____________________________________________________________ EDUCATION
Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs, Master of International Affairs, Economic and Political Development—focus Urban
Planning and Development, New York, N.Y., May 1997
Activities: Teaching Assistant, Project Management for International Development
School of Law, University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia, J.D. degree, April 1990.
Activities: Teaching Assistant, Family Law
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE October 2002 –
Present, The Urban Institute, Local Government Reform Project, Zagreb, Croatia, Citizen Participation Specialist
- Advising on different aspects of the citizen participation model including partnership building among citizens and local government; developing public-private partnerships and the local philanthropy;
- Educating public and organizing different initiatives related to the development of public spaces through the partnership among all sectors (special focus on youth) – e.g. workshops on alternative,
community-based methodology to developing public spaces, lectures, discussions etc. The findings and the methodology developed through the IPF research on "Urban spaces in Croatia" were
accepted by the Urban Institute and the City of Rijeka as part of their Citizen Participation policy and the Partnership Building Program.
- Designed and conducted a six-day workshop for local government consultants on the Citizen Participation model and its various instruments (November 2002). Continue providing training to various local
government officials, NGOs and other partners on this model.
October 1999 – October 2002, The STAR Network of World Learning, Washington, D.C., Program Manager
- Manage a $2.5 million regional and country specific program on Women's Leadership for Economic and Political Empowerment in the post-Yugoslav region funded by USAID. Coordinate program, financial and
administrative operation and supervise the staff of thirteen in Croatia, Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia in addition to STAR operations in Bosnia and Montenegro. Act as a main contact person for USAID.
- Manage the $1 million STAR Women's Fund's small grants program funded by private donors.
- Take leadership on the strategic planning and new program ideas, conduct fundraising and develop relationships with corporate and private foundations. Work with the Development Unit on new programs
and conduct needs assessment on the civil society development in Croatia and the YSS.
- Develop STAR marketing and outreach materials, including the web-site and other press material, and serve as public relations and marketing person for STAR activities in DC.
Oct 1999 – April 2000, Institute for Social Action and Renewal in Eurasia (ISAR), Washington, D.C. , Program Manager
- Managed a USAID funded program on Sustainable Development and NGOs in the Russian Far East. Coordinated program, financial, and administrative activities with the Far East and Moscow offices,
prepared reports and other USAID-required documents, and monitor budget spending.
- Conducted research on environmental, civil society and other related issues in the region and world-wide.
- Prepared funding proposals and conducted fundraising activities. Developed relationships with private funders and other international partners working on the NGO strengthening area.
- Prepared ISAR/Far East brochure and the web-site.
September 1998 – September 1999, America's Development Foundation (ADF), Alexandria, VA, Program Director, Central and Eastern Europe
- Developed program on the cross-border return and reintegration of refugees in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Conceptualized, researched and conducted on-site visits and assessment of current status
of return and reintegration of refugees in Croatia and Bosnia, and wrote funding proposal.
- Contributed to the development of the Advocacy Manual and prepared material for the advocacy training workshop in Croatia and the region.
- Established and coordinated relationships with U.S. and foreign donors, and international organizations involved in the NGO sector development in Central and Eastern Europe.
- Conducted research on the state of civil society in other CEE countries.
June 1997 - August 1998, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, New York, N.Y.
Program Associate, Civil Society and Sustainable Resource Use Programs
- Prepared recommendations for new funding strategies related to emerging issues in natural resource use and civil society building in Central and Eastern Europe, and potentially post-Yugoslav region.
- Monitored and evaluated grants, reviewed upcoming proposals and recommended new grants (among the grantees were the Environmental Partnership for CE, and the Project for Public Spaces).
- Coordinated the design and establishment of the Trust for Civil Society in CEE, a joint initiative of USAID and private foundations. Worked in close cooperation with the Soros Foundation, Mott, Ford
Foundation and the German Marshall Fund. The Trust was recently launched as a $75 million operation of private foundations only. It is managed in Poland.
January 1996 – July 1996, UNDP, UNSO, Office for the Desertification, New York, N.Y., TechnicalAdvisor
- Conducted a research on the "Methodologies of Awareness Raising among Urban Populations about the Natural Resource Use – case studies of Zimbabwe and Peru". The results of the research and
the recommendations were included in the National Action Program Plans of these two countries.
HONORS AND ACTIVITIES
- 1993 World Hunger Year/UNICEF and the Harry Chapin Media Awards for Outstanding Photojournalistic Impact in designing and curating the "FACES OF SORROW: Agony in the Former Yugoslavia"
photo exhibition sponsored by the U.N. Department of Public Information and the Office of the Secretary General in cooperation with TIME Magazine.
- Collected and edited photographs from international photo agencies. Raised funds from philanthropic, corporate and private sources, including the Open Society Institute, Save the Children and the
Streisand Foundation.
- Coordinated distribution of donations with the UNHCR office. Supervised exhibition installation at the Museum of Tolerance (Los Angeles), the University of St. Thomas (Houston), Harold Washington
Library (Chicago), and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington D.C.).
RESEARCH PROJECTS "Methodologies of Awareness Raising among Urban Populations about the Natural Resource Use: case studies of Zimbabwe and Peru", UNDP, July 1996
"State of Civil Society in Croatia", World Learning, March 2001 "Feasibility Study on Establishing Community Foundations in Croatia", ongoing |
