Remember MySpace? Tsvetta Kaleynska (EMPA ’15) certainly does.
Back in the late 2000s, Ms. Kaleynska—then a teenager living in her native Bulgaria—was browsing the once-popular social media platform when she stumbled across the profile of a young countrywoman enrolled in a U.S. college on a scholarship. It inspired her.
“I realized that my dreams, which had seemed unrealistic at the time, were actually quite attainable,” she recalls. Kaleynska immediately applied, successfully, for her own scholarship to study in the U.S. Social media continues to play a major role in her life to this day. She’s global accounts director for Brandwatch, an intelligence and analytics company that helps Fortune 500 clients develop social strategies. “We analyze a wealth of metrics and data to help companies shift their brand strategies and learn about competitors,” she explains. “It’s an exciting industry to work in because it’s changing every day.” The alumna has established herself as a social media author-ity in Bulgaria, publishing a book on the subject, whose title translates to #TheQueen: Social Media. 
But Kaleynska’s talents and interests go well beyond social strategy. She’s a model (crowned Miss Bulgaria Diaspora USA 2010); a contributor and reporter on Bulgarian television; a philanthropist, volunteering for the Peace Corps’ Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) initiative; and a policy wonk, having earned an Executive MPA at Baruch’s Marxe School of Public and International Affairs.
Now also a proud green card holder, Kaleynska, who has called New York City home for 10 years, plans to share her own story, using her policy background from Baruch to dive deep into such topics as immigration and female empowerment.
“When I was younger, it wasn’t expected that all girls would achieve higher edu-cation,” she notes. “But programs like GLOW—and my own college experience—taught me that I can realize my dreams. Simply put, it’s why I love America and love giving back.”
—Gregory M. Leporati