Birthday: August 13, 1953
Who Is Kristalina Georgieva?
She is a well-known economist from Bulgaria. She serves as the International Monetary Fund’s current chair and managing director, a post that she assumed in 2019.
However, before joining the IMF, she also served as the Chief Executive Officer of World Bank Group, doing so from early 2017 to late 2019.
She was also the temporary president of the World Bank Group from January to April 2019, after Jim Yong Kim resigned. In addition, between 2014 and 2016, she also served as the European Commission‘s Vice President under President Jean-Claude Junker.
She is a fluent speaker of Bulgarian, English, Russian and can speak a little French.
Five Facts About Kristalina Georgieva
- She served various positions in the World Bank Group between 1993 and 2010.
- She was a nominee of the Government of Bulgaria for the post of United Nations Secretary-General on September 27, 2016. She was ranked 8th out of 10 candidates for the position.
- She became the first CEO of the World Bank starting on January 2, 2017.
- Kristalina is the first person from an emerging country to hold the position of Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.
- She has also authored and co-authored more than 100 publications on economic and environmental policies, including textbooks on both macro and micro-economics.
Best Kristalina Georgieva Quotes
“If women have equal opportunities to reach their full potential, the world would not only be fairer, it would be more prosperous as well.”
“The best way to deal with humanitarian crises is not to have them in the first place. We must build resilience for individuals, communities, and countries.”
“We can only stop fraud and corruption if we work together, and civil society has a critical role in holding to account governments and institutions like IMF.”
Kristalina Georgieva Biography
Early Life
Kristalina Georgieva was born in a Bulgarian town called Sofia. There, her father worked for the government as a civil engineer responsible for supervising the construction of roads in the country. Her grandfather, Ivan Karshovski, was a famous teacher and revolutionary.
Education
Kristalina Georgieva holds PhD in Economic Science and an MA in Political and Sociology, both awarded by the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria.
She also worked as an associate professor in the same university between 1977 and 1993. During this period, she visited the London School of Economics and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
She also did postgraduate research on natural resource economics and environmental policy. In addition, she also held several lectures in the US and all over the world about development.
Marriage and Personal Life
Georgieva is married and has one child with her husband. Her hobbies include traveling, guitar playing, dancing, and cooking exotic dishes.
Work
In 1993, Kristalina Georgieva worked for the World Bank as an Economic Environmentalist in Europe and Central Asia. She also held various in the bank before becoming the director of the Environmental Department.
This department’s role was the bank’s environmental policies and lending. She oversaw 60% of the banks’ lending while serving in this role. She eventually became the Vice President and Corporate Secretary of the bank, which was a position that enabled her to become the World Bank’s acting president.
On February 9, 2010, Kristalina was confirmed for the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management position. In this post, she managed one of the world’s most significant humanitarian aid budgets supported by the EU.
Immediately she took responsibility for the Humanitarian crises following the 2010 Haiti Earthquake, including another earthquake in Chile and floods in Pakistan. She also took part in the mitigation of various disasters around the world during her tenure.
In 2014, she became the Vice President of the Europen Commission for Budget and Human Resources. In this role, she was in charge of 33,000 employees. She was also in charge of reporting how the European Union’s budget is spent.
She started her term as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund on October 1, 2019. Her tenure will last for five years.
She is also serving in many other institutions and non-profit organizations. She is a member of the European Investment Bank Appointment Advisory Committee.
She also works with several non-profit organizations, including World Economic Forum, Paris Peace Forum, European Council on Foreign Relations, Global Commission Adaptation, and Women Political Leaders Global Forum.
Legacy and Honors
Georgieva was included in the Times Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2020. In addition, in recognition of her excellent and distinctive contributions in her public service career, she received the Atlantic Council’s Distinguished International Leadership Award in October 2020.
In 2010, she was named the European of the year and the European Commissioner of the year for her work. This was for her handling of the Humanitarian disasters in Haiti and Pakistan.
