• Dotcho Mihailov, Ph.D – Senior Social Scientist; Manager, Eastern Europe and Central Asia
• Michel Filion, M.A. – Facilitator, Project Management Specialist
• Janette  Simbron,B.A., M.A. – Senior Tourism Specialist; Manager, Blackstone Operations, Latin America

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JANETTE SIMBRON  BA, MA –  SENIOR TOURISM SPECIALIST
MANAGER, BLACKSTONE OPERATIONS,   LATIN AMERICA

Janette Simbron has a strong background both in the social sciences and in tourism.  Blackstone retained Janette to act as Project Manager for its multi-disciplinary assignment to develop a large tourism loan between the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of Bolivia.   As a result of the considerable success of that sensitive and complex project, which successfully led to a $20 million loan agreement, Janette was assigned to head up Blackstone’s operations in Latin America, resident in La Paz.

Janette’s education includes a B.A. (Psychology) from the University of Chicago and a Masters of Anthropology (Belgium).   She has worked in the tourism sector for more than 20 years, and is the owner of a highly successful receptive tour operator firm and a hotel.  Janette is also part of a private sector network consisting of the top tour operators operating in and around Bolivia, and has extensive knowledge of tourism trends, markets and products throughout South America. She is very knowledgeable about the social and economic challenges facing rural communities. Janette regularly travels to European trade and travel shows, and has an extensive international network in the hospitality industry.

DOTCHO MIHAILOV, Ph.D –  Senior Social Scientist and Manager, Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Dotcho Mihailov is a highly experienced social scientist, with an M.Sc. in social psychology and Ph.D. in Social and Management Psychology.   Proprietor of ASA (Agency for Socioeconomic Analysis) in Sofia, Bulgaria, Dotcho is a Senior Blackstone Associate and Manager of Blackstone’s operations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.  Dotcho began working with our firm in 2003, when he was retained to carry out quantitative surveys throughout Bulgaria associated with Blackstone’s World Bank assignment on “The Economic and Social Impacts of Farm Restructuring in Central and Eastern Europe”. His work included a business survey and a regional survey in three districts among a sample of 598 households and 57 Farmers.   The Blackstone team’s work was highly regarded, and results were published in a World Bank monograph titled “A Stocktaking of Land Reform and Farm Restructuring in Bulgaria, Moldova, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan.” Most recently, Dotcho was retained to work with Blackstone on our major projects for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank, undertaking field investigations of private sector company activities in China, Africa and Turkey with a view to assessing company/community relations and providing these international agencies with suggestions regarding a planned update to their  Performance Standards and Safeguards.

Dotcho has extensive experience working in Eastern Europe on social analysis assignments for the UN, an array of international agencies and government agencies.  He has particularly strong skills related to quantitative social surveys and analysis, using computerized tools such as SPSS.

With his strong credentials, and able to work in English, Russian,  Macedonian and Bulgarian, Dotcho  is well-suited to manage Blackstone’s assignments in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

MICHEL FILION, TRAINER, COACH AND FACILITATOR IN MANAGEMENT