Ralitza is a Corporate Governance Officer with the IFC Corporate Governance Group based in Washington, DC. She works with regulators, partner institutions and private sector companies to improve corporate governance practices in Europe and Central Asia, Africa, the Middle East and East Asia. With IFC’s global programs, she works with partners to develop knowledge and assessment tools in the areas of codes, standards, transparency and disclosure and sustainability.

Ralitza is leading the Practice Group on Corporate Governance Codes, Standards, Disclosure and Transparency, and integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations into IFC advisory and investment processes. She is one of the principle authors of the Corporate Governance Scorecards Toolkit, and leading development and implementation of IFC Disclosure and Transparency Toolkit. Ralitza has been supporting the development of more than 15 corporate governance codes and scorecards around the world (Nigeria, Bulgaria, Serbia, Brazil, Kenya, Palestine, Jordan, etc.). Ralitza has been leading the development of knowledge and training materials on Corporate Governance Codes and Scorecards, capacity building of director training institutions, and bank governance. Publications: From Companies to Markets – Global Developments in Corporate Governance, Challenges in Group Governance: The Governance of Cross-Border Bank Subsidiaries, A Guide to Corporate Governance Practices in the European Union.

Ralitza began working with IFC in 2008.  Initially, she was based in the IFC office in Sofia working on the development and implementation of the Bulgarian CG Code and Scorecard and covering the Global Corporate Governance Forum programs in ECA and MENA. Prior to joining IFC, Ralitza worked for the United Nations Development Program in Bulgaria as a Coordinator of the UN Global Compact Network for private sector. Responsibilities included introducing Corporate Social Responsibility concepts and implementation plans with the government of Bulgaria.  She also worked with the Bulgarian Foreign Investment Agency to promote foreign investments and work closely with the EU Commission to draft legislation.

Ralitza holds a Master’s degree in Corporate Governance from HANKEN School of Economics in Helsinki, Finland and Masters in Law and Economics from the University of National and World Economy in Bulgaria.