Shorena Megrelishvili a Grant and Proposal Manager at WEConnect International, a DC-based global nonprofit empowering women business owners in global supply chains. A Georgian native and new immigrant to the United States, Shorena is a UpGlo alumna and joined UpGlo’s DC Leadership Council in the summer of 2022.
Shorena strongly believes in Upwardly Global’s mission and wants to give back to the UpGlo community by promoting the social and economic inclusion of immigrants and helping them utilize their diverse skill-sets to access professional opportunities in the U.S. Before moving to the DC area, Shorena worked at a leading Georgian nonprofit, Global Compact Network Georgia, the local representation of the UN Global Compact where she managed projects promoting the socio-economic empowerment of youth, women, entrepreneurs/SMEs, and various underrepresented groups and advanced corporate sustainability by promoting multi-stakeholder partnerships engaging businesses and nonprofits.
She also led fundraising and strategic partnerships efforts liaising with various government and international development organizations, including the European Commission, Sida, UNDP, GIZ, U.S. Government, etc. Shorena is a recipient of multiple prestigious fellowships and scholarships, including the John Smith Trust Fellowship (in the UK), Open Society Think Tank Fund Research Fellowship, and the European Commission scholarship for her MA studies. She is also an alumna of the U.S. Department of State-funded “Future Leaders Exchange Program” and spent her senior year in a U.S. High School. Shorena holds a BA in International Relations from Tbilisi State University and a joint MA in Public Policy from Central European University (Hungary) and the University of York (UK).