Pavla Holcová is an investigative journalist and founder of investiace.cz, based in Prague.
Pavla Holcová was invited to take part in the global investigation of the Panama Papers - the only journalist from the Czech Republic - for which the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists won the Pulitzer Prize.
She has worked with Azerbaijani journalist Khadiju Ismail on a series of articles on the illegal business activities of the Azerbaijani president and his family members. For this work, both journalists received the Global Shining Light Award. Together with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) and Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), she has mapped many billions of arms supplies for the conflict in Syria. Together with her colleagues, she was awarded the Serbian Prize for Investigative Journalism for this investigation.
Together with Macedonian journalist Saška Cvetkovska, she revealed the secret investments of the former chief of the Macedonian secret services, Saso Mialkova. As a result of these and other related disclosures, Mialkov had to resign, and the Macedonian government subsequently fell. Both journalists won the European Union's Investigative Journalism Award for this case.
In November 2016, Pavla was selected among a hundred New Europe change-makers, 100 people changing Central and Eastern Europe for the better.
For 2018, she was selected for the European Young Leaders initiative.
Prior to the founding of the investigation.cz, Pavla worked for six years in People in Need as the head of the Cuban section.