As a Senior Research Associate at Clark University I am currently involved in a research program about the impacts of the Global reporting Initiative (GRI) on the business community. I combine this research with my work as an independent CSR consultant.
I bring with me a unique set of skills and knowledge of the CSR field combined with more than ten years experience in development and implementation of socially and environmentally responsible business concepts and tools in various other business sectors, including the banking sector and SME sector. With this comes over fifteen years of knowledge and practice in environment and sustainable development on five continents.
My experience in the areas of socially and environmentally responsible business has particular focus of non-financial reporting, strategic planning and risk management and their application within the SME sector and in emerging economies: I am currently assisting Triodos Bank, the Netherlands, in introducing the corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept and the triple bottom line reporting process to six micro-financing institutions and their SME clients in Africa, Latin America and Asia. The project is now expanding into its second phase to include four new banks (from India, Peru, Mongolia, and Kenya). In 1994, jointly with SME experts, I developed the first SME handbook on sustainability reporting — “High 5!??? It offers practical guidance to SMEs in industrialized and developing countries on why and how to build sustainable business strategies through improvement of their communications and relationships with stakeholders. The handbook is translated in Spanish. It was successfully tested by six micro-financing banks as a part of the Triodos project, and it is currently used by hundreds of small and medium enterprises in Europe and Latin America.
During the last five years, in my role as Director Stakeholder Engagement at the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and liaison between the GRI Secretariat and the World Bank Group, I worked with the WB Environmental Department on development of joint programs for introducing the CSR and sustainability reporting concept to the local business communities and the civil society in Russia, the NIS, Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in Africa, South and North America.
I am familiar with and have extensive experience in US AID and EU funded program development and management: Prior to my involvement in the GRI, I worked for three years as a consultant for Aid to Artisans (ATA), an international economic development NGO, leader in craft microentreprise development and marketing. I implemented site visits in Bulgaria and in Macedonia for identification of craft enterprises, selection of products for US and EU markets, development of a “Crafts Guide???, and delivery of training to local networks of craft enterprises. As a Project Manager for the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC), I was responsible for the overall management and coordination of US EPA/US AID funded projects in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia and was involved in development of training, lectures, discussions, and orientation programs with the U.S. EPA, and national ministries, regional and local government, businesses, NGOs and universities.
My husband and I are both involved in international development work. We split our time between our small environmentally friendly house in Vermont, USA and our studio in Verney Voltaire, France (just a few minutes from the Swiss border and Geneva). I keep strong connections with my native country Bulgaria where I have a large network of contacts within the NGO and business communities. I visit regularly my home in Sofia from where I work with my Bulgatian clients. My time in Europe (Geneva, Amsterdam, Sofia) and in the USA (Vermont) allow for a diverse base of clients in both continents and worldwide.
