Speaker

Sona Panajyan is a Senior External Affairs Officer with the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region where she advises on political and reputational risks affecting World Bank operations across a diverse portfolio that includes the Western Balkans, Ukraine, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia.
With more than 20 years of experience in public affairs, strategic communications, and political risk analysis, Ms. Panajyan specializes in stakeholder engagement, reputational risk mitigation, and external relations in complex political environments. At the World Bank she also serves as Public Affairs Lead for the institution’s engagement in Ukraine following Russia’s 2022 invasion, supporting strategic messaging, donor outreach, and management of the authorizing environment for a multi-billion-dollar support program.

Prior to her current role, Ms. Panajyan served as the Communications Lead for Climate Business at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), where she led global engagement around the Paris Climate Agreement process and major international climate forums including COP21, COP22, and COP23. Earlier in her career, Ms. Panajyan held communications and public affairs roles with the United Nations Department of Public Information, the European Union representative office in America -- and began her professional career as a broadcast journalist with the Armenian State Television.

Ms. Panajyan is a term member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). She holds a Master of International Policy and Practice from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and a Master of Science in Journalism from the Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, and a Graduate Certificate from Harvard Kennedy School.