Trust

Veneta Ilieva has worked as an executive in finance and banking for over 20 years. She was among the key players working on the launching of two successful organizations, Pension Insurance Company Rodina and Trust for Social Achievement Foundation (TSA), as well as on the initial public offering of the Bulgarian-American Credit Bank and the ERG Capital series of REITS. Veneta has also worked on the design, negotiation, and implementation of a significant number of projects, building teams and alliances,corporate infrastructure and processes, and continuous improvement. Currently Veneta serves as Chair of the Audit Committee of Tokuda Bank AD and member of the boards of directors of the CFA Society Bulgaria and TSA.  She is a consultant in the areas of scaling up, succession planning, and corporate finance, and she holds an MBA from Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley.

Emilia Karadotcheva has been TSA’s Board member since its inception in 2012. She has more than 25 years of experience in finance and accounting. Mrs. Karadotcheva was Chief Financial Officer and prior to that Chief Accountant at the Bulgarian – American Enterprise Fund (BAEF), a not-for-profit corporation for the primary purpose of promoting the Bulgarian private sector, providing debt and equity financing to small and medium-sized companies. She set up and managed its finance and accounting department, building and training a strong team of young professionals. Mrs. Karadotcheva has also set up and developed the accounting departments of various BAEF’s subsidiaries, including the Bulgarian – American Credit Bank, which became one of the leading Bulgarian banks. She actively participated in the structuring and initial public offering of four special investment purpose companies, established by the BAEF and investing in real estate and loan receivables. In some of these, she served as a Board member and Chairman of the Audit Committee. Prior to joining BAEF, she worked at the Ministry of Finance and the Bulgarian National Bank. Currently, Mrs. Karadotcheva is a consultant in the field of internal audit, tax, and accounting. Mrs. Karadotcheva holds a Masters's degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of World and National Economy, Sofia.    

Rossen Ivanov is the Managing partner of Black Peak Capital, a co-investment private equity fund focused on investing in high-growth Bulgarian firms. Previously he held the same position at Entrea Capital, and before that he worked at McKinsey & Co. in New Jersey/New York, where he focused on consumer goods as well as industrial and private equity clients. Prior to McKinsey, he worked as an investment associate at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, where he was responsible for structuring debt and equity investments across Eastern Europe. Rossen started his career at Procter & Gamble Balkan Markets in Bucharest. He holds an MBA degree from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics from the American University in Bulgaria.  

Viktoriya Blazheva is First Vice President in UniCredit Bulbank. She is Director of Identity and Communications, and the Diversity Manager of the bank. Viktoriya is a member of the board of directors of Trust for Social Achievement and a member of the board of Harvard Club of Bulgaria. She is Head of the Workgroup for Communication Strategy of the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria and a member of the European Association of Communication Directors. She is the founder of The C-Suite Minimalists initiative as part of her MBA dissertation at Warwick Business School, and she is the author of a related blog and podcast, where she shares practical science-backed ideas on innovations in management, entrepreneurship, productivity, and wellbeing. In addition, she lectures in the Bulgarian representation of the London School of PR. Viktoriya has completed the Harvard Business School’s CORe business program and the Stanford University, Stanford Graduate School of Business professional certification program in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. She is analumna of Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Executive Education, SFNO program. She has a BS (Honors) from OU Business School, UK, and she is certified in Social Entrepreneurship from Oxford University and in Executive Coaching from Cambridge University. Currently she is completing a Data Science for Executives professional program at Columbia University, USA.

Iliana Sarafian is a Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has held positions at various internationally focused organisations including the United Nations Development Programme, Open Society Foundation London and the non-government sector in and outside Bulgaria. Iliana’s expertise is in research and policy evaluation, project development and implementation for tackling social inequalities. Iliana holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Anthropology from Goldsmiths College, University of London and a Master’s degree in Gender and Development from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom.