The founder and head of IDEA Leyla Aliyeva is an Azerbaijani artist, poet and cultural figure as well as a social and environmental activist.

Leyla Aliyeva was born on 3 July 1985 in Moscow. She studied both in London and Moscow and gained a Master’s Degree from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in 2008. She remained the President of the MGIMO Azerbaijan Club until 2010.

In May 2007, she was appointed as the representative of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in the Russian Federation and, in 2011, became the Vice-President of the Foundation.

In December 2007, Leyla Aliyeva founded “BAKU” magazine in Moscow; the English-language version of the magazine was launched in London in October 2011.

On 08 May 2008, on the 16th anniversary of the occupation of Shusha, Leyla Aliyeva launched an international campaign called "Justice for Khojaly" aimed at raising the global community's awareness of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the Khojaly Genocide.

Also, in May 2008, she became the General Coordinator of the OIC Youth Forum for Intercultural Dialogue.

On 12 July 2011, Leyla Aliyeva founded the International Dialogue for Environmental Action (IDEA), with the vision to protect the rich nature of Azerbaijan and the greater Caucasus region, and to preserve it for future generations by promoting public awareness and action on environmental challenges.

On 25 May 2015, she was designated as Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

In April 2009, she founded and became the Chairperson of the Azerbaijani Youth Organization of Russia – AYOR, which supports Azerbaijani students and young people living in the Russian Federation, and became its Honorary Chairperson in March 2022.

Leyla Aliyeva is a recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Azerbaijani state medal “Taraggi” (Progress), a special Certificate and Commendation from the United Nations, and “Key To Life” award from the New York-based Children's Cancer & Blood Foundation in 2011; the medal “For Merits Before the Astrakhan Oblast” in 2012; the Saint Princess Olga Medal of the 3rd degree, the medal "For Services to Volgograd Region", and the special international honor for 'Environmental Protection' from the steering committee of INEPO-Eurasia in 2013; the Pushkin Medal of the Russian Federation in 2015, a diploma of professor emeritus of the Moscow State University of Humanities and Economics as well as "Medal of Merit" from Moscow State International Relations Institute's Scientific Council in 2016.

Mother of four children.