5th EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE WEEK ®
"EI Summit & Awards"
Conference & Workshops
16 – 20 October 2023
The team of the Foundation for Developing
Emotional Intelligence, Bulgaria
We are pleased to invite you to participate as a speaker or attend as a fellow, researcher, specialist, or scholar in the upcoming 5th Emotional Intelligence Week: EI Summit & Awards,
The 5th EI Week will take place from 16 to 20 October 2023 and the venue is Metropolitan Hotel Sofia
The EI Week is supported by the International Society for Emotional Intelligence (ISEI), New York, USA.
Emotional Intelligence (EI) has turned into a global phenomenon due to its comprehensive effect on the quality of life of individuals, professional groups, and societies worldwide. The multidisciplinary nature of EI and its significance for interpersonal relationships allow for its wide application in several different fields.
The 5th EI Week will focus on the relationship between emotional intelligence and adaptability. That is why the title of the 5th International Conference is “Adaptive Intelligence: The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Navigating Change”.
The Fifth International Conference on Emotional intelligence
EI Summit & Awards

The Program of 5th EI Week will be full of workshops, performances, a conference, business dinners, and an official Awarding Ceremony of the nominated Emotional Intelligent Leader and Emotional Intelligent Team.
There will be two days of pre-conference workshops on October 17th and 18th.
The Conference with the title “Adaptive Intelligence: The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Navigating Change” will be on October 19th.
The Closing Event of the 5th EI Week will be after the Conference where you can see the Awarding Ceremony of the nominated Emotional Intelligent Leader and Emotional Intelligent Team.
The 5th EI Week will bring together leading researchers, scientists, and practitioners who will share with representatives of Bulgarian educational institutions, business managers, and professionals their current research findings in the area of Emotional Intelligence.
The language used in the Conference will be English. There will be English to Bulgarian translation.
PROGRAM
17 October 2023
18 October 2023
19 October 2023
4th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
14 – 15 June 2021
The time zone of the program below is in Eastern European Summer Time ( UTC +3 )
Workshop Description
Dinner 17.10 – EI Talks for Educators
Workshop Description
Dinner 18.10 – EI Talks for Business Leaders
The aim of the Conference “Adaptive Intelligence: The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Navigating Change” is to bring together presentations and papers on the scientific and applied findings, concerning the role of emotional intelligence and adaptability in the different areas:
- Business environment and organizational development
- Education environment and children’s development
- Neurology and EI knowledge
- Consulting and coaching
The Closing Event of the 5th EI Week will be after the Conference where you can see the awarding ceremony of the nominated Emotional Intelligent Leader and Emotional Intelligent Team.
14 June 2021
Registration
Welcoming speech, Dr. Antonina Kardasheva, Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Lecturer at the New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria, Founder and Executive director of the Foundation for Developing Emotional Intelligence, Bulgaria and National Coordinator for Bulgaria of the International Society of Emotional Intelligence (ISEI), New York, USA
Presentation
“Emotional intelligence and learning in organization:
A Neuroscientific Lense”
Maria Radoslavova, Ph.D, is a Professor of Organizational psychologist. She has 25 years’ experience in basic and applied research projects and 15 years in teaching. She is a member of American Society for Training & Development.
She has developed graduate and postgraduate courses in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Organizational Behavior, business Psychology, and others. Maria Radoslavova has an expertise in designing studies and processing data through statistical packages. She was a reviewer for peer-reviewed journals in psychology and for research proposals, as well as a student adviser.
Maria has diagnosed and consulted with financial, business and non-profit organizations to improve their operations and also developed programs for leadership trainings. She has published four books and more than 25 journal articles.
Maria’s Research Interests are in the field of Organization Theory, Strategic Leadership, Change management
Presentation
“Online working amid COVID-19 Pandemic – the role of Emotional Intelligence as Aggression De-escalator: Research reported from The Islamic Republic oaf Pakistan”
Ms. Sohni Siddiqui is enrolled as a Ph.D. Scholar at the Department of Educational Psychology, Technical University of Berlin. Her area of interests are Educational Technology and Educational Psychology. She is interested to work with youngsters, especially with conduct disorders.
She has completed her Masters in Philosophy with a specialization in Education from Iqra University, Karachi, Pakistan. She has published more than 10 peer-reviewed research papers in reputed national and international journals and has been serving as an external reviewer of various national and international well-reputed journals. She is associated with teaching and learning profession for more than 18 years.
Presentation
“Dart Emotional Spiritual Quotient (DESQ) impact on Employee Performance and Role of Training Module (TM-DESQ): A Public Enterprise Perspective for Islamic Republic of Pakistan”
Zahid Ahmed S/o Abdul AZIZ Memon is PhD Scholar Karachi University Business School (KUBS) University of Karachi Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He has three publications of those is one national and two international.
He is serving as National Coordinator Pakistan International Society for Emotional Intelligence.
He is serving in Defense Sector of Pakistan Federal Government for last 9+ years, appointed as Captain (Eqv.) he is now serving as Major (Eqv.) Senior Officer since December 2017.
He has got HR Management and Development experience of last 14+ years along University teaching experience for several years. He is on panel of Defense sector Trainings assignment also.
He is Certified Practitioner Spiritual Intelligence from London United Kingdom. He posses Certification from Toronto University on Psychology.
Q&A session
Lunch time
“Emotional Intelligence and Resilience: Coping during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic”
Presentation
“Emotional dynamics and learning opportunities in Lockdown: the Case of Clubhouse”
Dr. Irina Chongarova – Aron PhD
Kingston University – London, UK/Plovdiv University – Bulgaria
Irina has an academic background in linguistics and is an Associate Professor in Intercultural Communication. She is also a qualified psychotherapist and a member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists working with clients internationally. Her latest research focus is on the emotional dynamics of intercultural communication in the context of international migration.
She has completed a professional tranning in Emotional Intelligence Applications and is qualified as level 2 professional.
“Autonomy as a central social and emotional skill in learning and development”
Coffee break
“Emotions of talent – Inovation for business success”
Discussion and closing the day
15 June 2021
“Valuing Global Emotional Intelligence:
Developing an Australian EI community of practice”
Presentation
“A Single Case Study of Sophomore College Students’ Self-Awareness and How it
Relates to Teamwork at a Private College”
Dr. Thomas is currently an adjunct professor at the Fashion Institute of Design and
Merchandising (FIDM), a dual-accredited private college in California. She teaches in both
the Associates and Bachelors degree programs. She is the recipient of the FIDM
Outstanding Faculty Award in the years 2015, 2017, and 2019. She holds a Doctorate in
Teacher Leadership and a Master’s degree in Curriculum Design. Her research interests
are in the intersection of emotional intelligence, peer feedback, and teamwork
Q&A session
Presentation
“The Impact of Fake News and Post-truth over the Emotional Intelligence”
Ivanka Mavrodieva, Full Professor, PhD and Dr. Hab. She is a lecturer in rhetoric, business communication, public relations and academic writing at Sofia University. Mavrodieva regards rhetoric as an ancient yet vital science, communication as practices in business and Web 4.0. She is the author of 15 books presenting scientific information in new and traditional spheres from the perspective of a researcher. Mavrodieva is the author of 120 articles, 25 of which are published in English, Russian, and French in renowned scientific journals. Mavrodieva has been a member of the Executive Board of the Rhetoric Society of Europe (RSE), http://eusorhet.eu/, since 2013, for two consecutive terms. She is the Editor-in-chief of the Rhetoric and Communications Journal https://journal.rhetoric.bg/journal/.
Mavrodieva is the Chair of the Executive Board of the Institute of Rhetoric and Communications (IRC) https://www.iorc.info/.
Q&A session
Lunch Time
Presentation
“Emotional Intelligence as an Indicator of Workplace Success”
Laurie Cure, Ph.D., MBA, is the CEO of Innovative Connections, a strategic consulting firm
based in the United States (Colorado). Her focus is consulting in organizational development, talent
management and leadership including change management and culture evolution. With more than 25
years’ experience, she has dedicated her career to delivering strategic visions, working with senior
leaders to drive organizational outcomes, and researching/publishing on important industry issues and
topics. Integrating emotional intelligence into her work has been a critical aspect of her client success. In addition to her book, Leading without Fear, she has published on the topic of leadership, coaching, team
development and workplace culture.
Q&A session
Coffee break
Presentation
“The Emotionally Intelligent Introvert”
Dr. Hartberg has completed her PsyD in Organizational Psychology from University of the
Rockies and has been doing neuropsychological testing for the Department of Veterans Affairs
Healthcare System for over eight years. She supervises assessment training for doctoral interns
and conducts educational didactics on the application of EI in psychological assessment. Last
year she created a customized model of employee engagement specific to mid-level management
at the VA which was fully implemented and currently functions as the guide for strategy
development. Areas of research interest include employee engagement and the application of EI
to specific workforce populations.
are in the intersection of emotional intelligence, peer feedback, and teamwork
Workshop session
“Emotional intelligence in the Arts”
Discussion and closing the day
Nominations and Awards
The Foundation for Developing Emotional Intelligence initiated for the first time in Bulgaria a competition for an Emotionally Intelligent Leader and an Emotionally Intelligent Team with the conviction that there are many professionals who skillfully manage people in their organizations by paying attention to their emotions, needs, reactions, and behavior.
Leaders, team managers, and individual teams can be nominated in the competition.
The entire procedure starts with registration and filling in an electronic form containing data about the nominator, an assessment survey developed by FREI experts /for leaders and for teams/, a short text describing the reasons for nomination, and attached evidentiary materials in support of the nomination. In this context, letters, photographs, videos, publications, testimonials, letters of thanks, and other relevant documents and video materials relevant to clarifying the evaluation of the nominator may be added as evidentiary materials.
After the expiration of the deadline for receiving the nominations (Sep 19th, 2023), a commission approved by the organizing committee for the holding of the events examines, evaluates, ranks and prepares a list of the awardees.
The assessment will also take into account the element of originality of the nominations and the completeness of the evidentiary characteristics attached to them!
In the category voting, preference is given to those nominations that have received more positive votes in the committee of seven experts.
Keynote Speakers

Vladimir Takšić, PhD
Co-Founder and President
Cofounder and now President of the International Society on Emotional Intelligence (ISEI). Professor emeritus at the University of Rijeka, Croatia lecturing on doctoral studies.

Dr. John Pellitteri
Co-Founder and Past President
PhD, Co-Founder and Past President of the International Society for Emotional Intelligence (ISEI), New York, U.S.A., (www.emotionalintelligencesociety.org), Co-director of the ISEI Urban Initiative program.

Prof. Maria Radoslavova, Ph.D
Professor
PhD, Lecturer in the Faculty of Management, College of Business, San Francisco State University, USA; Member of the Bulgarian Psychology Association and of the Academy of Management in the USA; Member of the American Society for Training & Development

Dr. Cimenna Chao Rebolledo
Ph.D. in Developmental and Educational Psychology
At present she is the Coordinator of the Graduate Program in Social and Emotional Learning. Full time professor and researcher at the Department of Education at Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, and Director of the International Journal of Emotional Education and Wellbeing.

Dr. Chris Skinner
Associate Professor
Chair Professional and Personal Development, Medical School, Notre Dame University, Australia, Regional Director Australia of the International Society of Emotional Intelligence (ISEI).

David R Caruso, PhD
David is the senior advisor at Yale College, co-founder of the Emotional Intelligence Skills Group, and a partner at Accordant Advisors.

Dr. John Pellitteri
Co-Founder and Past President
PhD, Co-Founder and Past President of the International Society for Emotional Intelligence (ISEI), New York, U.S.A., (www.emotionalintelligencesociety.org), Co-director of the ISEI Urban Initiative program.

Dr. Antonina Kardasheva
Founder and Executive director
PhD, Founder and Executive director of the Foundation for Developing Emotional Intelligence, Sofia, Bulgaria, Managing Director of Smart Strategies consulting company.
SPEAKERS
SPEAKERS










VENUE
The Conference Hall in Metropolitan Hotel Sofia
The Conference will extend into a two-level professional training certification on Emotional Intelligence
16 - 18 June 2021
The training will be provided by Dr. John Pellitteri, the President of the International Society for Emotional Intelligence, New York, U.S.A.
The training program will present participants with expert knowledge about empirically-based results on EI, as well as effective strategies and skills for its application in all areas of social life. The training is dedicated to professionals in the following fields:
- education and training
- psychological health/consulting/therapy
- organizational consulting/coaching/management
- business management/leadership/management/human capital and relations
- Recruitment and Assessment centers
The Certificate will enable participants to apply EI interventions in their respective disciplines and work settings. The workshops are designed for those with basic and advanced knowledge in EI. The workshops will teach concepts and strategies that can be applied to multiple areas of practice. Participants will have the opportunity to develop their own emotional intelligence as part of the training process as they learn to use EI strategies effectively in their work.
PROGRAM
Professional training certification
on Emotional Intelligence
16 - 18 June 2021
16 June 2021
Level I – INTRODUCTION CERTIFICATE:
Emotional Intelligence Foundations (6 Hours)
History, development and current issues of EI
This class will provide an overview and address current issues in EI. It will give a framework for understanding the components of emotions, review the history and evolution of the major models (abilities, traits & competencies). Current challenges with conceptualization and measurement will be reviewed.
(B) Developing EI abilities
This experiential lab class is designed to explore each of the four areas of the abilities model of EI. Participants will engage in experiential activities aimed to teach and to develop (a) emotional perception (b) emotional facilitation of thinking (c) emotional knowledge and (d) regulation of emotions. Development of these abilities will serve as a foundation for personal growth as well as for implementing EI strategies in professional settings.
17 June 2021
Level II – ADVANCED CERTIFICATE:
Emotional Intelligence Assessment & Interventions
(12 in-class hours plus 3 pre/post class hours)
(C) Lab in emotional awareness training 1
The experiential lab activities will involve interactive and interpersonal activities on both days of the level 2 workshop aimed to develop each participants’ EI. Personal reactions and emotional states will be examined during the activities for the purpose of practicing emotional perception, understanding characteristics of emotions function, and applications for using emotional information in professional practice.
(D) EI Assessment methods for individuals and environments
This section of the workshop will address the use of EI assessment methods as applied to individuals and environments. There will be a review and discussion of assessment principles in general and EI assessment in particular. Participants will be administered assessments (prior to the class) and learn to score and interpret the measures in the workshop. In becoming familiar with the major EI assessment tools participants can begin to incorporate an emotional lens to their evaluation procedures. [The workshop does not provide certification to use the MSCEIT. This test would require additional specialized training]
(E) Lab in emotional awareness training 2
This section is in conjunction with section D (Assessment) and will use the participants results on the pre-workshop measures as a basis for continued self-development. Participants will identify areas of strength and areas for improvement in expanding their own EI capacities.
(F) EI Strategies (General & discipline-specific)
This section covers general principles and strategies of using EI-based interventions in professional settings. Participants, through smaller group formats, will learn and develop specific strategies applicable to their own type of setting (educational, clinical, organizational, business). Case studies will be used and participants will analyze scenarios in order to apply assessment and strategies learned from previous sections.
(G) Developing and implementing an EI Intervention plan
Participants will work with instructors individually and in small groups to each develop a specific intervention plan for their discipline (education, clinical, or consultation -organizational). Plans will be aimed at facilitating positive changes using EI principles and will be a basis for integration into discipline-specific applications.
Registration
Speaker Bundle
€260
Per person
Register as a Speaker to attend the conference and all workshops
Delegate Bundle
€280
Per person
Register as a Speaker to attend the conference and all workshops