Dilyana Mihaylova - Senior Design Manager, Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Dilyana is a systems change practitioner who cultivates creative collaborations diving into root causes of global challenges.

Growing up in post-communist Bulgaria in the 1990s, Di (pronounced ‘Dee’) grew fascinated with big questions about nature, society, and local-global intersections. This fascination inspired an interdisciplinary journey which took her to five countries across three continents and an open-ocean research expedition.

After obtaining her MSc in Applied Ecology and Conservation, she spent the past nine years in the non-profit sector, exploring systems change through the lens of three NGOs. Taking on a range of roles at Fauna & Flora International, Ocean Generation and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Di has approached global challenges, e.g. plastic pollution, from the perspectives of nature conservation, change-maker movement building and circular economy transition efforts.

During her career, she has led teams, programmes and cross-sector collaborations that have changed national policies, received UN Ocean Decade endorsements, and created a blueprint for unlocking a reuse revolution in a global economy.

Alongside this, Di recently moved to Mumbles (or Mwmbwls in Welsh!) in South Wales with her half-Welsh partner and has fallen in love with the Gower coast and local communities!