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- 07/11/2025 11:58
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On November 5, the annual AUBG Civic Society Forum held its eighth edition on campus in ABF. This year, over 20 organizations took part and showcased their work.
The Forum began as an idea from a former professor, Diane Rubino, under the name “NGO Fair.” Now, the Career Center continues organizing it.
The event aims to introduce the civil society sector to AUBG students. It promotes internships, jobs, and volunteering opportunities. Each organization brought their own cause, beliefs, and mission, resulting in a powerful event with a great atmosphere.
Venecia Abuhantash, a first-year student, said: “It is very interesting – a lot of people, new faces, a lot of information.” She expressed her interest in volunteering and applying for internships, offered by many of the present organizations.
AUBG welcomed the largest volunteering platform in Bulgaria – Time Heroes Foundation. Nikola Kolev, Project Manager of Time Heroes, described their platform as a “social media for volunteering.” Its goal is to link causes that require volunteer support with people interested in contributing to them.
Kolev shared that the motivation that brought Time Heroes to the Civic Society Forum was to popularize volunteering and inspire students to organize volunteering initiatives themselves.
Other organizations shared the same idea. One of them is the US Ambassador’s Youth Council (USYC), which has its chapter in the university.
Elitsa Yakimova, a second-year student and president of the USYC club at AUBG, said: “We are here today to showcase our club and our initiatives, talk to people, and build a network with other NGOs and organizations.”
USYC itself is an 11-year-old organization, which manages events in diverse areas like entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and sports.
“Now we are taking the mission further in AUBG,” she added.
However, students like the junior Lachezar Hristov, expressed that they are looking for more than just an interesting organization; they want real internship opportunities.
The Bulgarian Entrepreneurial Association (BESCO) was one of the organizations providing such opportunities. Iva Samareva, part of BESCO, shared about the organization: “We are trying to fight for advocacy change in Bulgaria. Meanwhile, we are also doing community development for all people who are doing business,” she added.
At the Civic Society Forum, BESCO offered an internship position for community development.
Another significant element from the Forum was the Keynote speaker – AUBG alum Ashod Derandonyan. He is the only deaf person who has graduated from AUBG, and he wants to change that.
“I want to make sure that more people will understand that deaf people are here, that deaf people need to be supported,” said the speaker.
Derandonyan is part of Deaf.BG – an organization that works closely with the Bulgarian government to integrate the Bulgarian Sign Language in everyday life services.
He is an example that doing good can become a full-time job, and a cause can become a career.
The Civic Society Forum once again bridged the gap between students and civic engagement.
Special thanks go to Sabina Wien, Dean of Students, and Rumyana Hristova, Senior Coordinator in the Career Center, for sharing valuable insights about the Forum.
Edited by: Spasiela Gizdova & Toma Krumov