My name is Angel Kelchev and I was born in Bulgaria in 1982. My family and I moved to the United States in May 2001. I earned a AAS Degree in Business Administration at Bellevue College and was honored to be selected to give the commencement speech in front of the 2004 graduating class.

I was later accepted at Stanford University where I transfered as a junior in September 2004, majoring in Economics. While at Stanford, I completed internships at Morgan Stanley and also worked part time at Stanford Student Enterprises. I was also able to take classes at the Harvard Business School, London School of Economics (U.K.) and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium). I graduated with a BA Degree in Economics from Stanford University in June 2006. In August 2009 I commenced my graduate studies as an MPA student at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (HKS), focusing on social entrepreneurship and assessing the impact that public-private partnerships have in emerging markets. I graduated from HKS in 2011 and aspire to further develop my management and entrepreneurial skills through continued studies and working experience in dynamic working environments around the world.

My working experience is divided between corporate finance and education. Upon graduation from Stanford University, I joined the Global Technology M&A Group at Lehman Brothers, where I worked on two high profile transactions in the semiconductor space (CCMP Capital's $1 billion leveraged buyout of BOC Edwards) and in the on-demand web collaboration space (Cisco System's $3.2 billion acquisition of WebEx). In August 2007, I accepted a position as an analyst with a start-up Technology M&A advisory firm based in San Francisco called Union Square Advisors. I spent two years with the company and was mainly focused on strategic transactions in the software, internet, home entertainment and semiconductor sectors. Most recently, I worked at Entrea Capital in Sofia, Bulgaria where I worked on sell-side, buy side and mezzanine debt financing mandates for companies from the FMCG, ICT, agriculture and food sectors.

My experience in education has been fueled by my strong commitment to public service. In 2010, a project proposal that I developed with the help and support of HKS faculty and staff was selected to receive a grant close to $500,000 from USAID as part of the US-Bulgaria Partnership for Information Technology and Innovation. This was the largest education award for a single project in Eastern Europe that year and the generous support of the American people through USAID made possible the establishment of the Pathways Center and Education Entrepreneurship (more), a public-private partnership, aimed at delivering high-quality English language and IT training to Bulgarian youth.

My passion for international service has helped me successfully complete such projects in Bulgaria, India, Kenya, Nepal, the U.S. and Zimbabwe (more). I have also raised more than $1.2 million over the years to finance service initiatives in cooperation with organizations like American Cancer Society, Rotary & Rotaract International and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). My continued work in Bulgaria has earned commendations from three consecutive U.S. Ambassadors to the country and multiple USAID officers. I was invited to join the San Francisco Rotary #2 club, second Rotary International club in the world, where I was officially inducted as the youngest member in the club's history on September 11, 2007.

I am passionate about technology. I aspire to promote access to innovation and spur creativity in Eastern Europe through leveraging capital resources, high quality education, entrepreneurial talent and management know-how, and civic responsibility. My hope is to make a difference to the region's leaders and ensure that they are more technologically savvy, globally aware and culturally respectful. I would also like to work on changing the way people think about and deploy technology in various enterprises by creating strong ties between the private sector and public institutions. I believe that my dual perspective, due to the fact that I have lived, studied and worked in the United States for a decade, will allow me to make a real difference in making technology an integral part of how people do business in Eastern Europe.

As I pursue my driving ambitions going forward, I see myself entering a world that revolves around one of my favorite quotes from George Bernard Shaw: “Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.”

 

Sincerely,

Angel Kelchev