Experiences
Projects
Mission Possible
The Mission Possible Initiative has evolved into a virtual hub for cross-generational collaboration, all with a focus on boosting morale in a meaningful manner.
Rather than dwelling on problems, our conversations center around solutions. Disappointments aren’t our focus; instead, we emphasize the potential in every situation. We firmly believe that every problem holds the seeds of inspiration for a solution or a new venture.
In this way, we shift the narrative from learned helplessness to empowerment, promoting strategies for surmounting obstacles and the invaluable lessons gained in the process.
Appearance in the documentary Eight Chapters
I don’t care what the audience in the cheap seats thinks.
When I first heard myself say that, it seemed a bit more arrogant than I intended. Nevertheless, I was certain about what I wanted to convey: I am the only one entitled to the right to decide about my life, and only I can know what lies behind each decision.
Young producer Tamara Puizina gave me the opportunity to clarify what being a non-mother means to me in the documentary Eight Chapters, which was her master’s thesis.
It’s an honor, and I’m very proud to have contributed to such an important film.
The film connects the stories of eight women over eight decades of life, and I believe it’s crucial to have such a record about women, society, and life.
This was the opportunity for me to reiterate something I often talk about: we don’t tell young women often enough how much skepticism they should have when listening to societal expectations.
Events
The Break fellowship
I had the privilege of being selected as one of 280 women entrepreneurs for the first edition of the Break fellowship with full funding from the EU. The fellowship program included a month of retreat in Cantabria (Spain), as well as online lectures and mentoring sessions to support the business ideas of female entrepreneurs.
Crowdfunding for a collaborative project with young people
The crowdfunding campaign “Let’s create a multimedia book “What you ACTUALLY need to know for your first job” WITH young people!” is collecting funds for a collaborative project with young people at the beginning of their careers. Mission Possible is an attempt to crowdsource for a collaborative project promoting intergenerational synergies in digital transformation, benefiting both young people (primarily women) at the beginning of their careers and their future employers. The practical aspect of the project is the transfer of knowledge and experience through “messages to younger selves,” aimed at developing the soft skills of young people that are not learned in formal education.
Content writing
As a contribution to my new role in the latest phase in my career, writing and guest blogging is one of my forms to contribute to knowledge sharing. This includes female entrepreneurship internet pages, own social media profiles as well as portals dedicated to social development and knowledge economy.
Managing Strategic Communications
Looking back at my professional life and having the unique privilege to shape communication strategies around complex topics—from immunization to local development to social protection to education reform—I can confidently claim the opportunity to offer my expertise, lessons learned, and judgment. Although every communication strategy must be different, I can draw some common denominators for any future challenge, given the specific context and inputs. I am convinced that a clearly defined communication strategy sets the tone for a compelling narrative that will mobilize support. It also helps in decision-making throughout the process and contributes to a better mutual understanding of everyone involved. My specialty in developing and implementing communication strategies lies in analyzing and discovering the engagement potential among diverse target audiences.
Media relations
With over 25 years of close collaboration with media professionals, along with sincere friendships, I developed a deep understanding of the processes, definition of priorities, and challenges. At the very beginning of my career, I myself proudly served as a journalist and editor, where I learned the basics of TV production, which enormously helped me later, especially on social media. I also had the opportunity to nurture young talented journalists through the “BBC School of Broadcast Journalism”. Working over 20 years in the UN, I had multiple opportunities and the privilege to learn from colleagues internationally about similarities and differences amongst different media landscapes. My current experience in a high-income country adds a new piece of the puzzle to my knowledge. Additionally, most of my professional experience happened in parallel with the rise of social media and the increasing dominance of internet communication. One of the biggest strategic takeaways for me from all these experiences is the importance of authenticity, relevance, and listening. Based on these premises, I contributed to UNICEF to build trust and reputation as the main elements of the relationship building with media professionals, individuals, and influencers. I believe these lessons can be considered valid for any given context and in most media relationship situations.
Delegating and outsourcing the communication services
The complexity of the communications work, as well as the excessive workload in UNICEF Country Offices, taught me to prioritize and delegate, as well as to master the procurement rules and processes, from defining the TORs to deciding the type of outsourcing, providing assistance in the selection process, and negotiating the best possible “value for money” with individual and institutional contractors. One of the most enjoyable contributions was the annual practice of selecting, mentoring, and managing over 100 young professionals, of whom some continued careers at UNICEF and some in respectable organizations and businesses related to communications. For me, the intangible yet permanent value of this experience is their increased understanding of UNICEF’s values and mandate, as well as of the notion and importance of child rights among all contractors I supervised.
Crisis communication
Although the term “crisis” has many definitions, in this description I focus on my work in situations where the organization’s reputation was at stake and in which the proper communication strategy helped to manage that risk. Even before social media, I had the challenging opportunity to master crisis communication in Srebrenica, supporting the communication within the first post-conflict development project. Working at UNDP at the time, my role included active engagement and partnerships with the local media from different and divided backgrounds, managing relationships with the local influencers, and creating the proper feedback mechanism that enabled my colleagues to concentrate on programmatic work instead of managing the reputational risks and sensitive public opinion in the area. Another demanding crisis communication endeavor for me was related to communication around immunization. My contribution consisted of developing proactive communication partnerships and connecting the experts with media professionals and influencers, through which they gradually increased their readiness to collaboratively create a front against random antivax incidents. With the rise of social media, this front expanded to the online world and is still supporting efforts in combating vaccine hesitancy, applicable to the spread of various “fake news” contexts as well.
Interactive learning and partnerships
Communicating complex topics for me was possible and enjoyable through creating synergetic knowledge exchange platforms, in which diverse participants contributed with their knowledge, questions, and opinions, which resulted in better mutual understandings as well as long-term connections and networks for continued exchange. Some examples include the promotion of social inclusion and the celebration of the abilities of children with disabilities. The series of workshops, events, and social media activations built a strong network of advocates, which included children and their parents, media professionals, social media influencers, photographers, teachers, health professionals, and academics, each of them contributing to a better understanding of the issue, needs, and UNICEF’s role and contribution. This network remained active even beyond UNICEF’s direct support, and in many follow-up conversations, I learned that this exchange was life-changing for the participants.
Another highlight of my contribution was the publication Media in the Best Interest of the Child, in which a diverse group of over 20 professionals in Bosnia and Herzegovina contributed, giving recommendations and guidance on how to best protect and promote the best interest of the child in the media. As one of two editors and a contributor, my role was to select, motivate, and manage contributions, expectations, diverse ideas, and interests to end up publishing significant, valuable content suitable for professionals, students, and the wider public.
According to the Clifton Strengths Profile, my unique talent combination allows me to “see the solution before other people know there is a problem”, present the ideas in a reasonable, sequential, and methodological way, recognize the unique values of people, make decisions, act, and learn from the results. The analysis also revealed that my preference lies in demanding tasks, where I must learn a lot in a short period of time, discover and mobilize teams and partnerships, and be judged by what I get done, after which I can move on to the next inspiring challenge.
I believe my biggest authentic trait is the tendency to stretch the comfort zones, and I already know that my pursuit of new challenges and opportunities continues.
Lastly, a very important illustration of my potential is the fact that I managed to complete my education using free time and flexible work arrangements, and that I hold a PhD in Economics, an MA and BA in Financial Management, and a Business School diploma in Commerce from the University of Sarajevo. The countless online learning opportunities I completed, from online marketing to social psychology and social norms to media literacy, helped me keep my spirit and enthusiasm for my future career.