Tamar Toria has been holding the position of the Executive Director at the Georgian Farmers’ Association (GFA) since January 2015. In addition to general daily operations of the organization, Tamar is responsible for the activities of GFA Call Centre, PR, Procurement and Logistics, Mobile Application “Agronavti”, Certification and Vocational Educational Departments, fundraising and implementation of the donor funded projects, as well as development and implementation of the services for member farmers, in correspondence with the GFA Strategy. Tamar represents GFA and its member farmers at different working groups and boards and carries forward key messages respectively.
Besides, Tamar is an Advisor on Donor Relations at the Farmers’ Council, is a member of the Appeal Board of the Educational Programs for General and Higher Education Institutions, a member of the Ilia Tsinamdzgvrishvili Public Vocational College Supervisory Board etc.
Prior to joining the Association, Tamar has worked on economic development and agriculture programs in the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia and with different donor organizations and donor funded projects such as British Embassy to Georgia/DfID, Millennium Challenge Georgia Fund (MCG) and USAID funded New Economic Opportunities Initiative (NEO).
Tamar graduated from Tbilisi I. Chavchavadze State Institute of Western European Languages and Culture and holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Georgian-American Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA). She is a graduate of the Mastery of Management Graduate Diploma program in Corporate Strategy & Planning at International Cambridge College, is an alumni of Stanford University Leadership Academy for Development (LAD) Training Program “The How Of Policy Reform” and USDA Cochran Fellowship Program in Agribusiness Management and Marketing at Fresno, California, USA. She has also obtained other numerous certificates from various courses both at home and abroad.
Rati [Irakli] Kochlamazashvili joined the Georgian Farmers’ Association (GFA) as a Deputy Chairman in March, 2020. Before he served as an advisory board member of GFA during 2018-2019 years. Last six years (2014-2019), Rati was a Deputy Head of the Agricultural Policy Research Center at the ISET Policy Institute, where as a project manager and lead researcher, he implemented over 20 projects covering most of the agricultural value chains of Georgia. During 2012-2013 years, Rati was a junior scientist at the University of Minnesota (USA).
In addition, Rati serves as a deputy head of Sheep Breeders Association of Georgia (since 2014); co-founder and executive director of Tusheti Development Fund (since 2015); advisory board member of the Association of Georgian Agro Journalists (since 2018), etc.
Rati holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from Tbilisi State University. During his master’s studies, he spent a semester at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) working on the master’s thesis (2011). After graduation, he studied applied and agricultural economics at the University of Minnesota in the United States (2012-2013). He also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Tbilisi State University. In addition, he has attended the Teaching Fellow course in Czech Republic (2015) and the MASHAV course in Israel (2018). Since 2015, Rati is an invited lecturer of Economics at University of Georgia (2015-2017) and Ilia State University (since 2017). He is fluent in Georgian and English.
Natia joined GFA team in 2018 as Projects Manager. She has not only extensive 15 years of financial experience, but also an experience in entrepreneurial business
Natia is the founder of Georgian innovative platform “Soplidan.ge”. She is MBA graduate of Caucasus University.
Tamta joined GFA team in 2017. She holds the position of Project Manager of Mobile Application “Agronavti”. Tamta is engaged in the following activities: managing, controlling and developing the application, web-site and electronic platform. Tamta has working experience in public sector and 8 years’ experience in managerial position. Tamta is a certificated coach who trains people in different professional fields.
Tamta has a Master’s degree from Ilia State University. Tamta is currently pursuing her Ph.D. degree at Technical University.
Saba joined GFA team in 2017. Before becoming a Senior Certification Specialist in 2018, he held the position of FASSI (Food and Agriculture SME Supportive Initiative) Project Coordinator. In 2012-2017 Saba worked at National Food Agency at the Department of International Relations.
Saba has a BA in International Relations of Georgian-American Humanitarian University. Besides, he has a Master’s degree in the field of Food Technology from the Agricultural University of Georgia.
Ana joined GFA team in 2014 as a financial officer. She has several years of financial experience in audit company “Royal Audit”. She holds a BA degree in Public Administration of Technical University. She took financial courses in Georgian Professional Accountants and Audits Federation.
Anna joined GFA team in 2017 as an intern. She worked as an assistant in the project “Work-Based Learning”. Since 2018 Anna has been working for the project “EU4YOUTH – SAY YES Skills for jobs” – Strategic Actions for Youth – A Programme for Youth Employability and Skill Development, as a project coordinator. From 2020 Anna got involved in the project “Work Based Learning” on the position of Sector Skills Organization –“Agriduo” as a Secretary Assistant.
EDUCATION – GIPA – Georgian Institute of Public Affairs – The degree of Bachelor of Social Sciences with specialization in Public Administration.
Ilia joined Georgian Farmers’ Association in 2018. As a Certification Specialist he works on organizing quality infrastructure for fruits and vegetables, as well as business model development for agricultural enterprises. At the same time within the association he is engaged in agritourism, education, occupational health and safety, environmental protection and sustainable development (SDGs). He is a Bachelor of Business Administration (2014), Master of Agronomy (2016) and a PhD student in an Agricultural Technologies program (since 2019).
Natia has been working on the position of accountant since 2012. She graduated from Tbilisi Technical University.
David has been working on the position of the financial officer since 2016. He has several years of experience in finances. In 2016-2017 he worked as an audit in various companies. David is a certified audit and founder of one of the audit companies.
Natia joined GFA team in 2018 as a Communication Manager. She holds a BA degree in the field of journalism from Technical University. She also has a diploma in the field of PR and marketing.
Nikoloz joined GFA team in 2016 as a Vocational Education and Training (VET) Expert. In the process of educational reform, he coordinates the implementation of the project “Worked-Based Learning“ in Agriculture. Nikoloz is responsible for establishing a public-private partnership to deliver VET programs based on a dual approach for target groups.
Prior to joining the Association, Nikoloz had worked in the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia as the Head of Social Support Partnership Division at Vocational Education Development Department. Nikoloz is an affiliate member of Cambridge International College and holds double Master’s degrees in International Service Management from London Metropolitan University (UK) and Stenden University (The Netherlands). Nikoloz graduated from Tbilisi State Institute of Economic Relations, where he obtained a diploma in the field of International Economic Relations. In addition, he holds diplomas in Business Management Administration and Sales & Marketing from Cambridge International College. Nikoloz has numerous local and international certificates. He wrote publications in Tourism, Public-Private Partnership, Geo-Information Systems Nikoloz published book “Georgian Language for Beginners”.
Anka joined GFA team in 2017 as an Assistant Manager of Agronavti mobile application project.
She is responsible for the development of a database and marketing strategies. Anka is a student of Public Governance Department at the Caucasus University.
Ketevan joined GFA team in 2015 as a Project Manager.
She has experience in monitoring, research, management, and analysis.
Ketevan holds Bachelor of Economics degree from Tbilisi I. Javakhishvili State University (2013) and
Master of Economics degree from the International School of Economics (ISET, 2015).
At present, Ketevan is pursuing her Doctor of Science degree at Caucasus University.
Since 2015, Ketevan has been an invited lecturer at Ilia State University (Tbilisi) where she has been teaching Principles of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics.
Natia joined GFA team in 2017 as an Analyst.
Prior to joining the GFA team, she had been a Senior Specialist at the State Statistics National Office. She has extensive experience in research, data analysis, and monitoring.
Natia has a Bachelor of Economics in Business degree from Tbilisi I.Javakhishvili State University and
Master’s degree in English language specialist programs at the International School of Economics (ISET). Currently, Natia is pursuing her Doctor of Science degree at the Caucasus School of Economics.
Since 2015 up to now she is an invited lecturer of Georgian National University in the Principles of Macroeconomics and Microeconomics.
Tekla joined GFA team in 2018 as a Certification Specialist.
Tekla holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture from Georgian National Agrarian University.
She is the recipient of Mariam Kutelia Research Grant program financed by USAID/REAP Georgia.
Tekla participated in the educational exchange program in Italy, United Nations Development Project (UNDP) for professional education in the agricultural sphere in Georgia and in USAID/Georgia’s Restoring Efficiency to Agriculture Production (REAP) program.
Ekaterine joined GFA team in 2012 as a Call Center manager.
Ekaterine is responsible for inbound and outbound calls. She also coordinates the work of call center operators providing them with information about upcoming activities necessary for farmers. She organizes meetings to update the Farmers’ Association database and makes sure of its correct operation.
In 2007-2012 she was an assistant to the Principal Deputy of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia.
Ekaterine holds a Specialist Diploma of an interpreter-translator from Technical University (Tbilisi, Georgia).
Ana joined GFA team in 2015. She works as an Operator of the Call Center and an Administrative Assistant of Project Zrda Activity in Georgia.
Ana’s responsibility is to maintain the work of a call-center to ensure it runs smoothly and continuously.
She holds a Specialist degree in Russian Language and Literature from the Arts Department of Tbilisi I. Javakhishvili State University.
Kakhi joined GFA team in 2012 as a Financial Manager.
He has a 17- year experience in the sphere of finance and has worked in various public and private structures.
Kakhi holds a Master of Finance and Banking degree from Tbilisi I.Javakhishvili State University.
Tea joined GFA team in 2017 as HR Manager. In 2007-2009 she worked for the EU Child Welfare Reform Project as a project coordinator. In 2009 she worked in the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia. In 2010-2011 Tea worked in various EU projects.
Tea is BA graduate of Tbilisi State University, Faculty of Western-European Languages and Literature. She has Master`s Degree in Management of Human Resources (Cambridge International College) She also has several certificates – Introduction to Psychology (Yale University), Leadership in 21st Century Organizations (CBS – Copenhagen Business School), NLP – Neuro Linguistic Programming.
Ketevan joined GFA team in 2012 as a Call Center Operator. Her job responsibility is to maintain the work of a call-center to ensure it runs smoothly and continuously.
Koba joined GFA team in 2016 as the Head of Logistics and Procurement Department.
Koba is responsible for planning and supervising transportation operations and procurement processes.
Simon joined GFA team in 2019 as a Project Assistant of “Farming Support Initiative”.
He has a BA degree in Finance (CIU). Simon took part in the Erasmus+ exchange program in
Madrid, Spain.
Archili joined GFA team in 2020 as an intern. He is working as an assistant in the project „Strengthening Women-led Agritourism Enterprises in Georgia“.
Archili is a student of agronomy at Agriculture University.