As ECAS‘ Programme Director for Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Desislava manages the ECAS Branch in CEE and its activities and projects in the region aimed at tackling democratic deficiencies, such as the spread of disinformation and populist narratives, backsliding of the rule of law and narrowing of civic space. Desislava leads the work on promoting EU values, rights and freedoms in CEE through awareness raising and capacity building of civil society organisations and fostering the formation of cross-sector alliances to tackle disinformation.  Before joining ECAS, Desislava Ivanova worked in the UNHCR, the UN Agency for Refugees and in the Permanent Representation of Bulgaria to the EU in Brussels, Belgium. She has experience in legal research and policy analysis, inter-institutional negotiations, strategic advocacy, building lasting relationships with stakeholders at the EU and the national level, planning and roll-out of communication campaigns, and multi-stakeholder coordination in an operational context.  Desislava holds a Master’s Degree in Law from Sofia University, and a European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation from the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation (EIUC) and Ca’ Foscary University – Venice, Italy.