Konekt’s Founders
Goran Buldioski е is the program director of the Open Society Institute Think Tank Fund. He has expertise in strategic planning and capacity building of NGOs and independent policy centers, organizational and project management in the nonprofit sector, and development of democratic and participatory policy change in Eastern and Central Europe. He previously worked for worked for the Council of Europe, the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation and the National Youth Council of Macedonia. He has written a number or articles and research papers addressing the think tanks in CEE. His latest pieces are "Enabling Think Tanks What They Do Best", published in the Alliance Magazine, "Think Tanks and State Reform in Central Europe" published by LSE_UNDP Development and Transition Newsletter, and "Think Tanks: Untangling the Gordian Knot of Policy Research in the Western Balkans" published by the Western Balkans Security Observer. He tries to regularly (and sometimes fails) to muse on development of think tanks and policy making in CEE at his personal blog: http://goranspolicy.com/. 
Katerina Hadzi-Miceva Evans is working as a Senior Legal Advisor of the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL). She implements programs on legal reform affecting civil society organizations (CSOs) in countries across Europe, the Caucasus and beyond. She provides assistance in development of policies affecting the sustainability of CSOs, government-CSO relations, volunteering and public participation. She is working closely with government officials, CSOs, judges, lawyers, and international organizations. She conducts comparative and national research analysis, provides legislative assistance and is building the capacity of local stakeholders on legal issues affecting CSOs. She has been developing multi-country comparative analysis in the areas of legal issues affecting volunteering, accountability and transparency of CSOs, government-CSO cooperation. She has also supported the development of publications to promote the newly adopted laws, and has provided assistance in development of implementing regulations to put these laws in practice.This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Kristina Hadzi-Vasileva has more than ten years of experience in the development and civil sector, working for Macedonian civil society organizations as well as for international organizations such as USAID, EAR, OSCE and SDC. Currently she is the manager of the project unit for the “Community Forums” Programme which promotes citizens participation into local-government decision making. Her expertise is focused in the areas of gender equality, local government reform and decentralization process as well as in civil society development. Hadzi-Vasileva has an undergraduate degree in Macedonian and Turkish language and she also holds an MA in Gender and Ethnic studies from the Greenwich University in London.
Kristina is the president of the Macedonian Chevening Alumni Association and she is also a recent fan of Facebook and a long-year friend of Cuba-libre cocktail. She is the wife of Filip and mother of Damjan.
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Marija Todorova has more than ten years of experience in the development and civil sector, working for USAID, UN, EU and DfID. Currently she is а Lecturer at the University American College Skopje, where she teaches Global Understanding, and courses in translation and communication. She is also a translator of English and Macedonian, specialized in literature for children. For her translations she has received the National Award for Literary Translation “Zlatno pero” in 2007 and the Winter Book Fair Translation Award in 2008.Todorova is a member of the International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies, the National Union of Literary Translators of Macedonia, and the Network of European Peace Scientists.
A graduate in English language and literature – translation department, Marija Todorova holds an MA in Peace and Development, and is currently working on her PhD thesis in the same area.
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Nikica Kusinikova, MA, is the President i.e. Executive Director of Association Konekt. She holds Joint European Master Degree in Comparative Local Development from the University of Trento/Italy, University of Regensburg/Germany and Corvinus University from Budapest/Hungary. Her Master thesis is on the topic of “Diaspora philanthropy as a potential resource for the NGOs in Macedonia”. Pursuing her primary vocation as BSc in Electrical Engineering she worked in the Macedonian Television. For the last ten years she works at managerial positions and as a consultant for international and local development programs in the area of democracy and civil society development. Beyond her professional engagements, Nikica is activist in the NGO sector and advocate for animal rights as part of the Society for protection of Animals Srna. In her free time she enjoys traveling. Her donation causes are: animal welfare, democracy and human rights as well as all NGOs she is working with.
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