador Sikharulidze has been in Georgian NATO integration policy team since 2000.

He was part of negotiation team on Russian base withdrawal negotiations in 2004-2005. Ambassador Sikharulidze holds Masters Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University and MD in Psychiatry from Tbilisi State Medical University. He was NATO Fellow 2001-2003 and Fulbright Visiting Scholar in 2017. He is co-author of number of researches on Security Sector Reform. Fluently speaks Georgian, English and Russian.

ტარას შევჩენკო

ტარას შევჩენკო

Director and Founder of Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law
ტარას შევჩენკო

ტარას შევჩენკო

Director and Founder of Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law

Taras Shevchenko is a director and founder of Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law – Kyiv based NGO established 2005. It is a think and act tank that focuses its activities on independent media development, rule of law, and civil society. He also lunched effective civic campaigns in Road Safety and Tobacco Control. Mr. Shevchenko is Board Co-chairman for Reanimation Package of Reforms (RPR) the largest coalition of leading non-governmental organizations and experts from all over Ukraine. The PR functions as a coordination center for 82 non-governmental organizations and 22 expert groups which develop, promote, and control implementation of the reforms. PR was established during the Revolution of Dignity in 2014.

სალომე შაფაქიძე

სალომე შაფაქიძე

Director of European Integration Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia
სალომე შაფაქიძე

სალომე შაფაქიძე

Director of European Integration Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia

Salome Shapakidze serves as a director of European Integration Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Previously, she held the positions of the Counsellor and Charges ‘affairs in the Georgian embassy to the Netherlands, head of NATO unit in the Foreign Office and in the Office of the State Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. Salome has been involved in the reforming process of Georgia, when it comes to both, EU and NATO related integration agenda. She is a convinced Euro-Atlantist. She also worked in the non-governmental sector, being one of the facilitators for the establishment of the Business and Economic centre in the Parliament of Georgia.

Salome obtained her master’s degrees from Freie Universität Berlin, with the focus on East European Studies; and from Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, with the major in international politics. She also gained her bachelor’s degree from Tbilisi State University and majored in English. During her posting in the Netherlands, Salome was a member of women’s book club in The Hague. She is an outspoken women’s rights supporter. In her private time Salome enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Among her special interests are languages, literature, movies, and music.

ნათია სამუშია

ნათია სამუშია

Vice-Rector at Free University and Agricultural University
ნათია სამუშია

ნათია სამუშია

Vice-Rector at Free University and Agricultural University

Natia Samushia has a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, Master’s Degree in Public Administration and Master’s Certificate in Project Management. She has been working on deep deregulation, trying to get rid of old, unnecessary and burdensome regulations, which created major obstacles to economic growth. Natia served as an Advisor to the Prime-minister and has been working on streamlining the legislations on getting credit, enforcing contracts, protecting investors, starting a business, resolving insolvency, and employing workers taken into account Doing Business methodology. As a result of the above-mentioned reforms, in 2013 Georgia became number 8th reformer of the world and the top improver since 2005 globally.

Natia was a member to the negotiators’ team on DCFTA and AA with EU. She has been analyzing impact of EC regulations on business climate in the country and working on easing the regulatory burden on businesses. Currently, Natia holds a position of Vice-Rector at Free University and Agricultural University, which are the two best universities in Georgia. Each year the universities attract hundreds of top- tier applicants. She is responsible for the elaboration and development of BA, MA, PhD, VET programs, coordination of attracting and

managing the international grants, and recruitment of the academic staff.

ირენა პოპიაშვილი

ირენა პოპიაშვილი

Founder and Dean of School of Visual Art Architecture and Design School Va[a]ds at the Free University of Tbilisi
ირენა პოპიაშვილი

ირენა პოპიაშვილი

Founder and Dean of School of Visual Art Architecture and Design School Va[a]ds at the Free University of Tbilisi

She is a curator and gallerist who after spending almost 20 years in New York moved back to Tbilisi to use her NY art world experience and raise new generation of artists. She co-founded Kunsthalle Tbilisi in 2017. 2013-2017 was a director and founder of Popiashvili Gvaberidze Window Project- in Tbilisi. Previously she co-owned Newman Popiashvili Gallery in New York (2005-2012). In 2012 she served as a rector of the State Academy of Arts in Tbilisi. Ms. Popiashvili has curated exhibitions in the US and Europe (i.e. Georgian Pavilion in Venice Biennale in 1999 and 2003). She received a BA from Tbilisi State University and a MA in art history from University of Georgia in Athens (USA).

გიორგი ახალაია

გიორგი ახალაია

DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL
გიორგი ახალაია

გიორგი ახალაია

DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONAL

Giorgi Akhalaia has extensive experience in both public and private sectors. As a team member of the State Minister’s Office on Reform Coordination, was activelv engaged in the design, development and implementation of various public sector reforms. These included the Labor Code, healthcare planning and e-governance. One of the successful projects was Georgian Governmental Reform, which reduced Government of Georgia’s overall communication costs of the Georgian Government by up to 60%, as Coordinator of the Georgian Governmental Network (GGN); a VPN network enabling government agencies throughout the country to share information more quickly and eticiently. Giorgi has an intensive experience also in private sector.

He turned around the Peoples Post transportation and logistics solutions business from being a loss- making enterprise to becoming the market leader. Peoples Post increased their number of corporate clients tenfold, and the number of daily packages, thirty-fold. As CEO, Giorgi established new sales team, developed sales strategy, introduced and managed a team of more than 600 staff members. As a part of USAID Projects in Georgia Giorgi were heading different vale chains, such as implementation of sector and value chain activities in the ICT, packaging, transport & logistics, apparel, wine and MICE tourism sectors resulting in increased exports, employment, revenues, and foreign investment

მაკა მეშველიანი

მაკა მეშველიანი

HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST
მაკა მეშველიანი

მაკა მეშველიანი

HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST

Maka Meshveliani is a human rights activist based in Tbilisi, Georgia being particularly interested in inclusion of women and minorities in political, economic and public lives. She manages the gender equality program at United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Georgia Office working at policy, advocacy and grass root levels contributing to women’s empowerment in politics and economy. Having held various positions at international intergovernmental and non- governmental organizations, Maka has contributed to the electoral, constitutional and media reforms in Georgia, and coalition building, grass-root organizing and advocacy efforts by civil society organizations. Maka is actively engaged with the Women’s Movement of Georgia.

She was also one of the lead organizers of Women’s March Tbilisi as part of the global movement in January, 2017. Having won the Andi Parhamovich Fellowship hosted by NDI in Washington DC, she analyzed the communication tactics for advancing women’s political participation agenda. To help Tbilisi recover from flooding in 2014, Maka initiated and managed the most successful crowdfunding campaign in Georgia raising $80,000. Maka is the winner of multiple awards and stipends, including the Chevening scholarship. She holds a LLM in International Human Rights Law from University of Essex, and BA in Law from Tbilisi State University.

ვასილ მანაგაძე

ვასილ მანაგაძე

Owner and Manager of Wine Companies
ვასილ მანაგაძე

ვასილ მანაგაძე

Owner and Manager of Wine Companies

Born in “Soviet” Georgia, Vasil was among first young Georgians who had chance to go to the US in early 90s. In 1993 he won the competition to participate inExchange program and was granted rare opportunity to live with the American family and study in high school in Michigan. While in States he decides to continue his undergraduate studies in States and completing his AA degree at Brevard College, NC, Vasil transfers to Schiller International University to pursue his undergraduate degree in International Relations and Diplomacy – something his country is in desperate need at that time.

 

Upon his return to Georgia in 1998, Vasil receives dual degree in Banking and Finance at Georgian Technical University and pursues his career in Banking sector, thus holding on to his American experience for later times. This time came in 2004 after the Rose Revolution and that’s when Vasil moves from private to public sector, starting his first public job at the State Chancellery of Georgia, in the office of State Minister. Getting fully involved in the reforms which took place at that time, Vasil was promoted to Ministry of Economic Development of Georgia in 2006 – where he became head of Georgian National Investment and Export Promotion Agency. Shortly, Vasil is offered job in the Ministry of Agriculture – as Head of State Department of Vine and Wine “Samtrest”. Even though Vasil has no background in agriculture, wine sector is in desperate need of reforms to shake off the Russian embargo and Vasil agrees to this offer. For his accomplishments Vasil is awarder with the President’s Order of Honor in 2009. After spending 5 years at this position, Vasil decides to stay in the wine sector and since 2011 he becomes successful owner and manager of some of the most prominent wine companies in the country.

კახა კუჭავა

კახა კუჭავა

Member of the Parliament of Georgia
კახა კუჭავა

კახა კუჭავა

Member of the Parliament of Georgia

Kakha was elected a chairman of the Environment Protection and Natural Resources Committee of the Parliament in 2016. Kakha comes with the corporate law background of more than 18 years of experience. His cares started as a lawyer at Georgian law firm, and then he became part of Chemonics International (USAID project – Business Climate Reform) as a legal expert in corporate law helping reform Georgian legislation on business sector, securities law and law on the public registry. Later Kakha worked for International Finance Corporation (IFC) as a Corporate Lawyer. Before entering the Parliament Kakha was involved in private sector investment activities. Kakha is a founder of Georgian Institute of Directors and founder of Georgian Professional Football Players Association. Kakha graduated from Tbilisi State University in 2001 (B.A. in Law with Honors) and completed his Masters Degree at Nottingham Law School, UK in 2004 (LL.M. in Corporate Law). Kakha is very passionate on photography (2 open exhebitions), football, snowboarding and rafting (champion of Georgia on white-water rafting in 2009). Kakha’s latest obsession is “green economy” and tech start-ups.

ირაკლი კორძახია

ირაკლი კორძახია

Partner at Kordzakhia, Igenti Law Firm
ირაკლი კორძახია

ირაკლი კორძახია

Partner at Kordzakhia, Igenti Law Firm

Irakli Kordzakhia received the Diploma in Legal Studies from TSU (1993), the Diploma in Jurisprudence from Gr. Robaqidze University (2001), LLM in European Law from TSU (2004) and Diploma in International Arbitration CArb, London (2017), He studied European Competition law in Kings College, London (2015-2016). He is CEDR accredited Mediator. He has certificates from University of California, Frankfurt bank academy, National Institute of Trial Advocacy. He started his career in 1993 as in-house counsel in commercial bank and became the head of the legal department. In such capacity he worked in number of commercial banks. In 1999 he together with partners founded Law firm Kordzakhia Jgenti GP which is well known on the legal market.

In 2016 it become associated with Grata International. From 2000 he was acting as local legal expert for WB, KW, USAID, ADB in number of infrastructural and financial sector restructuring and policy drafting projects. He has experience of serving as international expert of European Counsel in Rule of Law projects (2016). During 2006-2017 he was lecturing in GIPA, ABA/CEELI project, in Training Center of GBA and Free University in Trial skills and Legal ethics. From 2018 he is deputy Legal Ethics Chair in New Vision University. In 2010-2011 he acted as chair of disciplinary commission of GBA, in 2012-2013 and from 2017 he is member of the same disciplinary commission. He is member of arbitration counsel of GIAC and DRC, is in the list of mediators of Tbilisi State Court and is member of GAA board.

რესან ქიქავა

რესან ქიქავა

Director of Isc Exhibition Center (Expogeorgia)
რესან ქიქავა

რესან ქიქავა

Director of Isc Exhibition Center (Expogeorgia)

Resani Kikava was born in Batumi, in 1982. He is currently an assistant professor at Ilia State University, delivering courses in management, strategy and leadership. Since 2017 he is also a head of management studies in the mentioned institution. Besides his academic activities, Resani Kikava is a director of JSC Exhibition Center (ExpoGeorgia) and is a serial entrepreneur, having executive management experience of over 10 years in consulting, real estate and international trading. From 2010 to 2013, Resani worked in a capacity of a risk manager and later as the CEO for the commodities trading firm based in London.

Throughout his career, Resani worked for Virgin Group as a strategy consultant, as well as for a number of international consulting firms specializing in general management and international trade. During 2005 to 2006, Resani was a project director for real estate company JSC Iberia in Moscow and during 2003-2005 held a position of a corporate loan manager at JSC TBC Bank. Resani acquired master’s degree in business administration from Imperial College London Business School in 2010. He also holds master’s degree in business administration from European School of Management (ESM-Tbilisi) and bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from Georgian Technical University.

გვარამ ხანდამიშვილი

გვარამ ხანდამიშვილი

Deputy Director of the Department of the Americas at the Foreign Ministry of Georgia
გვარამ ხანდამიშვილი

გვარამ ხანდამიშვილი

Deputy Director of the Department of the Americas at the Foreign Ministry of Georgia

Gvaram is a career diplomat with over 13 years experience in Georgian Foreign Service, including mid-career assignments at Georgian Embassies in Sweden and Mexico. Since 2016, Gvaram serves as a Deputy Director of the Department of the Americas at the Foreign Ministry, overseeing the priorities of the U.S. Georgia strategic partnership and Georgia’s relations with Latin American and the Caribbean states. Gvaram is a graduate of Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Commerce and Marketing, with the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in the Expertise of Foodstuffs and Customs Administration, respectively.

During his undergraduate studies Gvaram spent one academic year at California State University, East Bay (Hayward) studying Business Administration as the State Department’s Freedom Support Act (FSA) scholar. Gvaram is an alumnus of the Professional Fellows Program of the State Department, with a stint at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs – DC based think-tank focusing on the U.S.-Latin American relations. In 2017, Gvaram completed the Master’s in International Public Policy (MIPP) from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), the Johns Hopkins University after receiving scholarship from the International Education Center of the Government of Georgia. Gvaram is passionate about football, enjoys traveling and reading at his spare time.

ანა ქანთარია

ანა ქანთარია

Fintech Professional
ანა ქანთარია

ანა ქანთარია

Fintech Professional

Ana Kantaria is a Fintech professional, has almost 10 years’ experience in banking and global technology company. 2013-2018 years Ana was business development manager for Georgia and Armenia at Visa Inc. During her service, both countries demonstrated noticeable developments in electronic payments and implementing cutting edge technologies. In 2011-2013, worked as an ecommerce coordinator at JSC Liberty bank, one of the largest Banks in Georgia. In 2006-2008 was managing card business at JSC Standard Bank Georgia (currently Tera Bank). She holds MS in Management from Stockholm University (Sweden) and BA in International Economic Law from Georgian Technical University (Georgia), is fluent in English and Russian. Ana is a passionate believer in digital transformation and connected world.

ჟანა (დარეჯან) ჯავახიშვილი

ჟანა (დარეჯან) ჯავახიშვილი

Senior Advisor at the Non- Governmental Foundation Global Initiative on Psychiatry
ჟანა (დარეჯან) ჯავახიშვილი

ჟანა (დარეჯან) ჯავახიშვილი

Senior Advisor at the Non- Governmental Foundation Global Initiative on Psychiatry

Jana (Darejan) Javakhishvili, PhD in Psychology, Senior Advisor at the non-governmental foundation Global Initiative on Psychiatry Tbilisi, Associated professor and Director of the Institute of Addiction Studies at llia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia. She is a co-founder of the two innovative masters programs in the same university: Mental Health MA program and Addiction Studies MA Program. She has been working in trauma research, training and treatment since 1995. Since 2002 she has been engaged in the field of conflict transformation as a facilitator for peace building processes in Georgia and the South Caucasus. She is a current president of the Georgian Society of Psychotrauma; Board of Directors Member and Secretary of the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies; Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma Contact Person in the South Caucasus. She is a co-author and co-editor of a number of books and scientific articles in Georgian, Russian and English, published in Georgia, Armenia, England, Norway, Russia and the United States.

ჰაიკუჰი ჰარუთუნიანი

ჰაიკუჰი ჰარუთუნიანი

President of “Protection of Rights Without Borders’
ჰაიკუჰი ჰარუთუნიანი

ჰაიკუჰი ჰარუთუნიანი

President of “Protection of Rights Without Borders’

Haykuhi Harutyunyan is the president of “Protection of rights without borders” NGO since 2013 In this capacity she manages the efforts of the organization to promote protection of human rights, to foster the principles of the rule of law and good governance in the country. She has over 13 years of professional experience in human rights protection in local and international civil society organizations. As a practicing human rights lawyer, she is a member of the Chamber of Advocates in the Republic of Armenia, where she handles strategic litigation and cases on political prisoners. Over the past three years and most recently during Armenia’s “Velvet Revolution,” Harutyunyan successfully established and managed the group of lawyers working on the mass violation of human rights during the peaceful assemblies in the country, and submitted 45 cases to the European Court of Human Rights.

Since 2016, Harutyunyan is a member of the Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society forum that is a policy initiative which aims to bring the six Eastern neighbors – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – closer to the European Union. Harutyunyan is a Fulbright Scholar-Hubert Humphrey Fellow and studied at Minnesota Law School where she received her master’s degree with a concentration in leadership, human rights and rule of law. In 2011 she was awarded by one of the Fulbright Scholarships-Hubert Humphrey Fellowship and studied in the Minnesota Law School, where she got her Master’s Degree on Human rights, Rule of Law and Leadership. During her Humphrey Fellowship year, Ms. Harutyunyan studied the mechanisms of the independent judicial system in the United States, as a guarantee for the Rule of Law, and especially the mechanisms for public participation and control over the judicial system. Previously, Ms. Harutyunyan had been working in Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor-office since 2003 as the Coordinator of the organization. In that capacity, she developed strategic plans and projects implemented by the organization to improve the human rights situation in Armenia. (2003-2011).

ნინო დოლიძე

ნინო დოლიძე

Associated Professor at Ilia State University and the Deputy Dean of the School of Business
ნინო დოლიძე

ნინო დოლიძე

Associated Professor at Ilia State University and the Deputy Dean of the School of Business

Nino Dolidze is an associated professor at Ilia State University and the Deputy Dean of the School of Business. Since 2004 she has been teaching classes in public administration and organizational management and supervising researches at doctorate, master and undergraduate programs. In 2016, under the supervision of prof. J. Mahler from the George Mason University, USA, Nino Dolidze conducted the doctoral thesis on The Models of Training and Development in Georgian Public Sector and was awarded academic degree of Doctor of Social Sciences, with qualification in Public Administration.

Nino Dolidze annually participates in international and local scientific conferences and workshops, publishes works on public administration issues. She is a co-author of several monographs, including Public Administration in Post-Communist Countries, Former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe and Mongolia, published in 2013 by CRC Press. Her most recent research project conducted in co-authorship with Prof. Koberidze in 2018, addressed the issue of Participation of Non-State Actors in the Process of Regional Development Policy. As As an expert and trainer she provides consultations and trainings in public administration, strategic planning, public policy and policy analysis, general management, organizational management and related fields for governmental and nongovernmental organization.

მიხეილ დარჩიაშვილი

მიხეილ დარჩიაშვილი

Governance Manager at the Usaid Project Good Governance Initiative in Georgia (Ggi)
მიხეილ დარჩიაშვილი

მიხეილ დარჩიაშვილი

Governance Manager at the Usaid Project Good Governance Initiative in Georgia (Ggi)

Mikheil Darchiashvili has extensive professional experience in diplomacy and international relations. He started diplomatic career at the Political-Military Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia in 2001. Mikheil Darchiashvili worked at the Georgian Mission to NATO, NATO HQ Brussels, Belgium initially as a first secretary, later a political counselor (2004 – 2008). He worked at the Embassy of Georgia to the United States, Washington DC, initially as senior counselor, later as minister plenipotentiary (2008-2013). Mikheil Darchiashvili served as Deputy Defense Minister of Georgia (2013-2014).

During his tenure as Deputy Defense Minister, he was responsible for international relations with main focus on Georgia’s NATO membership process, US-Georgia Defense Cooperation as well as defense policy and planning. Currently, Mikheil Darchiashvili serves as Governance Manager at the USAID project Good Governance Initiative in Georgia (GGI). Mikheil Darchiashvili is a member of Governing Board of the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), affiliated professor and lecturer in defense and foreign policy. He is also a member of the Atlantic Council of Georgia Mikheil Darchiashvili holds Master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA)

from GIPA.

ლუცილა კრექსელი

ლუცილა კრექსელი

National Senator of Argentina
ლუცილა კრექსელი

ლუცილა კრექსელი

National Senator of Argentina

Lucila Crexell is a National Senator of Argentina and was elected by the people of the province of Neuquén in 2013. She is a member of the General Law, Environment and Sustainable Development, Foreign Affairs Committees, in addition to other committees. Crexell was brought up in a political family that played a leading role in Neuquen’s institutional history. She has two decades of experience working in different areas of the public administration, both in national and local level. As a senator, she represents the province of Neuquén before the Federal Government and defends the decentralization of power and the protection of provincial autonomy. As regards her parliamentary labor, she has been the author of bills related to environment, education, regional economies, tourism and foreign service.

Also, as a National Senator she is part of the Argentine Delegation in the InterParliamentary Union (IPU). At the same time, she integrates the Argentine Delegation in the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO), where, as a member of the Environment and Tourism Commission, it promoted the approval of the Framework Law for the categorization of Protected Areas. Within Parlatino she is currently a member of the Commission on Human Rights, Justice and Prison Policies. In another order, it should be noted that, as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Argentinian Senate, Crexell chairs the Argentine Delegation of the Parliamentary Friendship Group with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Crexell studied Public Relations and a Bachelor in Law in the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (UADE), and she is currently finishing Politics and International Relations. She is also finishing a master degree course in Public Administration at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, and also a Interdisciplinary Master’s Degree in Energy from the Energy Regulatory Activity Studies Center of the University of Buenos Aires.

ლესია ჩმილი

ლესია ჩმილი

E-Governance Expert
ლესია ჩმილი

ლესია ჩმილი

E-Governance Expert

Lesia has 20 years of managerial experience in public sector, non-governmental organizations and high profile international business Lesia is Deputy Chief of Party of one of the most successful anticorruption project in Ukraine “Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services” funded by US and UK governments. Focusing on work with Ukrainian citizens, the central government, and municipalities to improve public procurement, e-Services, and access to public data to help reduce corruption. After the Revolution of Dignity Lesia managed Reanimation Package of Reforms (PR) group supporting Public Services reform, working on implementation of e-governance elements (Open Budget, -Services) on local level.

In 2015 Lesia together with a reformatory team joined the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine as -Governance Advisor and then headed the IT, Document Flow and e-Services Department. In addition to establishing transparent processes of all operational activities and public procurement inside the department Lesia took leadership in digitalizing public services of the Ministry and development of the Strategy of Public Services provision. As a result – the National Portal of Administrative Services was developed and deployed and 12 most corrupted licenses and other permissions for international trading were digitalized. Lesia worked in marketing and operational management in international companies as SOLVAY (NYSE, chemicals), STIMOROL CEE, HJ.HEINZ (FMCG), LEO BERNETT., RIMACO Handels GmbH, MILLIMAGES (animation). Managed the biggest animation studio in Europe: 800 employees, 7 subsidiaries all over CEE and CIS. Developed several successful start-ups in IT, production and service industries. Lesia is a graduate of National Taras Shevchenko University, PhD Psychology, holds MBA from KMBS Business School.

ანასტასია ბენდუქიძე

ანასტასია ბენდუქიძე

Partner and Director of the Knowledge Fund
ანასტასია ბენდუქიძე

ანასტასია ბენდუქიძე

Partner and Director of the Knowledge Fund

Although born in Moscow, Russia, Anastasia has spent most of her adulthood years in United Kingdom, completing her secondary education in Clifton College, Bristol and her Bachelor’s in King’s College of London. At the age of 16, she created the biggest Russian speaking online community about the 90s era with over 700 000 members and an average of 4500 unique daily visitors. After graduating with BA in Hispanic Studies, Anastasia followed up with her passion in Digital Communications and received a Postgraduate Diploma at New York University in Integrated Marketing Communications. At the age of 25, Anastasia’s father, Kakha Bendukidze, had unexpectedly died, leaving no will and a reasonable estate behind him. She decided to carry on his legacy and became the Head of the Knowledge Fund – a non-profit charitable organization that owns two of the leading universities in Georgia – Free University of Tbilisi and Agricultural University of Georgia, as well as other educational projects.

კრისტინა ბელმანი

კრისტინა ბელმანი

Deputy Director/Scientific Associate at the Regional Programme Political Dialogue South Caucasus of Konrad- Adenauer-Stiftung E.V.
კრისტინა ბელმანი

კრისტინა ბელმანი

Deputy Director/Scientific Associate at the Regional Programme Political Dialogue South Caucasus of Konrad- Adenauer-Stiftung E.V.

Christina Bellman is currently Deputy Director/Scientific Associate at the Regional Programme Political Dialogue South Caucasus of Konrad-Adenauer- Stiftung e. V. in Tbilisi, Georgia. Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung is a political foundation with worldwide programmes aimed at strengthening democracy and rule of law as well as promoting freedom and liberty, peace, and justice through civic education programs. Prior to her posting in Georgia, she served as Desk Officer in the organisation’s Global Rule of Law Programme in Berlin, Germany, where she was in charge of coordinating KAS’ worldwide rule of law-activities and high-level events with, among others, judges of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.

She holds an M.A. in International Relations from Humboldt University Berlin, Free University Berlin and Potsdam University as well as a B.A. in Liberal Arts and Sciences from University College Utrecht, the Netherlands, with majors in Political Sciences and Human Geography. Prior to her assignments with Konrad-Adenauer- Stiftung, she worked at a political consulting firm in Munich, Germany, and gained working experience, i.a., at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, Germany, the Munich Security Conference (Germany) and a private, not for-profit organisation in Berlin. She has lived, studied and worked in Melbourne, Australia, and Madrid, Spain, and speaks five languages, albeit some better than others, depending on the time spent in a country.

თინა ბალავაძე

თინა ბალავაძე

Learning Director at Isc Bank of Georgia
თინა ბალავაძე

თინა ბალავაძე

Learning Director at Isc Bank of Georgia

Tina Balavadze is the Learning Director at JSC Bank of Georgia, where she is responsible for the professional and personal development of employees. On mission to create better development opportunities, she is focused on transforming learning approaches and creating Learning platforms. Before joining the BoG team, Tina worked at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, where as a Project Coordinator she was responsible for the regional development of the South Caucasus. Her expertise and commitment to developing leadership learning programs has allowed her to initiate and implement several valuable projects in the region. With more than fifteen years experience developing various projects on performance improvement initiatives she gained large experience in training delivery, designing learning solutions, instructional design and feedback and evaluation systems for medium and large organizations. Tina holds an MA in European Studies from European University Viadrina.

გიორგი არველაძე

გიორგი არველაძე

Deputy Head of Retail Business Banking Department, the Bank of Georgia
გიორგი არველაძე

გიორგი არველაძე

Deputy Head of Retail Business Banking Department, the Bank of Georgia

I was born in 1984 Tbilisi, Georgia. I went to school “Balavari”, which was one of the best private schools in Tbilisi at that time. I was twice chosen as a President of this school. I also played basketball for the school team. Tbilisi state University was the place where I got my higher education. I got MBA at The University of Georgia. My first working experience was as data analyst in United Georgian Democrats (political party). Nowadays I work at The Bank of Georgia as a deputy head of Retail business banking department, with the experience of 13 years. From 2009 to 2012 I was managing partner of the consulting company Flow LLC.

გიორგი არველაძე

გიორგი არველაძე

Director of Banking and Financial Markets at Reformatics
გიორგი არველაძე

გიორგი არველაძე

Director of Banking and Financial Markets at Reformatics

An accomplished and highly resourceful banker and financier, having 16 years of hands on experience in mass market retail banking, financial markets, monetary policy, healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Currently, Director of Banking and Financial Markets at Reformatics, a government consulting boutique – advises Uzbekistan government in jumpstarting the banking sector. In the early days of his career, George joined the National Bank of Georgia (Central Bank), where he gradually climbed the hierarchy and became the Chief Dealer of the Bank managing the Foreign Exchange Reserves in excess of USD 1.5 billion. An effective strategist, George became the member of the International Reserves Management Committee and gained a seat at the Monetary Policy Commission table.

In 2008 George joined BNP Paribas Structured products sales in London as a member of the CEE and South Africa team, where he successfully generated new business for the bank, including the first issue of a structured deposit with Bank of Georgia. In 2009-2015, George (through initially being the Deputy CEO and in 2013 as the CEO) led the turnaround of Liberty Bank, the seventh largest bank that was literally bankrupt and under the central bank bailout. Through these years Liberty Bank has grown into the leading mass market retail bank with variety of unique distribution channels and with its growth far bypassing the Georgian banking sector growth, not to mention delivering the ROA of +20%.

იზაბელ ამორიმ სიჩერლე

იზაბელ ამორიმ სიჩერლე

Editora Abril
იზაბელ ამორიმ სიჩერლე

იზაბელ ამორიმ სიჩერლე

Editora Abril

Isabel Amorim began her career at Editora Abril in 1988 and since then has worked in major media companies. On 2016 joined Ed Abril to work on Digital area as a head of the division. In 2013, launched the digital version of the newspaper El Pais in Brazil, accumulating responsibility for the copyright area of the Prisa group. Previously, (2001 to 2013) she directed The New York Times Syndicate in Latin America, Mexico and the Caribbean. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration, a postgraduate degree in communication from the School of Communication and Arts at the University of São Paulo, and an MBA from Business School SP and Rothman School in Toronto. Graduate in 2013 by IE Madrid in Global Management. In June 2016 received a scholarship for the course taught by Stanford LAD and Insper on Public Policy and Democracy. On 2017 was accepted at a summer fellowship at CDDRL Stanford. Isabel is on the Board of the WAN-World Association of Newspaper, INMA International News Marketing Association until 2017, is also a member of the jury of the journalistic award offered by the Inter American Press Association since 2011. Married, has two children, and loves to run ultra marathons.

ბექა ამბროლაძე

ბექა ამბროლაძე

Lieutenant Colonel
ბექა ამბროლაძე

ბექა ამბროლაძე

Lieutenant Colonel

Lieutenant Colonel Beka Ambroladze, GEO. Army, hails from Kutaisi, Georgia. He graduated from St. Nino gymnasium (public school #3). He earned his commission as a lieutenant of Infantry Officer from the National Defense Academy of Georgia. For the first 2 years of his career, LTC Ambroladze was assigned to units in Internal Troops of Georgia in Tbilisi and Mukhrovani. LTC Ambroladze continued to serve in GEO armed forces in various assignments including planning officer in Battalion and General Staff level, Operations officer in Brigade and US Marine Corps 7th Regiment level, Instructor in Command and Staff College, commander at Infantry Battalion and Commander at Training Centre. He was deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan several times in support of operation Iraqi Freedom, ISAF and Resolute Support Mission. LTC Ambroladze Holds Masters degree in History from National Defense academy of Georgia. He is a graduate of Baltic Defense College and currently Studies at Tbilisi State University for his PhD in Mass communications. IC Ambroladze holds several award medals from Georgia, Czech Republic, United States of America and NATO. Lieutenant Colonel Ambroladze is married to Gvantsa and has two children.

ნინო აღმელაშვილი

ნინო აღმელაშვილი

Head of the Unit for Effective Support of State Prosecution in Jury Trial Cases at the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia
ნინო აღმელაშვილი

ნინო აღმელაშვილი

Head of the Unit for Effective Support of State Prosecution in Jury Trial Cases at the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia

I am a Head of the Unit for Effective Support of State Prosecution in Jury Trial Cases at the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia. This Unit supervises the investigations concerning jury trial cases across the whole Georgia and support state the prosecution at the court hearings. I have been working at the Prosecution Service of Georgia since 2008. I have examined cases involving various types of crime as well as jury trial cases and high-profile cases. Herewith, I am one of the press speakers of the Prosecution Service of Georgia. I am a member of the Georgian-Norwegian Rule of Law Association and the editor of the law journal created under the umbrella of the Association. In addition, I deliver lectures at Tbilisi State University as an invited lecturer.

პუბლიკაციები