Leila has over 17 years of work experience as an expert and a project manager in the field of international development aid, supporting democratic reforms, rule of law and human rights in the Eastern Partnership region and Turkey in the framework of European Union and Council of Europe assistance programmes. Between 2013-2020 she was in charge of  designing, negotiating, implementing and monitoring multiple regional and country specific projects on justice reform, combating corruption, freedom of expression, internet governance and data protection at the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg. Prior to that she had worked for a short period in the Georgian public administration and later on as an independent consultant for the European Union and a local project officer for the Council of Europe in the field of justice reforms in Georgia. 

Leila received Master of Laws (L.L.M.) degree from Lund University in Sweden, Master of International Relations degree  from Moscow Diplomatic Academy in Russian Federation and Bachelor of Business administration (B.B.A.) degree from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University in Lithuania. She is a Fellow of Salzburg Global Seminar, a international think-tank with a mission to challenge current and future leaders to shape a better world.