Sophia Rice is the Department Program Associate for Europe and Eurasia. She holds a BA in International Studies and Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies from Emory University. While at Emory, Sophia received Summa Cum Laude for her thesis on EU political party rhetoric toward foreigners during the Syrian Refugee Crisis and Eurozone Crisis. She has also completed courses of study at Moscow International University and Middlebury College’s Davis School of Russian.
At CIPE, Sophia assists Europe and Eurasia Regional Director Natalia Otel Belan with financial management, cross-departmental communication, and administrative oversight of all Europe and Eurasia projects. She also provides logistical and interpersonal support to the department’s growing sub teams. Prior to this role, Sophia was an intern for CIPE Europe and Eurasia’s South Caucasus team, where she supported programmatic efforts on the topics of women’s economic empowerment (WEE) and disinformation, while completing two in-depth research briefs about private sector inclusion strategies for people with disabilities and LGBTQIA+ individuals in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Sophia speaks Russian and French.