Iva Taralezhkova

Iva Taralezhkova was among the founders of the Association “Devetaki Plateau” and served as its Board Chair for over 18 years. The association brings together communities from nine villages in three Bulgarian municipalities: Letnitsa, Lovech, and Sevlievo, and has become a strong example of community-led and inter-municipal cooperation for SMART rural development, cultural and natural heritage preservation, and sustainable tourism.

Iva was also Chair of the Board of the Citizen Participation Forum, a network of more than 100 Bulgarian NGOs working to strengthen civic participation and dialogue with government at local and national levels. She is an expert in civic participation, public consultations, stakeholder engagement, and moderation, having facilitated more than 45 public forums across Bulgaria and abroad.

From 2015 till 2021, she was a member of the Executive Committee of DCSF and participated in the Council of Europe working group that developed the Guidelines for Civil Participation in Political Decision-Making. From 2017 to 2021, Iva Taralezhkova served as Chair of the Public Council to the Parliamentary Committee on Interaction with NGOs and Citizens' Complaints at the Bulgarian Parliament.

She is a LEADER expert and an experienced trainer of NGOs and local authorities on community mobilization, partnership-building, public forums, and consultation processes.