TOYP Bulgaria: the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Bulgaria
Contents · 7 sections
"You do not know who they are. Yet. They are young. They are smart. They are inspired." With these words, in 2015, we introduced the first winners of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Bulgaria award (TOYP). For three years in a row I was part of the JCI Bulgaria team that organised the awards, and in 2017, the year of the third edition, I was also the organisation's national president.
In this article I have brought together the story of the three editions, 2015, 2016 and 2017, which used to be covered in separate posts on the blog, and at the end I also tell you about 2025, when I came back to the awards as a member of the jury.
What is TOYP?
TOYP is a programme of the international organisation JCI (Junior Chamber International) that recognises young people aged 18 to 40 with outstanding achievements. The idea goes back to the US in the 1930s, when lists of outstanding young Americans started being published. Past winners in the US include John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley and Henry Kissinger.
Since 1983, JCI has also given a global award, the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World. Its winners include Jackie Chan and Tony Robbins, whom I wrote about in the article Tony Robbins: biography.
How do the awards work in Bulgaria?
JCI Bulgaria has existed since 2010 and has local organisations in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Ruse. In 2015 we decided to organise TOYP in Bulgaria for the first time. The rules were the same in all three years:
- candidates are aged 18 to 40 and are Bulgarian citizens;
- anyone can nominate themselves or someone else through an online form;
- nominees must have proven achievements in one of 10 categories;
- the JCI team does an initial check, and a jury of prominent people chooses the ten winners;
- the Bulgarian winners automatically enter the global competition.
The ten categories are: business and entrepreneurship; politics, law and public administration; academic achievement; culture; moral leadership and environmental protection; children, peace and human rights; humanitarian and volunteer leadership; science and technology; personal development; and medical innovation.
2015: the first edition
The first edition launched in April 2015, and nominations closed on 30 April. We received 70 nominations, and a 13-member jury chose the winners. The award ceremony took place on 27 May 2015 in Sofia.
The 2015 winners were:
- Georgi Darzhanliev, business and entrepreneurship;
- Maya Doneva, politics, law and public administration;
- Dimitar Kosev, culture;
- Svilen Cheshmedzhiev, moral leadership and the environment;
- Kristalin Chavdarov and Stanislav Georgiev, children, peace and human rights;
- Sofia Kalinova, humanitarian and volunteer leadership;
- Tenio Popmintchev, science and technology;
- Lidiya Vasileva and Mila Angelova, personal development.
The official sponsors of the first edition were Tendrik, YAF Bulgaria, ATG Bulgaria, VUZF University, Business Institute Sofia and Intelect language schools.
Sofia Kalinova among the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World
Our greatest joy from the first edition came a few months later. Sofia Kalinova, who fought for the right of deaf students to take a foreign language exam at their school-leaving exams, was chosen as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World for 2015, out of more than 200 nominees. She received the award at the JCI World Congress in Kanazawa, Japan. I had the honour of presenting her award at the Bulgarian ceremony in person.
2016: the second edition
In 2016 I was on the organising team for the second year in a row. Nominations were open until 25 March 2016, and a 22-member jury chose the winners. Here are the 2016 winners:
- Kiril Petkov, business and entrepreneurship;
- Dr Strahil Karapchanski, politics, law and public administration;
- Dr Nataliya Futekova, academic achievement;
- Dimitar Petrov, culture;
- Antoniya Hubancheva, moral leadership and the environment;
- Maria Brestnichka, children, peace and human rights;
- Iva Tsolova, humanitarian and volunteer leadership;
- Dr Galya Petrova, science and technology;
- Velin Koychev, personal development;
- Dr Marina Mihova, medical innovation.
Watch the TOYP Bulgaria video:
2017: the third edition
For the third edition, nominations were open until 15 March 2017. By then we had already recognised 20 young Bulgarians. The year was special for me personally, because I was national president of JCI Bulgaria.
The 2017 winners were announced in the summer, and the ceremony took place during JCI Bulgaria's national convention, "Business in the City: Explore | Share | Grow", held from 8 to 10 September 2017 in Sofia.
2025: back at TOYP, this time on the jury
Eight years after the third edition, I came back to the awards from the other side. In 2025 I was a member of the jury of TOYP Bulgaria, organised by JCI Bulgaria. It was especially rewarding to see that the initiative we started in 2015 is still finding and recognising young people with outstanding achievements today.
What I learned from TOYP
Over three years I became convinced that Bulgaria is full of young, ambitious and capable people doing amazing things, often without anyone noticing: entrepreneurs, scientists, doctors, volunteers and artists. The award does not give them anything they do not already have. It simply helps more people learn about them and be inspired.
For me it was also a great school of leadership: organising a national competition entirely with volunteers, bringing in partners and a jury, and holding a ceremony worthy of the winners. Thank you to the whole JCI Bulgaria team, the jury and the partners who made it possible.
Petar Dyaksov
Entrepreneur, investor and managing partner at SEOMAX, with more than 15 years of experience in e-commerce and digital marketing. He builds businesses in technology and e-commerce, invests in companies and supports entrepreneurs. Speaker, trainer and mentor at dozens of conferences, seminars and entrepreneurship programmes.
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