Three ACS Students Win the 2025 Yale Book Award

On June 20, Yale Club of Bulgaria (YCB) held its annual ceremony for the students chosen to receive the 2025 Yale Book Award. Impressively, three ACS students were among the 8 awarded students, in a year of a record number of nominated candidates with exceptional academic acumen and community engagement, from across the country. Congratulations and best wishes to Polina Trifonova, Izabella Traykova, and Maria Stoyanova!

Here is a bit more about our award winning students:

Polina Trifonova has been passionate about justice and volunteering since childhood. She joined the European Youth Parliament (EYP) in 2022 and organized a regional session in 2023 with 85 participants from Europe. In 2023, she founded Femmin, Bulgaria’s first young feminist community, which joined the European Women’s Lobby in 2024. Under her leadership, Femmin grew and organized events, campaigns, and marches against domestic violence to promote feminism and gender equality. They are preparing their second march in Sofia for summer 2025. Polina dreams of working in the fields of International Relations and Law.

Izabella Traykova is passionate about physics, art, and social impact. She has helped organize the international ACS-student-organized festival FISSION 2025. She teaches art to children, has founded a Youth Social Club, and is a representative of the Megaphone Programme, advocating for children's rights, speaking at national forums, and meeting with government and embassy officials to discuss education and misinformation.

Having recently discovered a passion for public speaking, Maria Stoyanova delivered her first major talk at last year’s TEDxYouth@ACSofia, hosted the 2025 edition of the event, and will serve as head organizer next year. She is part of the ABLE Mentor program, where she organized the “Bring Back the Pulse” charity campaign to raise awareness about sudden cardiac arrest and funding for two volleyball halls in Sofia. After her mentorship, she became a volunteer with ABLE Mentor, coordinating teams and hosting major events.