Organizations supported within the “Mission: Possible” Program
1. The Wake Up Foundation
The foundation focuses on fighting domestic and gender-based violence, protecting women’s rights, and raising public awareness of these issues. The organization’s activities include programs working with survivors of domestic violence, as well as working on community and policy levels, leading advocacy campaigns, and organizing communities online.
The Wake Up Foundation’s team administrates the Facebook group “You Are Not Alone – Together Against Violence”, prepares the thematic podcast series #YouAreNotAlone, as well as seminars and advocacy campaigns for amendments to the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence (LPDV).
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: the whole country
- Approved funding: 9,999.85 €
2. Bulgarian Platform European Women’s Lobby
The Bulgarian Platform European Women’s Lobby is a coalition of NGOs and supporters from across the country working for gender equality and against all forms of violence against women.
The Platform works as a corrective to the country in the field of equality, including against gender stereotypes and sexism that underlie inequality and predispose to violence against women, as well as to change public attitudes and encourage more feminists to participate in politics.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: The whole country except the Northwest region
- Approved funding: 57,264.69 €
3. GLAS – Bulgaria Foundation
GLAS – Bulgaria (Gays and Lesbians Accepted in Society) Foundation aims to contribute to a positive change in the lives of the LGBTI+ community in Bulgaria, ensuring full equality and protection from all forms of discrimination. The organization is part of the initiative committee and co-organizer of Sofia Pride – the largest human rights event in Bulgaria, creator of the first community center in the country Rainbow Hub, and the media Proud.bg. With initiatives such as the Work It OUT platform, the foundation works hard to achieve an accepting work environment, and equal conditions for LGBTI+ people and promote female entrepreneurship.
In partnership with the psychotherapy support platform Kabinet.bg, GLAS provides free psychotherapy help and emotional support for LGBTI+ people and their loved ones. On a political level, the foundation fights for legislative, institutional, and organizational changes that contribute to more equitable and non-discriminatory policies toward the queer community.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: The whole country
- Approved funding: 59,309.86 €
4. Ekaterina Karavelova Foundation
Ekaterina Karavelova Foundation fights for full and effective participation of women at all levels in politics, economy, and public life to form an active civil society. The focus of its activities is to promote women’s leadership and political participation by monitoring their activities, developing analytical reports on structural barriers to gender equality, and organizing advocacy initiatives for changes in legislation.
The Foundation seeks to create and sustain supportive women’s communities through the “SHE’s In” social format, a series of events that provide girls and women with diverse stories and from different professional backgrounds with the opportunity to share their experiences, the obstacles they have faced and the successes they have achieved.
- Location: Plovdiv
- Scope of activity: The whole country
- Approved funding: 59,483.70 €
5. LGBT Youth Organization Deystvie
The LGBT Youth Organization Deystvie works for full legal recognition and social inclusion of LGBTI+ people in Bulgaria. Among the main activities of the organization are the provision of free-of-charge legal aid, the organization of specialized pieces of training, and advocacy activities. Since 2023 it has been actively developing the “Leаderlandia” project – a free online civic education platform focused on human rights, the intersection of forms of discrimination, and civic activism. The organization leads advocacy campaigns for legislative changes, and cases before courts and organizes public events such as the Rights Forum. Deystvie is part of the initiative committee and co-organizer of Sofia Pride – the largest human rights event in Bulgaria.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: The whole country (mostly Southwest, South-central region, and Southeast)
- Approved funding: 59,999.08 €
6. Listen Up Foundation
The activities of the “Listen Up” Foundation are focused on the protection of the rights of deaf people in Bulgaria, the prevention of discrimination against them, and the creation of an enabling environment for their development. The Foundation actively supports bilingual education through the use of sign and verbal language to improve the literacy, confidence, and leadership skills of deaf people. The Foundation also organizes linguistic projects, mentoring programs, and training for future sign language professionals. Through these activities, “Listen Up” strives to create a recognizable and functioning deaf ecosystem, promoting education, leadership, and innovations among the deaf community in Bulgaria.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: The whole country
- Approved funding: 58,798.57 €
7. The Women in Action Foundation
The Women in Action Foundation focuses on achieving gender equality and women’s political empowerment in Shumen, Bulgaria. The organization’s activities include advocacy, awareness-raising campaigns, and monitoring the local governmental institutions. The Women in Action’s team leads strategic cases to influence policies and legislation at local and national levels to overcome structural barriers and inequalities to women’s participation in cultural, political, and economic life.
- Location: Shumen
- Scope of activity: Shumen
- Approved funding: 5,010.66 €
8. Endometriosis and Reproductive Health Foundation
The Foundation aims to build and shape a sustainable health culture regarding endometriosis and reproductive and sexual health in general. Their mission includes raising awareness about menstrual health and encouraging open dialogue on taboo topics, informing women about the healthy processes in their bodies and when they should seek medical help. Another important work of the foundation is advocating for policy change to improve health literacy, especially among young people.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: The whole country
- Approved funding: 43,306.42 €
9. Emprove Foundation
The Foundation supports women who are going through or have already been in a toxic relationship with violence. The organization’s mission includes raising awareness about early relationship violence signs, changing societal attitudes, and supporting women and girls who have experienced violence. Their work includes public campaigns, providing psychological and legal support, coaching, organizing events, trainings, therapy sessions, and arts initiatives. Particular attention is paid to building the #WomenSurvivors community, which supports other women on the path to a new life.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: Southwest region (Blagoevgrad, Kyustendil, Pernik, Sofia)
- Approved funding: 59,984.76 €
10. Elizabeth Kostova Foundation
Elizabeth Kostova Foundation actively invests in the potential of Bulgarian women writers and translators through various programs that highlight the role of women in literature. The Foundation organizes training workshops, festivals, creative writing courses, and residencies, providing a platform for the expression of women in creative professions and youth from marginalized groups. Other goals of the organization include encouraging, challenging, and publishing talented writers; creating networks between Bulgarian, American, and English writers; supporting the training of English-speaking translators of contemporary Bulgarian literature; supporting the publication of Bulgarian writers in English; and promoting and developing the reading of Bulgarian writers in Bulgaria and abroad.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: The whole country
- Approved funding: 59,999.08 €
11. Dignita Foundation
Dignita Foundation works with victims of human trafficking, helping them gain fair access to justice. The organization provides legal assistance, counseling, and representation in criminal trials, and then – support and mentoring to build basic skills to engage in regular forms of employment to achieve independence. The Foundation fights against gender-based violence in vulnerable communities by providing training and support. Dignita supports migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers by implementing socio-economic integration programs and providing specific training sessions. The organization also works at a policy level organizing advocacy legislative campaigns for a long-term sustainable impact.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: The whole country
- Approved funding: 9,999.85 €
12. Animus Association Foundation
Animus provides support and assistance to people affected by domestic and gender-based violence. The organization develops accessible psychotherapeutic and psychoanalytic services and programs offering professional and competent assistance, creates public attitudes of respect for suffering and non-acceptance of violence, promotes the values of dynamic and psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, encourages democratic changes in the Bulgarian family and society, develops and implements projects and programs to support people in need of help. The main lines of work are to stimulate understanding in society; to promote the increase of respect for women, to act as a mediator between state institutions and NGOs, coordinating activities on the problems of violence against women and children. The organization focuses on raising awareness and conducting advocacy campaigns for changes in legislation to adequately protect victims.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: The whole country
- Approved funding: 59,999.08 €
13. Hayaci Association
Hayaci Association works for the prevention of abandonment, educational integration, and prevention of early marriages in the municipality of Novi Pazar and the region. Among the main activities of the organization are advocacy, mediation, accompanying, informing, and counseling women on issues related to health, education, social activities, and employment.
The organization supports families with young children and pregnant uninsured women, provides support for young girls to continue their education, and organizes training courses, thus helping to fight poverty and social exclusion. Another important focus of the organization’s work is education and capacity building among the community, which includes conducting interactive trainings on topics such as sexually transmitted infections, early pregnancy and prevention, continuing education, and career guidance.
- Location: Novi Pazar
- Scope of activity: Northeast region (Varna, Targovishte, Dobrich, Shumen)
- Approved funding: 58,208.02 €
14. Council of Refugee Women in Bulgaria
The Association assists refugees and asylum seekers in the process of their adaptation and integration into Bulgarian society. The organization works in the field of human rights, the inclusion of ethnic minorities, women’s empowerment, anti-discrimination, and social inclusion by providing humanitarian assistance, social counseling, and support to refugees and migrants. Among the organization’s significant and essential objectives are to involve Bulgarian citizens and institutions in the process and to ensure the right to request and receive assistance without compromising human dignity. “The Council of Refugee Women in Bulgaria” is the first community-based humanitarian organization in Bulgaria led by a woman refugee.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: Sofia
- Approved funding: 59,999.08 €
15. “Youth and Civic Initiatives in the Rose Valley” Association
The Association is actively committed to empowering women, promoting leadership and their political participation. To achieve that, the organization implements projects including trainings, forums, analyses, studies, and booklets on women’s participation in politics and governance.
Their work focuses on empowering women and promoting their active participation in cultural, economic, and political life through initiatives such as “Girls Today, Leaders Tomorrow” and “Who If Not Us Women?”. The organization fights for gender mainstreaming by creating gender equality clubs that sensitize young people on the issues addressed.
- Location: Karlovo
- Scope of activity: municipality of Karlovo (Karlovo, Kalofer, Klisura, Banya, and 23 villages in the region)
- Approved funding: 56,242.11 €
16. Association “Network of Independent Experts – NIE”
The Association works to protect human rights and support disadvantaged people. Their main goal is to establish systemic change in Bulgaria, focusing on equal access to justice, empowerment, deinstitutionalization, and community-based services. The association actively participates in working groups, provides statements on draft laws, and participates in coalitions and initiatives with other NGOs. Their work also includes litigating cases and organizing trainings for communication mediators in court cases and police investigations involving people with mental or intellectual difficulties.
The efforts of the “Independent Expert Network – WE” are focused on achieving systemic and sustainable changes in the field of human rights and in making society more sensitive to marginalized groups, especially people with intellectual disabilities.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: The whole country
- Approved funding: 9,999.85 €
17. Lespectra Association
Lespectra is a collective whose mission is to create spaces where women and LGBTI+ people can dream, share, and work for a better world together. The focus of their work is to empower discriminated groups and to spread feminist knowledge through the feminist media Vechernitsa, maintaining an archive and organizing events.
The key goal of the collective is to build a mobilized queer feminist community, politicize the LGBTI+ community, create solidarity among marginalized groups, and create sensitivity about these issues in the broader civic circle.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: Southwest region (Blagoevgrad, Kyustendil, Pernik, Sofia)
- Approved funding: 9,970.19 €
18. LevFem Association
“LevFem” is a left-wing feminist organization that fights against socio-economic gender inequality. The organization addresses issues through discussions, publications, research, and campaigns, raising awareness in civil society and supporting victims.
LevFem’s goals include creating an active community committed to feminism, anti-racism, and anti-capitalism, and raising public awareness of social issues. They promote political education and activist research focused on various aspects of social movements and feminism. A major focus of the organization’s work is combating gender-based violence, addressing it in a broad context, and providing support through online and offline resources, participation in protests, and advocacy in legislative processes.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: The whole country
- Approved funding: 9,999.85 €
19. Largo Association
LARGO Association (Liberal Alternative for Roma Civil Union) works in the field of Roma identity protection and community integration, and its activity is concentrated in Kyustendil and the Southwestern region. Its mission is to improve the social situation of Roma people, to develop and affirm community values and a vision of their place and future in the civil society of Bulgaria, and to emancipate Roma people as well as take positions in local communities.
Among the various activities of the organization, the focus is on improving health, and education, promoting initiative, developing civic culture, and direct advocacy in support of Roma women. Another sensitive issue that the Association addresses is LGBTI+ rights in Roma society, which is being doubly discriminated against. LARGO actively participates in national and international initiatives to support vulnerable groups. The organization combines consultation and training with active work on the implementation of public policies as the most effective tool for achieving long-term and sustainable results.
- Location: Kyuestendil
- Scope of activity: Southwest region (Blagoevgrad, Kyustendil, Pernik, Sofia)
- Approved funding: 51,129.19 €
20. Bibliofem Association
Bibliofem is a feminist collective whose mission is to spread and promote the history of feminism around the world as well as to connect the different struggles for equality and justice.
The organization maintains a feminist library, and an educational blog, publishes and distributes educational materials and books, and organizes events and workshops. The library also functions as a community center, serving feminists, young people, students, educators, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and members of other marginalized groups. One of the organization’s key activities is raising awareness and education in the community, creating the basis for a larger movement of conscious and empowered people mobilized for collective action.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: Sofia
- Approved funding: 9,999.85 €
21. Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance Amalipe
Amalipe is the largest Roma organization in Bulgaria dedicated to improving education, community development, and equal integration of Roma in society. The organization uses a comprehensive approach, addressing issues in education, employment, gender equality, community development, and discrimination. The Centre fights for equal opportunities for Roma women and promotes their active role in public and political life. Education is a key subject in their work as they focus on dropout prevention and the introduction of intercultural education. The main goal is to support Roma girls, keeping them in school and advocating for inclusive education policies. The organization actively fights for policy change, with a focus on raising awareness about Roma women’s empowerment and education and providing more opportunities for advancement in society and institutions.
- Location: Veliko Tarnovo
- Scope of activity: The whole country
- Approved funding: 58,798.57 €
22. Center for Legal Aid – Voice in Bulgaria Foundation
The Foundation works towards respecting the human dignity of migrants, refugees, and foreigners by empowering them and contributing to their independence and rights. The organization provides free-of-charge legal advice and representation in administrative and judicial proceedings on a national and European level. Through advocacy campaigns and research on migration, the Foundation works to establish practices and changes in legislation in line with international standards. Their program for vulnerable women provides comprehensive support to migrant women in Bulgaria through case management and legal assistance. The organization is actively involved in advocacy work aimed at changing public attitudes and helping different communities to participate effectively in policy and institutional decisions in the area of migration and integration.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: The whole country
- Approved funding: 56,633.25 €
23. SolidarityWorks Foundation
The Foundation’s goal is to promote the sustainable development of individuals and communities through solidarity and collective action for social change. The key focus of their work is promoting intercultural and intergenerational dialogue, empowering with skills, and giving visibility to marginalized groups, especially women, youth, and the elderly. Through art, storytelling, advocacy, and personal development, the organization is committed to the prevention of domestic and intimate partner violence. With a focus on non-formal education, SolidarityWorks provides training programs and materials and conducts youth exchanges, trainings, and camps.
- Location: Sofia: Drugan village
- Scope of activity: Drugan village and Southwest region (Blagoevgrad, Kyustendil, Pernik, Sofia
- Approved funding: 30,677.51 €
24. Bilitis Foundation
The Foundation actively works for the elimination of all forms of discrimination and the achievement of full equality for LGBTI+ people in Bulgaria. Bilitis’ programs include training, support for new leaders, and economic empowerment of vulnerable groups. Through initiatives such as the stophate.bg platform, the Foundation collects data on domestic violence in LGBTI families and works to overcome taboo topics in the community. Bilitis is part of the initiative committee and co-organizer of Sofia Pride – the largest human rights event in Bulgaria, as well as is also one of the founders of the country’s first community center Rainbow Hub.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: The whole country
- Approved funding: 59,974.54 €
25. Partners Bulgaria Foundation
The Foundation works on the development of democratic processes and sustainable civil space through human rights education, peaceful conflict resolution, and social inclusion. The organization supports the efforts to improve policy and practice in areas such as justice, social welfare, education, and environmental protection. “Partners Bulgaria” actively promotes dialogue between civil society, government, and the business sector, with a focus on the participation of women, youth, and vulnerable groups.
- Location: Sofia
- Scope of activity: Northwest (Vidin, Vratsa, Lovech, Montana, Pleven) and Southwest (Blagoevgrad, Kyustendil, Pernik, Sofia)
- Approved funding: 59,821.15 €
“Mission: Possible” is part of the BIRDS in BG project to provide 360-degree support to the civil society sector in Bulgaria, which BFW is implementing alongside its partners from the Bulgarian Center for Not-for-Profit Law (BCNL) and Impact Drive Foundation.
BIRDS in BG project is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
