Zhuldyz Smagulova confirmed as the next Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan

Zhuldyz Smagulova was confirmed as the new Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of Soros-Kazakhstan Foundation starting June 1, 2018.

Zhuldyz Smagulova, PhD, Candidate of Philological Sciences is the Executive Director of the KIMEP University Language Center, the author of more than 20 articles and publications published internationally and in Kazakhstan. Since 2017, she has been a member of the Board of Trustees of Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan.

As the Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees, Zhuldyz Smagulova will replace Nargis Kassenova, who has held this position since 2011. Over the years, the Board of Trustees has initiated new program lines within the Foundation, such as “Public Policy”, “Open Economy”, “Society for All” initiatives; the “New Civil Initiatives” program, and others.

“It was a great honor for me and for the entire team of our Foundation to work under the leadership of Nargis Kassenova. Nargis has made a great personal contribution to the development of our Foundation, and I am sincerely grateful to her for her support and wise leadership over these years, – said Anton Artemyev, Chairman of Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan. – Congratulations to Zhuldyz Smagulova on her appointment as the Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of our Foundation and I am very pleased to have this opportunity to work with her on implementation of our strategy”.

Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan is one of the largest independent Kazakh foundations that promote the development of an open democratic society, following transparency, accountability and justice principles. Since the very beginning of its activities in Kazakhstan in 1995, SFK has allocated more than $80 million in grant funds to support and strengthen the human rights community in Kazakhstan, to build professional capacity of journalists and the media, to increase transparency and accountability of public finances, support education, culture and art, and other initiatives.

Currently, the Board of Trustee of Soros Foundation-Kazakhstan includes Zhuldyz Smagulova, Berik Abdygaliuly, Vyacheslav Abramov, Asiya Akisheva, Ardak Bukeyeva, Inara Massanova and Roman Podoprigora.

www.soros.kz