AUBG Awards First Rising Impactors Scholar
Aneta Gerginova from Sofia is the first winner of the Rising Impactors Scholarship – a joint initiative of AUBG and the Bulgarian business that supports future university students who carry out positive change for their communities and the world. Gerginova competed against 12 high school students from across Bulgaria and won thanks to her project that helps people tackle stress in life and work.
Gerginova competed against 12 high school students from across Bulgaria and won thanks to her project that helps people tackle stress in life and work. “Winning the Rising Impactors Scholarship is a dream come true,” Gerginova said. “Thanks to the scholarship I can focus on my studies at AUBG and continue working on my project. Thus, I hope I would create diverse and useful projects in the future.”
What helped Gerginova win was the fact that she has already put her idea into practice and demonstrated that the project has a sustainable positive impact on society. “My stress is my change” is a series of weekly lectures where experts from various fields share their experience with stress and offer tips on overcoming it.
Among the other projects presented at AUBG’s Elieff Center in Sofia were ones that support people with disabilities, seniors and children from disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as ones that work on the integration of minorities, advance recycling practices or help preserve Bulgaria’s folklore heritage. The high school students also presented initiatives that deal with information literacy, personal development, digital entrepreneurship and sports.
Launched in 2018, the Rising Impactors Scholarship aims to support the future ethical leaders of Bulgaria. Pioneer in supporting the scholarship was Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev (2012 - 2017) who donated BGN 10,000. First Investment Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, ConturGlobal, Telus International, PSG 98 EOOD and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, as well as a number of AUBG alumni, faculty and staff members, also contributed to the social impact initiative. “Each one of us could reach out and support the young people of Bulgaria,” Plevneliev said during the launching event for the scholarship. “And the young people will return the favor by creating the Bulgaria that we would all want to live in: a Bulgaria that is democratic, successful, humane, and open to the world.”