Nikoloz Gegeshidze is the Executive Director of Crystal Fund since 2009. From 2003-2008 he worked in Batumi, Kutaisi and in central branches of the Georgia Young Lawyers Association (GYLA). From 2006-2007, he was Deputy Chairman of the Kutaisi Branch of GYLA. In 2008 he became Head of the Legal Department of JSC MFO Crystal and was appointed Corporate Secretary alongside this role in 2009. In addition to his official duties, Nikoloz Gegeshidze continues to practice as a lawyer, specializing in civil law. He has been a member of the Bar Association since 2005. Throughout his professional career, he has gained strong knowledge and experience in human rights protection and public finance monitoring and is instrumental in their implementation within Crystal Fund. Nikoloz Gegeshidze holds a Master’s in Jurisprudence and International Law.
Natia Katsiashvili provides pro bono advice to Crystal Fund on a range of its programs and initiatives as a part of her individual social responsibility. She had been a Program Manager at Crystal Fund beforehand, between 2017 and 2020, providing support for all Initiatives. She has been serving as an Executive Director of Business and Economic Centre (BEC), an independent Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) Platform in the Parliament of Georgia since 2014 and as a PPD Consultant with advanced degree in public policy from Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) and more than five years of experience in public policy analysis and multi-stakeholder dialogue facilitation. Natia Katsiashvili is also a sociologist and Research Consultant with more than fifteen years of practical experience in social research, with strong background in teaching, training and academic writing; as well as with more than ten years of experience in managing research projects, international donor-funded projects, non-governmental and governmental organizations, recognized with several awards for outstanding professional performance and extraordinary achievements.
Ekatherine Laliashvili is a political campaigner and public policy expert renowned as one of Georgia’s most prominent voices for road safety reform. She is Chair of the Board for the Georgian Alliance for Safe Roads and a National Consultant for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. Eka has over ten years of experience leading national campaigns, acting as National Coordinator for the TRACECA (Transport Corridor Asia Caucasus Europe) initiative from 2015-16 and as campaign manager in the Georgian president’s administration from 2011 to 2013. Here, she led the First Lady’s award-winning Healthy Lifestyle Initiative and received the prestigious Order of Honour in 2013 for her contributions to health protection in Georgia. Eka holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs, and a Diploma in Law from Kutaisi State University.
Tamar Aivazashvili is a Financial Officer at Crystal Fund from August 2011 and Crystal Fund’s initiatives: Road Safety and Policy Dialogue. She serves as a Financial Officer for the USAID-funded YES-Georgia program, implemented by Crystal Fund since the beginning of the program (2015) up to present. Tamar Aivazashvili is a Financial Officer at the finance company JSC Mobile Finance Service – Georgia – a payment service provider, one of the Georgia’s pioneers in electronic payments, regulated by the National Bank of Georgia. Tamar Aivazashvili has over 12 years of experience in finance, accounting, procurement, working with donor organizations and private sector as well. She had begun her professional career as a fellow accountant in 2006 at Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation (GOGC) and worked there till 2011. Tamar Aivazashvili graduated from the Tbilisi State University, Faculty of International Economic Relations.
Meri Gvadzabia has been a Peacebuilding Project Assistant at Crystal Fund since 2012, with more than 30 years of professional experience in peaceful resolution of conflicts and people-focused diplomacy. She has been a member of the executive board for the Association Peaceful and Business Caucasus since 2004 and has been actively involved in Abkhaz-Georgian and trans-Caucasian peacebuilding projects, including a joint EU-UNDP initiative, COBERM. Prior to this, she worked as the Administrative Manager for the Imereti State Representative in the Council of Ministers under the AR of Abkhazia for 10 years. Between 1979 and 1996 she had held various positions at JSC Orgteknika, among them Controller of Production and Control Department and Director of Personnel Department. In 2014 the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia awarded Meri Gvadzabia with a diploma for active civic participation and for her personal contribution to Georgian-Abkhazian relations.
Nino Lagvilava has 26 years of international development experience with the focus on youth, women, peace and security; gender and development and women’s economic participation; good governance, civil society development and local democracy building. Currently she works as CoP of USAID-funded YES-Georgia program, implemented by Crystal Fund. Before, she worked with UN Women Georgia as a National Consultant to develop Georgian NAP for the implementation of UNSCRs on Women, Peace and Security (2011) and Strategy on Confidence Building and P2P Diplomacy, that Involve Women (2014). In 2002-2010 she worked with UNDP Georgia as a Project Coordinator for number of projects and as a Program Officer for UNDP Special Development Portfolio. In 2002-2003 she worked as an International Affairs Adviser to the Chair of Parliament of Georgia. She holds an MA in European Studies from the University of Birmingham and Diplomas in Jurisprudence and Foreign Languages and Culture.
Nino Metreveli currently works as EA to Chairman in JSC MFO Crystal. Since 2019, she joined Crystal Fund as PO in USAID-funded YES-Georgia program, involving in implementation and monitoring of the program activities, providing financial support and mediating with sub-contractors. Started her career as a teacher and translator, Nino has up to 20 years working experience in various fields, with 15 years working experience in financial institutions. She has strong expertise in teaching, managing administrative units, working cycle of BOD, SB and related Committees and liaising in projects. In 2008-2015, she was Head of Secretariat and Corporate Secretary in Bank Constanta. In 2015-2018 she worked in TBC Bank’s Marketing Department, with a tight professional cross with PR and MSME directions. Nino has University degree in English language philology and specialized in PR.
Nana Kezevadze has 8-years’ experience working in non-governmental sector, involving in Road Safety issues, mainly responsible for Social Media activities. She has strong expertise in organizing and implementing the road safety projects and events. Nana Kezevadze is currently Executive Director of the Georgia Alliance for Safe Roads. She’s been working at the Business and Economic Centre (BEC) since 2015 and is responsible for administrating social media channels as well as organizing and implementing public events. She’s been working at Crystal Fund since 2018 as PA, supporting fund activities in various fields. Since 2019, Nana Kezevadze is Communications Officer of the USAID-funded YES-Georgia program. She is responsible for effective nationwide communication campaign, event planning, managing program page and social media accounts, as well as other marketing and administrative issues. Nana Kezevadze holds a master’s degree in Biology, Biotechnology and Geography.
Sopio Ogbaidze has joined Crystal Fund since July 2020. She serves as a Project Officer of USAID-funded YES-Georgia program, implemented by Crystal Fund. In addition, Sopio is an Assistant Professor at Caucasus University (CU) and a visiting Lecturer at Business and Technology University (BTU). She teaches Behavioral Economics and Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics. Before joining Crystal Fund, since 2017 Sopio had worked as an Economist at VTB Bank, business planning and budgeting division. From 2015 to 2017, she worked as a Project Officer at Policy and Management Consulting Group – PMCG. Sopio holds an MA in Economics from International School of Economics at TSU – ISET and currently, is a PhD candidate in Economics at Caucasus University.
