Ilina Mangova has extensive experience in good governance, government and political parties management, anti-corruption and public opinion research. Mangova has served as Europe Regional Adviser, Program Director and Deputy Program Director for the International Republican Institute (IRI) Europe and North Macedonia office. She has worked closely with political leaders in North Macedonia, consulted Prime Ministers, Presidents, party leaders and trained government ministers on how to govern more effectively and democratically.

As Program Director Mangova re-launched IRI’s office in Macedonia in 2014 with public opinion research and later started an impactful program which supported numerous democratic reforms in the executive branch and through legislation. Through her leadership, IRI has helped Macedonian government institutions boost transparency, effectiveness, anti-corruption, citizen-responsiveness, ethical conduct, etc. Mangova has helped political parties and leaders to see the big picture and start addressing policies systematically, develop strategies, prepare to govern, standardize internal processes, develop evidence-based approach in policy making and undertake various steps to improve their credibility.

Mangova has spoken at conferences and trained in the European Parliament, USA, Sweden, North Macedonia, Estonia, Serbia, Croatia, Lithuania, Kosovo, etc.  She has appeared in media to speak and has published articles, op-eds and papers in the country and abroad.

For a few years she was engaged in Macedonian civil society working on anticorruption, transparency, electoral reform, political participation at national and local level. She is co-editor of the book “Life for Tomorrow – Social Transformations in South-East Europe”. She has also been a coordinator for North Macedonia ‘Varieties of Democracy’, while in in 2015, 2018 and 2020 she taught various courses at the Skopje based Institute for Communications Studies. As a recipient of the ‘Diversity Fellowship’ award by the British Embassy in 2014 she conducted a visiting fellowship at the think tank Policy Network in London, United Kingdom.

Mangova holds masters in Comparative Politics – Democracy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in London, United Kingdom for which she was awarded a Chevening Scholarship by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. She completed undergraduate studies in political studies at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje.