TEDxYouth@ACSofia

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Aleksandra Stoycheva

  Student

  I’m Aleksandra, a two-time TEDx speaker. I firmly believe that life is the target and we have infinite arrows to shoot at it. Whether we hit the bullseye or fail miserably is up to the odds, but during my courses at Harvard and in the West End I learned that second chances are not rare phenomena, they are an integral part of human life. So, here I am, back in front of the audience. Will you give me a second chance to prove I’m right?

• Bistra Ivanova

  Social Entrepreneur

  Bistra Ivanova is a migration expert, social entrepreneur, and cultural manager. She is the co-founder and chair of Multi Kulti Collective—one of the leading organizations in Bulgaria working in the fields of migration, integration, and combating hate speech. Since 2015, she has been the national coordinator of the official EU integration portal. As a consultant, she works with the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the United Nations. She is also a co-founder of the art project *The Sofianer*. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including Volunteer of the Year, “40 under 40,” and JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Bulgaria, and is part of the global JCI Top 30. She is currently a UNESCO Global Fellow.

• Diyana Koprinkova

  Student

  My name is Diyana Koprinkova. I am 16 years old and in 10th grade at ACS. As a teenager, I am passionate about creating a unified environment where young people can share their ideas, interests and find more about themselves. My work focuses on motivating teens to speak up, and I want to share why this matters now more than ever.

• Flora Stratieva

  Journalist

  Flora Stratieva is a Bulgarian influencer with over 122,000 YouTube subscribers and 260,000 TikTok followers, as well as a television presenter with her own segment, “More with Flora,” on the morning show of the Bulgarian National Television. She gained wider recognition among Bulgarian audiences through her YouTube series “A Day with Each Party,” in which she follows one day of the election campaigns of political parties in Bulgaria and interviews some of the country’s most recognizable political leaders.

• Mihail Angelov

  Student

  I’m Mihail, and I care. A lot. I care about law, politics, justice, and the society we live in. I’ve always been drawn to how individual choices shape our world, and I love exploring these ideas through theatre, film, and music.

• MONA Simona Petrova

  Singer & Songwriter

  MONA is the voice behind the official soundtrack of the film *Avatar: The Way of Water* and the international hit video game *Mortal Kombat*—some of her most notable achievements to date. She stands out on the Balkan music scene with her authentic folk vocal style, deeply connected to Bulgarian cultural heritage. MONA writes her own music and lyrics, blending contemporary sound with folkloric elements, which she describes as “Gen Z Folklore.”

• Polina Trifonova

  Student

  Hi, I’m Polly. I am a 12th grader at ACS, currently studying in the Humanities profile and preparing for a career in international relations and politics. In my free time, I like to participate in different volunteering projects, and I have learned incredible lessons from them.

• Stefan Vladimirov

  Designer

  Stefan is a designer with over 15 years of experience in building visual identities for companies in Europe and beyond. His projects include the branding of Payhawk and the organization Able Mentor. Driven by a deep conviction that aesthetics are a language of values and trust, he explores the visual identities of governments and institutions and what they reveal about a society’s self-perception.

• Svetoslav Ivanov

  Journalist

  Svetoslav Ivanov is the host of “120 Minutes” on bTV and a co-founder of the Outloud Foundation. He inspires young people to develop critical thinking and recognize disinformation, while also demonstrating how journalism can be a profession rooted in responsibility and empathy.

• Vasil Pandev

  Student

  Vasil is deeply interested in the forces shaping our self-perception, particularly in the growing intensity of people’s desire to be acknowledged by others. In his TED talk, he will explore how recognition in the 21st century is not a luxury, but a pivotal human need for one’s existence and identity. Drawing on his curiosity in social sciences, and his personal experiences with competition, performance and discipline through sports, Vasil will look at a universal social phenomenon and challenge the audience to reshape their understanding of acknowledgement.