Dena Popova is part of the First Foundations Program at TSA. Her work is mainly focused on participatory research practices, narrative research, and empowerment evaluation approaches within organizations and communities of practice. Dena is applying her interests and expertise within the EU funded project ROMOMATTER, led by the University of Seville, where TSA is responsible for research and empowerment evaluation activities.
Prior to joining the Trust, Dena worked for the International Organization for Migration, Animus Association Foundation, and the BEST Foundation as a research officer and project coordinator on issues of migration, labour exploitation, human trafficking, citizenship education, and public speaking.
Dena holds a bacherlor’s degree in Rhetoric, Film Studies, and Politics from Whitman College, WA, USA. She also graduated with M.Sc. in Political Science at Pompeu Fabra University, Spain, where she acquired sound in-depth knowledge on issues of multiculturalism, federalism and diversity. During her studies, Dena was an Abshire grant fellow researching Traditional birth practices in the Highlands of Ecuador, as well as Labor Trajectories for Latino Farmworkers in Washington State; Collectivism and Postmemory in Argentina, and Multilingualism across Europe.