Milena Stoycheva is a Crazy Dreamer and a Fire Starter, a.k.a. CEO of JA Bulgaria and Co-founder of its spin-off company The Edge: R&BD. She is a visionary who disrupts the status-quo in the pursuit of sustainable social, digital & green transformation, and she does so through education. Her mission is equipping young people with an entrepreneurial mindset, creating a start-up culture in different domains and building powerful networks and ecosystems.
She teaches Innovation and Entrepreneurship as a Visiting Lecturer with the EIT Digital Master School. She also has the role of Interim Director of SO Innovation with EIT Culture & Creativity.
Milena is the recipient of the highest individual award for global leadership of JA Worldwide “Soraya Salti” for 2021 in recognition of making societal impact through economic empowerment and also the Women’s Leadership Award of the US Embassy in Bulgaria.
A Board Member of the EU Female Founders, she works actively to advance the role of women entrepreneurs in creating diverse and sustainable innovation ecosystems.
Milena is a Co-founder of the Digital Health and Innovation Cluster and served as its first Chairwoman. She is currently a member of number of expert groups and councils with the EC, OECD on entrepreneurial HEIs (HEInnovate); microcredentials, startup and innovation ecosystems.
She has degrees and specializations from Bulgarian and US universities including, Penn State University, Berkeley and MIT.