Kamen Slavov, advisor on public and private sector financial instruments and strategies, and Martin Gikov, experienced executive in banking, fund management and development finance, have known each other for years and have been colleagues while working at the “Fund of Funds” organization in Bulgaria and more recently, at the Ministry of Innovation.
Their paths crossed again in April 2024 during the first Advocacy Academy in Bulgaria, led by AUBG, in partnership with BESCO and supported by CIPE. Each of them had found out about the initiative through different channels: Kamen through the Ministry of Innovation and Martin through the network of BESCO.
Fingrow
Following the Advocacy Academy, Martin and Kamen created a joint venture company, “FINGROW”, which aims to help businesses improve for the next level of development. The service provision could vary from company to company and sector to sector, thus their approach is strictly tailor-made to the individual needs of their clients.
“The skills accumulated in the Advocacy Academy helped us to better understand how advocacy works and mainly how NGOs operate to know how best to support them, as well.”
“We already had government and corporate finance experience, but the Advocacy Academy gave us the structured approach towards the NGOs perspective, which is critical for our work.”
“We wanted to continue our professional endeavors by being able to give back to the society,” Martin said.
“We were thinking of how it would be done and the Advocacy Academy helped us to embed this community building idea and focus on projects that could have impact beyond the pure financial gains”
One example of such an initiative is the free advice the new joint venture provides to freshly built start-ups in Bulgaria.
For another project devoted to biodiversity, Kamen emphasized that, “The Advocacy Academy helped us to fine-tune our business model, and there is a self-reinforcing loop between our projects and the Academy, trying to better understand how best to build and manage a sustainable eco-system. During the Academy, we kind of pivoted the initial business model towards venture building and community effort, where the advocacy skills to engage public and private sector, acquired during the Academy, will be critical”.
The new joint venture, however, does not come without its significant risks, including the fact that since their business model is based on cooperation between different stakeholders, it is a risk of itself. “The building of a community is a very complex process,” Kamen said.
“For the moment, we practice total transparency and proper incentivization with the clients, so that they know very well who stands where and what effort is invested in the entire project, what the budget is, etc.”
As a mitigation measure, both partners have decided to keep flexibility from the beginning and to carefully select clients and stakeholders in order to build the widest possible eco-system, based on trust, shared values and vision.
Giving back
Another way to give back for Martin would be by joining the ’Teen-Innovator” initiative in some role as part of the development of innovators in Bulgaria. “In my opinion there will be a need for applying advocacy aiming to change some of the educational curriculum to facilitate teaching of entrepreneurship from very young age, empowering students from different background and age.”
Thus, as active participants in the program, both Martin and Kamen have drawn their own positive experience, as well as provided constructive recommendations for future program editions. For both participants, the most valuable aspect of the program was that it provided a systematic approach of how to deal with advocacy and more structure in the process. They highlighted the specific emphasis on some of the academic modules (e.g. the module on the Business case of advocacy, as led by BESCO). In their words, the network opportunities and meeting so many like-minded people from different organizations and backgrounds, who yet shared similar values and purposes, were also crucial.
The Advocacy Academy
All of this enriched their overall experience and knowledge on how to be more successful in the future in the field of advocacy. Martin found the group assignment on the purpose and need of a lobbying regulation in Bulgaria particularly exciting, including the open discussions with the professors and reflections of the other participants. Kamen, on the other hand, put emphasis on the group works and simulations organized during the various academic modules, when he had the chance to peak into the NGO world from a completely different perspective than what he already knew (government and business).
Some of the recommendations for improvement they shared included the addition of new modules to the program and expanding its outreach to more subjects. Focusing on the end game and the mentality of the competitors and the various stakeholders was another of their recommendations.
To be effective, one has to understand the way of thinking of the different groups.
While the NGO perspective was well grasped by Kamen, he believes that further emphasis could be put on the Advocacy Academy program regarding the corporate and government institutions and the way they operate.
The direct benefits of the networking opportunities during the Advocacy Academy according to Kamen are:
- network expansion
- knowledge exchange and expertise during the implementation
- trust building with the people during group assignment and retreat interactions
On the question about the positive contribution of the Advocacy Academy program to the overall improvement of democratic process in Bulgaria, Kamen shared that this initiative could be an impactful starting point.
“Alone the Advocacy Academy cannot do much more than what it has already done, but it is a building block.”
“If there is something like this in every big city, and in Sofia there is a hub, which coordinates everything, then there could be a critical mass of people able to make a real change. In several years, the outreach should expand beyond Sofia, and the focus should be put on social inclusion, independently of individual’s political affiliation and/or belonging.”
Martin underlined that “Everyday advocacy is critical, and one can do it when he is a bit more aware and the entire society will gain from it.“
Kamen Slavov and Martin Gikov concluded the conversation with two brief wishes for the future Advocacy Academy cohorts, providing some food for thought. Kamen said: “Do not look the other way!” Martin, in turn, affirmed, “Never miss the opportunity to choose a cause and fight for it.“
