Staff

LOCAL STAFF

Country Director
Gursel Aliyev

Gursel received his MA in Economics from Northeastern University (Boston, USA – Muskie Alumnus) and Bachelor's degree in International Economic Relations (graduated with honors) from Azerbaijan State Economic University. He has extensive development experience at different international organizations including the World Bank and UNICEF. He also teaches Business Statistics, Microeconomics and Math for Economists at the School of Economics and Management at Khazar University. His major fields of interest are Econometric Analysis, Microeconomics and Labor Economics.

E-mail: gursel@crrccenters.org

Program Manager
Yuliya Aliyeva

Yuliya Aliyeva received MA in Gender Studies from Central European University (Budapest) and BA in International Relations from Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Prior to joining CRRC, she worked for International Rescue Committee where she served as a Project Manager from 2005 to 2007.

Yuliya has been participating in various research projects mainly related to gender studies since 2003. She was a fellow of the Heinrich Boell Foundation (2006) and conducted a research on Gender Education in Azerbaijan.

Yuliya has also been a senior lecturer in Gender Studies and Social Work at Baku State University since 2008.

E-mail: yulia@crrccenters.org

Program Associate
Aytan Mammadova

Aytan holds MBA from Khazar University. In 2008-2009, she studied Business Administration at A.T.E.I in Thessaloniki, Greece as a beneficiary of Erasmus Mundus Cooperation Window Lot 5 project and was awarded of being the Best of the Best Erasmus Mundus Master student for that academic year. While taking an internship in Thessaloniki, Aytan involved in various projects funded by EU, implemented in countries of South-East Europe.

Her experience also includes working in oil industry and educational institution.

E-mail: aytan.mammadova@crrccenters.org

Library/Information Specialist
Lyudmila Sotova

Lyudmila Sotova received BS degree in Library Science from Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts (Ukraine). She began her professional career as a librarian at the Electronic Information Services of Khazar University and she has been the Deputy Director of the Library Information Center at the same university since 2008.

Her experience includes reference and electronic library services, strategic planning and service analysis as well as staff management. She has been involved in a number of university projects and participated in Erasmus Mundus academic staff mobility program (Greece) in 2009.

E-mail: lyudmila.sotova@crrccenters.org

IT Manager
Emin Rustamov

Emin Rustamov graduated from Baku State University in 2000 in the faculty of Applied Mathematics and Cybernetics.  He has over 10 years of experience in the IT field and has most recently spent the past 5 years working for the Agency for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Areas as an IT manager, where his duties included design, implementation, installation, configuration of Windows 2003 Network Environment.

E-mail: emin@crrc.az

Office Manager
Saadat Mamedova

Saadat Mamedova holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Language Philology. She graduated from the Azerbaijan State Languages University in 1999. Prior to joining CRRC in 2003, Saadat Mamedova worked as an Office Manager for Land Lakes, Inc.

E-mail: saadat@crrc.az

REGIONAL STAFF

Regional Director
Hans Gutbrod

Hans Gutbrod holds a Ph.D. and a B.Sc. in International Relations from the London School of Economics. Originally from Germany, he is the author of a Handbook for Professional Communication, which has been published in Georgia, Mongolia, Bulgaria and is currently being translated in other countries. His primary research interests are notions of judgment/evaluation across various disciplines, and within a transition context.

Prior to joining CRRC in 2006, Hans worked in the Caucasus region for several years. He has taught at Tbilisi State University and trained lecturers and higher education staff on methods. His experience includes helping to set up a Liberal Arts college in Berlin, working as a Long Term Election observer for OSCE, as well as teaching and training in various other institutions and organizations.

E-mail: hans@crrccenters.org

Regional Coordinator
Aaron Erlich

Aaron Erlich holds a B.A. in government from Dartmouth College and a M.A in European Studies and International Affairs from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. Prior to joining CRRC, Aaron worked as a consultant and research assistant for the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. His current research interests revolve around questions of migration and citizenship policy in the NIS region.

From 2002-2004 Mr. Erlich conducted business trainings and taught English in Moscow and Bratislava. He has also spent significant time studying and working in Latin America.

E-mail: aaron@crrc.ge

Regional Research and Outreach Associate
Nana Papiashvili

Nana Papiashvili holds an MA. in International Relations and European Studies from Central European University (CEU), Hungary and a B.A. in Humanities from Tbilisi State University of Economic Relations. In 2003-2004, through a Freedom Support Act (FSA) exchange program, Nana studied International Relations at Wilson College in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Nana has also attended summer sessions at American University in Washington, D.C. in 2003 and passed courses in professional development at Bologna University in the summer of 2004.

Before joining CRRC, Nana worked on a variety of research project relating to external migration, ethnic conflicts and the autonomous regions of Georgia. During her studies, Nana served as an intern at National Democratic Institute of International Affairs (NDI) (Tbilisi Office), the Parliament of Georgia and the Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce. Her research interests include Georgian ethnic conflicts and European integration.

E-mail: nana@crrccenters.org

Regional Research Associate
Arpine Porsughyan

Arpine Porsughyan holds M.A. in Social Sciences form Tbilisi State University, Center for Social Sciences and diploma in Social Work and Social Policy from Yerevan State University. In 2008 she undertook a two-month internship at a Melbourne based consulting Verso. Arpine has also spent a year in the US as an exchange student under FSA/FLEX program in 1999-2000.

Prior to joining CRRC, Arpine has worked with Save the Children, Armenia, Public Healthcare Reform Program and Gyumri State Pedagogical Institute. She is a board member of Armenia based NGO "Ajakits". Arpine's research interests include asset based community development and social capital in rural communities.

E-mail: arpine@crrccenters.org

Data Initiative Project Coordinator
Tinatin Zurabishvili

Dr. Tinatin Zurabishvili is the Project Coordinator for the CRRC Data Initiative. Since 1999, she has taught B.A. and M.A. courses in sociology, focusing on research methods, at Telavi State University and Tbilisi State University Center for Social Sciences, where she was a Civic Education Project (CEP) Local Faculty Fellow (2001-2003) and Academic Fellowship Program Returning Scholar (2005-2006). In the spring semesters between 2004 and 2007 she was an OSI Faculty Development Fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles in the Department of Sociology. Her academic publications focus on social research methods, sociology of transition and sociology of the media.

Prior to teaching in Georgia, between1999 and 2001 Dr. Zurabishvili served as junior researcher for Yale University's project, Poverty, Ethnicity and Gender in Eastern Europe during the Market Transition. Dr. Zurabishvili also worked for five years as a sociologist at the Russian Center for Public Opinion and Market Research (now the Levada Center), where she worked on the Russian Public Opinion Monitor. Dr. Zurabishvili holds her Ph.D. in the sociology of journalism from Moscow M. Lomonosov State University (1999).

E-mail: tina@crrc.ge

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