Marija Risteska holds a PhD in political science. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Research and Policy Making, number one think tank in Macedonia (Think Thank Index University of Pennsylvania, Japanese Medal for Outstanding Research 2016, PASOS Think tank award 2010, 2013). Marija is Regional Director of Gender Budget Watchdog Network (GBWN), consisting of 88 CSOs from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Moldova and Serbia. The network aims at strengthening the role of Civil Society Organisations as stakeholders in accountability, transparency and improving public money management by monitoring and assessing the impact of gender policies.