Kristina Angelevska- Project Assistant and Communications Specialist at Eurothink
Kristina Angelevska is a project assistant and communications specialist at Eurothink – Center for European Strategies since July 2021. She holds a BA in English Language and Literature from Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje. She has most recently completed a program for young leaders in foreign and security policy at the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) and is an alumna of the Peace and Security training program of Arms Control and Disarmament organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA).
She is affiliated with the Macedonian American Alumni Association (MAAA) and her professional experience consists of various working engagements including working as a consultant, youth development trainer and a fellow at George Mason University, Department of Women and Gender Studies, USA. Kristina has a very good understanding of the Western Balkans context, and her research interests are in the field of gender inclusivity in peacebuilding, post-conflict rehabilitation, arms control, and disarmament.
Natalija Shikova- Professor at International Balkan University in Skopje, Fulbright Visiting Scholar Alumna - The George Washington University
Dr. Natalija Shikova is a lawyer, Associate Professor in Public law, and Dean at the Faculty of Law at the International Balkan University in Skopje, North Macedonia. From 2011- 2012 she was a Fulbright research scholar in the USA at George Washington University Law School in Washington DC, USA, working on her Ph.D. thesis. Shikova has extensive experience in developing academic and educational projects and applying them in multicultural environments. Apart from academics, she has more than 15 years of working experience in providing assistance and consultancy in EU integration processes, good governance, and public administration reforms, supporting national and international constituencies in various public sector domains, such as the Macedonian government, relevant ministries, and public institutions.
Her working experience includes a journalist work in a weekly magazine in Macedonia; a local consultant for Conflict Management Group (an NGO from Harvard Law school, USA); several years of working experience for UNDP Macedonia as community moderator in cluster Crisis Prevention and Recovery; and afterward working experience in the Secretariat for European Affairs of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia; in Ministry of Information Society and Administration as technical assistance to Government managing the projects in support of EU integrations and the public administration reforms. She is one of the founders and member of the managerial board of a think - tank Centre for Change Management in Macedonia (CCM) and within this frame she was a program coordinator and program manager of EU funded projects dealing with the creation of evidence biased public policies, their monitoring, and evaluation, as well as law approximation with the chapters of the EU Acquis Communautaire.
Except for the interest in public policies, she is participating in various international projects related to the building and implementation of confidence-building measures, promotion of human rights and their protection, securing minority rights and non – territorial autonomy, as well as measures aimed towards greater society democratization and addressing the crisis of the democracy.
Shikova is the author of books, monographs, scientific and professional articles.
Noelle Cohn- George Washington University President of the D.C. Student Consortium on WPS
Noelle Cohn is a second year graduate at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. She is currently pursuing an MA in International Affairs with concentrations in International Security Studies and Global Gender Policy. Prior to pursuing her masters degree, Noelle worked as an account management specialist at Gartner. Alongside other students across D.C. universities, Noelle supported the founding of the Consortium. During the summer of 2021, Noelle interned with the International Development Group(IDG) on the Project and Proposals Team. She currently serves as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Elliott School supporting the Masculinities in International Affairs course. She also works as a Jr. Grants Coordinator with the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance at USAID. She received her undergraduate degree in International Relations with minors in Italian and European Studies from the James Madison College at Michigan State University. Go Spartans!
Dimitar Nikolovsk- Executive Director of the think-tank organization Eurothink - Center for European Strategies, Skopje North Macedonia
Dimitar Nikolovski is the Executive Director of the Center for European Strategies-Eurothink. He furthermore acts as the External Associate of the Institute for Advanced Studies Kőszeg in Hungary. He is enrolled in a PhD program at the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland with a research focus on populism and civil society in South-Eastern Europe. He holds a BA in Political Science from the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Faculty of Law, Iustinianus Primus, MA in Political Science from the Central European University in Budapest, and an MA in Human Rights and Democracy from the University of Sarajevo and University of Bologna.He acquired a vast research experience by working as a researcher in several think-tank organizations in North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. His research interests are in the field of civic activism in Central and Eastern Europe and its relations with some of the latest, contemporary topics such as European integrations, democratic backsliding, migration, as well as right-wing populism and extremism in Europe.
Nora Osmani- Lecturer at the Faculty of Law at AAB College , Fulbright Visiting Scholar Alumna - Georgetown University
Nora Osmani is a lecturer at the Faculty of Law at AAB College in Prishtina, Kosovo. She obtained her PhD in Information Technology Law from Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia. During her PhD studies she was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., an Erasmus exchange student at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, and a Visiting Researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Brussels, Belgium.
Her research focuses mainly on data privacy issues, AI and questions of legal personhood, liability for damage and lack of accountability.
Aleksandar Stojanovski- Senior Researcher at Eurothink - Center for European Strategies and Alumnus from American University in D.C.
Aleksandar Stojanovski is a Senior Researcher and Head of Administration at Eurothink – Center for European Strategies – Skopje. Aleksandar is a PhD student at the University of “St. Kliment Ohridski” –Faculty of Security in Skopje.He holds a master’s degree in international criminal law and criminology from the Royal University of Groningen, in the Netherlands. Alexander is alumnus at the Department of International Relations and Political Science at the American University of Washington, DC, USA. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Law “Justinian I”, Ss.Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje. He began his research career in 2006 at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scientists in Washington DC, USA. He is an author and co-author of over a dozen publications in the field of law, security, and human rights. His work portfolio shows 15 years of experience in various organizations, such as: Youth Educational Forum, Coalition “All for Fair Trials”, Foundation-Open Society Macedonia and the State Election Commission. He is a certified lecturer and has worked as a consultant in over 10 international organizations in the field of law and human rights.
Sonja Stojanovic- Gajic- Former Director of the Belgrade Center for Security Policy (BCSP) Executive Board member of the BCSP
Sonja Stojanović Gajić is an experienced researcher of security governance and conflict-transformation and an organizational consultant. Sonja holds PhD in International Relations from the University of Belgrade and MA in Politics, Security and Integration from University College London. From the end of 2006 to October 2019, she led the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) as its Director, during which she helped it transform from an advocacy NGO into a think tank specialized in public oversight of security sector and the only Western Balkan research organisation ranked among the most influential Security and International Affairs Think Tanks in the Global Think Tank ranking. For her accomplishments in the civilian oversight of the security sector and inclusion of youth in security research, she received the award for The Person of the Year 2019 by the OSCE Mission to Serbia. She taught security studies part-time at the Faculty of Political Science in Belgrade and published on policing, peacebuilding, EU and gender. Her original contribution is development of innovative engagement tools such as the methodology for measuring security sector reform (SSR) from the perspective of civil society, which has subsequently been applied in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. Sonja initiated a number of national and regional civil society partnerships and multi-stakeholder platforms to address some of the key challenges in the Balkans – such as deterioration of democracy and democratic governance of security, normalisation of Belgrade-Pristina relations, and accession to the EU. Sonja has more than twenty years of experience as a facilitator and trainer with diverse groups including public servants, MPs, security professionals, civil society, IGOs from Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Middle East. As an organizational consultant, she had assisted both civil society and public administration in the Balkans with strategic planning, change management and advocacy. Before BCSP, she has worked for the OSCE Mission to Serbia and Montenegro on police reform program, with focus on introduction of strategic planning in both police services. From the end of 2019, Sonja assists IGOs and civil society globally in improving public engagement and impacting security governance, while she remains active in the Balkan civil society. She is a member of BCSP Executive Board, the coordinator of Working Group for Chapter 24 (Freedom, Security and Justice) of National Convention on EU that facilitates government-civil society dialogue in accession negotiations for membership in the EU and a member of the Steering Board of OSCE Network of Think Tanks and Academic Institutes and Cooperative Security Initiative, Track II initiatives aimed at conflict transformation and establishing cooperative security in Europe.
Verica Jordanova- President of the Macedonian- American Alumni Association (MAAA)
Verica Jordanova is the President of the Macedonian-American Alumni Association (MAAA) , an umbrella organization of over 1100+ participants from the Republic of North Macedonia of US government sponsored academic, exchange and professional development programs. Ms. Jordanova is an experienced journalist, PR expert and entrepreneur. For more than 15 years she has worked for the Macedonian and regional leading media group KAPITAL; writing articles, making interviews, also as the editor of special editions for the group’s business magazine. She has organized important training workshops and promotional events, also acting as facilitator and moderator.In 2015 Ms. Jordanova successfully launched her own entrepreneurship development project that promotes entrepreneurship, innovation, new technologies and digital marketing both in Macedonia and the Balkan region. The project encompasses a range of diverse consulting and coaching activities and its impact is being amplified in social media.
Ms. Jordanova, graduated from the Faculty of Law (Journalism) of Ss. Cyril and Methodius University (1994-1999) and she completed Management in Strategic Communications postgraduate studies at Institute for Communication Studies (2013 -2015) in Skopje, Macedonia. In 2004/2005, for a year she was a visiting Scholar at Columbia University, Missouri, USA, under the PDY program sponsored by the US Department of State. In 2005 she won the Jean Monnet Award for journalism.
Rachael Cullins- Political Officer, Department of State
Rachael Cullins is a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State. She is currently serving in Skopje, North Macedonia, as a political officer, where she covers justice sector, counterterrorism, trafficking in persons, human rights, and religious freedom issues. She has previously served in Washington, D.C.; London, UK; Monterrey, Mexico; and Dakar, Senegal. Outside of work, Rachael loves running, reading, her family and friends, and Atlanta Braves baseball.