Zara Rancheva is a research fellow who monitors political freedoms in Europe and Central Asia, focusing on democratic backsliding and authoritarian consolidation. Before joining the team, she was an impact assessment officer with a women’s fund advancing gender equality in the Balkans. Zara has also taught political theory as a teaching assistant at the Tufts Department of Political Science. She holds a master’s degree in international social and public policy from the London School of Economics (with distinction) and a BA in political science from Tufts University (summa cum laude). While a at Tufts, Zara participated in HRF’s Oslo Scholars Program, interning with CANVAS and Serbian activist Srdja Popovic.