The initiative is a sequel to the successfully established Leadership Academy of The Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria and is organized together with Parliamentary Committee of Education and Science.

Strategic planning, effective communications, mentoring, change management, marketing and brand are part of the lectures, which top managers of Bulgarian and foreign companies are going to lead during the first Leadership Academy for principals. The program started on 13 December 2016 and is organized by The Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria, together with Parliamentary Committee of Education and Science. The first lectures were conducted in the building of The National Assembly. The goal of the initiative is to provide the participants management and leadership knowledge, which will help them manage their institutions. The official guests of the opening of The Leadership Academy were Dimitar Glavchev, Vice Chairman of the 43^rd  National Assembly, Yordanka Fandakova, Mayor of Sofia Municipality, Milena Damianova, Chairwoman of Education and Science Committee, Petar Kanev, Chairman of Economic Policy and Tourism Committee, Galya Zaharieva, Vice Chairwoman of Education and Science Committee, Daniela Saveklieva, Vice Chairwoman of Economic Policy and Tourism Committee, members of Education and Science Committee Snezhana Dukova and Venka Stoyanova, Dr. Eng. Boriana Manolova, Chairwoman of the Executive Board of The Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria and CEO of Siemens Bulgaria, Nadejda Nikolcheva, Chairwoman of The Union of Employers within The System of Public Education in Bulgaria, Hristo Andreev, Head of the Regional Inspectorate of Education – Sofia region and Vanya Kastreva, Head of the Regional Education Inspectorate – Sofia city.

“The school is a community, which will need to “open” more and more, to different partners – local authority, parents, business and that’s why the ability for effective communication, the successful introduction of the activities, strategic planning and change management, are only a small part of the experience, which the business can present to the principals”, said Dimitar Galchev, Vice Chairman of the 43th National Assembly. “We intentionally are looking for a connection between education and business and I am hoping that after the success of this pilot project, we will extend the coverage and we will give the opportunity for even more principals to get involved”, he added.

“I am glad that today we start up another Leadership Academy in Sofia and I want to thank The Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria, that they keep sharing their priceless business experience with the young professionals. I also congratulate Milena Damianova that she never gets tired of fighting for quality education”, turned to the organizers Yordanka Fandakova, Mayor of Sofia Municipality and patron of The Leadership Academy. “For me today is a special delight to be here, because this academy is aimed towards the principals. They are very prepared people, but I also was a young principal myself and I know what challenges they are facing. I am sure that the program will really be of use for their job”, she said.

The speakers in Leadership Academy are known specialists from the field of managing human resources, and also top managers with proven experience in the management of leading Bulgarian and international companies. The program for principals’ qualification is a sequel to the already established Leadership Academy of The Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria, which is held successfully for third consecutive year and is focused on leadership training and soft abilities of women at middle management positions and women-entrepreneurs, evolving and managing their own business.

The focus of this initiative is towards the education and pay attention to the needs of the system in today’s dynamic conditions. “We believe, that the education is one of the most important industries and it must be managed by well-trained managers” – expressed her support Dr. Eng. Boriana Manolova, Chairwoman of the Executive Board of The Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria and CEO of Siemens Bulgaria and continued as she expressed the position of the Council about the contribution of school management in the formation of the community. She also shared, that members of The Council are ready to share their expertise and longtime successful experience of being managers in one of the largest companies in the country.

“One of the main goals of Leadership Academy is to expand the network of director-innovators, who can lead the schools a new way – as a successful company, which leads to added value to all – children, teachers, parents, business and local authority”, said the Chairwoman of Education and Science Committee in the 43th National Assembly Milena Damianova. According to her the program is a chance for principals to gain abilities, which depends only on their initiative, creativity and inspiration of a change, which will make our children more brave, curious and successful, stressed out Damianova.