Ryabikhina graduated from the Moscow State Teachers’ Training Institute of Foreign Languages specializing in English language training. Her professional career included various secretariat functions, legal documents management and event coordination assignments with the leading Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda and the Intellectual Property Agency under the Russian President (RAIS). Before joining EWI she worked as Senior Lecturer with the Finance University under the Government of the Russian Federation, focusing on Business English training for students of Finance and Credit, Tax, Sociology and Political Science Departments. In 2008-2010, Katya cooperated with EWI on an ad hoc basis as interpreter in the framework of the U.S.-Russia Joint Threat Assessment Project on Iran Nuclear and Missile Potential.