Simonida Kacarska is Director of the European Policy Institute (EPI), Skopje. She holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies from the University of Leeds and an MA in European Politics from the Sussex European Institute, both in the UK. She holds 18 years of practitioner and research experience related to the political transformation and European integration of the Balkans with a focus on national minority policies. Between 2005 and 2011, Simonida worked in the Secretariat for European Affairs in the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, in the Unit for Justice, Freedom and Security. She was a research fellow at the Central European University, University of Oxford, the College of Europe and the University of Edinburgh. Her professional experience also includes lecturer at her alma mater the American University in Bulgaria. In 2017/18 Simonida was a Memorial fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States and was awarded a Policy Leader Fellowship at the European University Institute in Florence. Her publication record includes both academic and policy related research. She is a regular media contributor and provides and consultancy services to international organizations.