Our Team
We established the WomanUp Foundation in 2023, driven by the conviction that we can use our knowledge, experience, and skills to actively support women’s rights in Bulgaria. Each of us has encountered gender-based discrimination and has felt the direct consequences of inequality— in our personal lives, in our professional environments, and in our access to fundamental rights and opportunities. It is this shared experience, together with our deep sense of justice and solidarity, that inspires our work and drives our commitment to achieving real, systemic change.
Victoria Kostova
has been working in the fields of culture and human rights for over seven years, with experience in fundraising, advocacy, training, and project coordination. She has collaborated with a wide range of Bulgarian and international organizations, including European Alternatives, BILOURA Collective, New Visions, GARAGE Association – Collective Platform for Independent Artists, Edno Foundation, Fordefestivalen, and others.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski,” a master’s degree in Management of Cultural Organizations and Creative Industries from New Bulgarian University, and a European Diploma in Cultural Project Management from the Marcel Hicter Foundation. Victoria has also completed numerous international trainings in project management, including the Atelier for Young Festival Managers, ISPM, and the Goethe Academy for Cultural Management, among others.
Maya Geneva
is a long-time activist in the field of social justice and a member of the WomanUp Foundation, where she works to empower women through education, advocacy, and social initiatives. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from Paisii Hilendarski University and a master’s degree in Linguistics and Didactics from New Bulgarian University.
With extensive experience as an English teacher and academic mentor, Maya integrates pedagogical approaches with activism to create more accessible and inclusive environments for young girls and women. She has participated in numerous initiatives focused on the social inclusion of vulnerable groups, including work with children of Roma origin, people with eating disorders, and projects dedicated to the protection of women’s rights. Her commitment to social justice is reflected not only in her professional work but also in her active involvement in volunteer projects and training programs aimed at promoting equality and positive social change.
Andrea Peycheva
Andrea has been working in the field of marketing and communications for 10 years in various fields - event marketing in medicine, internal communications for a large international brand, aviation, and has been part of the teams of several marketing agencies. Currently, in addition to being a member of the WomanUp team, Andrea is also developing her own marketing agency - Sky-Copy. She holds a Master's degree in Media and Communications Studies from Stockholm University, Sweden and a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from the University of Essex, England.
Evgenia Evgenieva
Evgenia is the Foundation’s legal consultant. She graduated in Law and holds a postgraduate qualification in “National and European Medical Law”. Evgenia describes herself as an organized and responsible person who works with precision and respect for the individual needs of each person. Evgenia also has experience in the field of clinical trials, health insurance and social assistance and is well-versed in the regulatory framework, as well as ethical and medical standards.
Maria Sharkova
Maria Sharkova is a lawyer with over 15 years of professional experience in the field of medical law. She graduated from Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" with a degree in Law. She holds an educational and scientific degree "PhD" in civil and family law from the Faculty of Law of the University of National and World Economy. In 2015, she was selected as a scholar under the prestigious Fulbright - Hubert Humphrey program and specialized in the field of medical law, public health and health policies at Emory University, USA at the Rollins School of Public Health and School of Law.
She is the author of numerous publications in Bulgarian and international publications. She published the book "Medical Tort" (CIA "Krustyu Tsonchev", 2018), as well as the monograph "Civil Liability of Medical Specialists and Medical Institutions for Harm Caused to Patients". She created the specialized portal lekarska-greshka.bg, which provides access to a rich database of case law and analyses in the field of medical liability. Currently, Maria Sharkova is a managing partner at Sharkova & Partners Law Firm - the first law firm in Bulgaria specializing entirely in the field of medical law.
Biliyana Koteva
Bilyana is a trainer for the projects of the WomanUp Foundation. She works consultatively and therapeutically with people who encounter difficulties in their relationships with their partners, children and loved ones. The main focus of her work is the issues during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum difficulties. She also works with people in the process of life adversity and difficulties related to separation, death, illness. The emphasis in her work is on helping people with difficulties in functioning related to anxiety, obsessions, OCD, panic attacks, psychosomatic symptoms. Bilyana holds a Master's Degree in "Child and Adolescent Psychology" at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" and has completed education in psychotherapeutic formation at the Institute of Psychosomatics and Integrative Psychotherapy, accredited member of the European Association for Integrative Psychotherapy (EAIP). Certified emotional intelligence trainer at the Bulgarian Institute of Social and Emotional Intelligence, BISEI.
Zornitsa Spasova
Zornitsa Spasova is a senior assistant professor at the National Center for Public Health and Analysis (NCPAA) at the Ministry of Health. She holds a PhD in Climatology from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She has been working on the impact of climate change on human health since 2008, having specialized abroad many times. She is the Scientific Secretary of the Bulgarian Society of Medical Geography, Hub Manager of the Climate KIC program for NCPAA and organizer of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change in Bulgaria. With the articles in "Klimateka", she became the winner of the Journalism Award of the European Meteorological Society - EMS Journalistic Award 2023, won second place in the "Economy" category of the Web report 2023 competition, as well as third place in the "Online Media" category of the National Green Journalism Competition "Horse Chestnut" in 2022.
Asen Nenov
Assen Nenov is an ecologist, graduated in biotechnology, worked in computational biology and bioinformatics at the Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering (IBBI) at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He worked in the field of consumer protection at the Active Consumers Association and BEUC. He writes about critical consumption and large-scale ecological catastrophe, and is among the initiators of the first degrowth group in Bulgaria. He has developed educational units for non-formal education for sustainable development for the Ecocentric Foundation, Ecosystem Europe Association and Junior Achievement. He is a co-founder of the Circular Economy Institute (ICE); he is a member of "Anonymous Air Conditioners", "For the Earth" and the "Hrankoop Sofia" Cooperative.