Gulsana Kozhabay is the Chairperson of the Board of the International Center for Interreligious and Interconfessional Dialogue and has over 20 years of extensive experience in analytics, diplomacy, and international as well as interreligious cooperation.
She previously served as Advisor to the Chairperson of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and as Deputy Head of the Department of International Cooperation and Protocol in the Senate. Her experience also includes various roles in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she represented Kazakhstan on diplomatic missions in Egypt and Switzerland. She also served as Editor of The Diplomatic Herald of Kazakhstan. Ms. Kozhabay began her career in Kazakhstan’s leading analytical institutions, such as the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Institute of World Economy and Politics. She also has experience as an OSCE election observer in Armenia.
Ms. Gulsana holds a PhD in Political Science (2008) and is a graduate of the Faculty of International Relations, Department of Political Science, at Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University. She earned a Master’s degree in Global Governance and Diplomacy from the University of Leeds (UK) under the Chevening Scholarship program.
She completed internships at United Nations offices in Geneva, Vienna, and New York, as well as at MGIMO University in Moscow. She has been awarded the state medal “For Distinguished Labor” and holds the diplomatic rank of Advisor of the Second Class. She is fluent in Kazakh, Russian, and English.
