My Journey

I am a cultural researcher, curator and innovation thinker from Slovenia, working at the Slovene Union of University Women as Coordinator of International Relations. I received postgraduate certificate in Art Management at City University London in 2006 and have previously completed university studies in Communication Science in Ljubljana where I live. I was raised by my mother who died when I turned 17 and my grandmother took care of my since then until her death. My father was an esteemed architect but unfortunately he died when I completed 6 years. Since my early years I have been surrounded by enriching and happy community of friends and beautiful people who value personal growth and who have done brilliant things towards improving the lives of people in different parts of the world. As a student at City University London I have acquired lots of international experience in working for a good cause, and many times have these endeavors to reach the hearts of people been awarded for me through concrete actions that improve the lives of communities. Therefore I firmly believe that we can make a change happen if we are persistent, passionate and inspiring others around us. Positive attitude towards the world and an open heart are constants that drive my work and living. I am a proactive individual directed towards inventing solutions to challenges which I regard as opportunities for action. I follow simplicity as an inspiration in my life and have established a holistic approach to creating new jobs and global opportunities for young graduate women. I have always wanted to see change happening among the generation of young people so that more young people and especially women become social entrepreneurs who inspire and generate innovative ideas based on real community needs of a particular moment. Right now I focus on empowering with new models of leadership thinking and taking up opportunities for a group of young graduate women who experience difficulties in finding their first employment, and also for young people coming from underprivileged backgrounds.

I would like to mention some of the actions and projects that I took so far which have brought significant impact in the environment where they were realised. My projects focus primarily on girls who are facing socio-economic difficulties and young graduated women that are unemployed as they haven't been able to find their first job yet. I have been involved in projects which focus on the promotion of educational opportunities and better employment possibilities for young female women in times of crisis. Reseach on the impact of crisis on young women graduates I have done at SUUW in cooperation with META Association for Women Entrepreneurship, and on the relation of domestic violence and employability of young women shows we have to tackle many obstacles, from low self-confidence and self-esteem, desperation, need for attention and approval by social groups and peers, low preparedness to act, low goal-oriented action etc.

In 2013-2015 I was actively participating in Grundtvig project with 4 other European partners on Domestic Violence against Educated Women. I attended seminars and worked in Stockholm in 2013, in Bucharest in 2014 and in Helsinki in 2015. I also co-organised and facilitated highly successful international conference on domestic violence held at the Faculty of Theology in Ljubljana in November 2014. On 11 April 2012 I coordinated an international colloquium “Women holding leading positions in Higher Education in Slovenia: Overcoming barriers – real or imagined”, held at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Ljubljana and featuring prominent guests, professors and senior lecturers.

I am also holding lectures at the Slovenian World Congress on the theme of domestic violence, creativity as a drive for change, social entrepreneurship and opportunities for involving more young women, female leadership in NVOs: in May 2010 I prepared a public lecture on Social Entrepreneurship where I also presented the results of the Warsaw conference which encouraged creative thinking and sustainable development of European cities. In January 2012 I prepared a workshop and lecture on Leadership in Female NGOs. In November 2013 I lectured on Domestic Violence against Educated Women. In May 2014 I lectured on Stockholm conference and the programme of social inclusion.

In relation to innovation and cultural research I can mention some projects as well: in July 2014 I participated and actively contributed towards innovative urban solutions within International postgraduate Summer School on the Impacts of Cultural Events on Art Oriented Cities ICE-SMART, organized by Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg, Russia. In July 2015 I was invited for a one-month residency in a program at ZK/U Institute and at Agora Collective Berlin which deals with urbanism, artistic and social innovation and I developed a program called Europacity Sagt. In October 2015 I completed a highly selective curatorial residency Curators’ Agenda 2015 in Vienna.

For my continued engagement and work I would need mentorship and guidance on how to grow a social business and I want to connect with a network of experts in this area, I would also need some business modeling, management insights and skills in crowdsourcing. It would really be helpful to get some insight into how to measure social impact as I have practically no experience in this area of research. I would like to build projects together with like-minded individuals from around the world.