The competition “Best Business Plan of NGO” is held for the eighth consecutive year, as a part of our Program “Entrepreneurship for Non-Profit Organizations” 2018/2019.

The 12 finalists this year will present their ideas for an entrepreneurship with a cause to a six-member jury, which includes representatives of program partners, business leaders and potential investors. At the moment, the jury is getting acquainted with the business plans of the organizations, and on February 15 they will meet with the organizations to choose the best ideas for a business with a mission among them. The winners in the competition will share the prize fund of 40,000 leva and will receive additional support and mentoring from experts in different business areas during the first months of developing their ideas.

Here are the members of the jury in the competition this year:

Viktoria Blazheva (Unicredit Bulbank)

Viktoria Blazeva is the first vice-president of UniCredit Bulbank. She is Communications Director, as well as the Diversity Manager of the bank. Victoria is a member of the Board of Directors of the Social Alternative Trust; she is managing the working group on communication strategy of the Council of women in the business in Bulgaria; member of the communication working group of the Association of the Banks in Bulgaria; member of the European Association of Communication Directors and of Harvard Club of Bulgaria. She is a founder of the initiative The C-Suite Minimalists as a part of her MBA Dissertation in Warwick Business School. She is an author of articles for Capital, Manager, 24 hours newspaper, blogs and others. She has graduated the business program CORe of HBX Harvard Business School; the “Innovations and Entrepreneurship” professional program of the Stanford Graduate School of Business; the program for senior managers in Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government for strategic management of non-profit organizations. She has graduated the OU Business School, Great Britain and has a diploma from the London School of PR, where she is teaching, etc. Her interests are in the fields of entrepreneurship, innovations, education with a focus on increasing financial culture.

Georgi Breskovski (Microfund Joint-stock company)

Georgi Breskovski is an Executive Director of “Microfund” – the first non-profit organization in Bulgaria working in the field of micro funding that has transformed into a trade company for financing micro and small enterprises. The mission of  the“Microfund” trade company is to ensure business credits for micro-entrepreneurs, to fund the needs of families with a low income and to maintain good financial results in order to serve customers in the long run.

Diana Trifonova, „America for Bulgaria“ Foundation

Diana Trifonova is a Program Expert, Civil Society and Democratic Institutions at the „America for Bulgaria“ Foundation. She joined the Foundation in September 2015. Before that she has worked on projects in the field of civil society and media, as well as in cultural organizations in Bulgaria. She has participated as a volunteer in various student initiatives and is engaged in social and media research. Diana has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication at Sofia University and she graduated from the „E-Europe“ Master's program at the same university. During her education she participated actively in a series of exchanges and trainings in Belgium, Germany, South Korea and Bulgaria.

Dimitar Kolev (Accenture Bulgaria)

Dimitar Kolev is a software specialist with a long-year experience in the development and integration of software applications and systems. He has worked for various international companies by running projects in America, Canada, England, Germany, Japan and many other countries. He has an engineering degree. In 2001 he was awarded a PhD in Electronics and Information Technologies. At present, Dimitar Kolev is a manager at Accenture Bulgaria and manages the implementation of the company`s projects.