#374 Civic Diplomacy through Tech Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Professional Fellows Program (PFP) brings emerging tech innovation, entrepreneurship, and education leaders from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia and Montenegro (2020) to Chicago for short-term professional development fellowships. PFP Fellows are tech leaders 25-40 years old, fluent in English, who are selected through a competitive national search with a written application followed by Skype and in-person interviews with U.S. Embassy and WorldChicago staff.

Presenter Kyla Williams will introduce us to World Chicago and it’s Programs, highlight the Professional fellows program, and introduce us to this year’s cohort who will share their ideas and action plans.

The Fall 2019 World Chicago Professional Fellows Cohort members are:

Hana Cosic | Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Founder and CEO, Doktor Online Assistant Professor in Economics, IUS

Miron Lukac | Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Lonac Hub Manager, Mozaik Foundation

Semir Music | Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Co-founder and Sales Director, Lilium ltd.

Elvir Salcinovic | Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
CEO and UI/UX Designer, Beta TelStudio Ltd.

Tanja Dzido | Zagreb, Croatia
Founder and CEO, Shhhefica

Tihana Šmitran | Zagreb, Croatia
Founder & CEO, Amulet Studio and Amulet Nordic

Katarina Guja | Zagreb, Croatia
CFO, Croatian Office for Creativity and Innovation

Petra Hartman | Ljubljana, Slovenia
Project Manager, Ekvilib Institute

Veronika Jelen | Šempeter, Slovenia
Startup and Mentorship Coordinator, Ljubljana University Incubator

Katja Koren Ošljak | Ljubljana, Slovenia
Founder and Managing Director, Institute Vsak Teacher, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana Independent Researcher and Author

Tadej Špitalar | Trbovlje, Slovenia
Managing Director, RDA Zasavje

Aleksandar Celeski | Skopje, North Macedonia
Founder and CEO, DUEL Consulting

Dimitar Jovevski | Skopje, North Macedonia
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Economics, Ss. Cyril and Methodious University Founder, Piksel Ltd.

Ljupka Naumovska | Skopje, North Macedonia
Assistant Professor, University of Tourism and Management Skopje Lecturer at Brainster Academy, School of Digital Marketing Founder and Manager, HONEYBIZ

Ivana Spasova | Skopje, North Macedonia
Chief Marketing Officer, Web Factory LLC Organizer, Growth & Marketing, Google Developers Group

Fellows spend four weeks working with and learning from organizations across the Chicagoland tech ecosystem, including tech companies, government agencies, innovative NGOs, and university and non-university technology incubators. PFP Fellows gain insight into best practices in tech innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and observe how an effective urban innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem operates.

The Fall 2019 fellowship runs from 10/21/19 to 11/15/19 in Chicago. Thereafter, Fellows travel to Washington, DC to spend three days at a professional development conference (PF Congress) while refining their civic-inspired ideas and action plans for projects they will implement upon returning to their home countries.

RSVP required Braintree now requires all attendees to RSVP beforehand by 12:00 PM (noon). Walk-ins will not be allowed!

ASL This event will not have an American Sign Language interpreter.

Food Food and drinks will be provided. We encourage attendees to bring their own water bottles to reduce waste.