Domenico Pinto, Author “The Great Shift”

Great Shift

Leadership is about practice, not theory!

Domenico Pinto is an experienced consultant with a Global Executive MBA from IE Business School. Leveraging his multicultural background and diverse skill set, he has worked with clients on five continents, leading both large-scale transformations with multinational companies and one-on-one sessions with founders and start-ups.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Domenico realised that, like many, he had been neglecting his lifestyle preferences in favour of his career. This led him to research, study, and experiment with ways to achieve better work-life integration and high performance. As business coach, his goals is to help individuals and businesses transition to contemporary ways of working while living better and more fulfilled lives.

Višnja Ljubičić, Ombudsperson for Gender Equality

The second eight-year mandate Višnja Ljubičić is at the head of the independent body for combating discrimination in the field of gender equality. She was appointed to the position of Ombudsperson for Gender Equality by the Croatian Parliament on October 28, 2011, and reappointed on October 31, 2019.

Proactively participates in harmonising all regulations with the Organic Law on Gender Equality and international documents. She founded the “Observation body for comprehensive monitoring, collected data, analysis of cases of murder of women and reporting – Femicide Watch”, conducted and designed educational workshops for various social stakeholders and is the holder of 5 EU projects so far, edited and published several dozens of publications and is present in the media promoting the consistent application of the constitutional principle of gender equality. She is the author of scientific and professional articles and manuals on sexual harassment in the workplace. She is a long-term engaged expert of the Council of Europe and the European Commission in the field of gender equality and anti-discrimination.

Jasna Petek, Deputy County-Prefect

Krapina-Zagorje County

We can develop all our potential only in an equal, fair and inclusive society!

Jasna has worked as a teacher of special education for 20 years with children with developmental disabilities, at the Center for Education in Krapinska Toplica. She spent many years of professional experience working as an educational, medical and social professional. She comes from Krapinske Toplice, she introduces herself as Zagorka, Topličanka. Since 2013, she has been the Deputy County-Prefect of the Krapina-Zagorje County.

With her husband Dražen, she has two children – Vedran and Iva, as well as four grandchildren. Walking and being in nature, doing horticulture, reading and spending time with friends are her hobbies, for which she has less and less time.

Social engagement, advocating for the marginalised and threatened, the expansion of policies of fairness and equality, tolerance of diversity and the fight for a better position of women in society, are her driving force in life.

Dianna K. Descovich, CEO

Spona Code

Diana is the CEO & Founder of the strategic consultancy Spona Code. Her background is in psychology, communications, marketing, business development, teaching, coaching and female leadership. She founded MAMFORCE^© – a DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) certification which evaluates gender equity and work-life integration in the workplace, thus supporting the transformation of companies to more inclusive and diverse organizations, with improved employee engagement, healthier workplaces and superior productivity.

Diana is passionate about women’s empowerment and is recognised as an opinion maker and author about women in business. She runs the female leadership program DaringlyHER – unleash your leadership potential and collaborates with international organisations UN Global Compact, UN Women and UNICEF Croatia where she serves as a member of the Advisory Board for Children Rights and CSR.

Nataša Novaković, ESG Director

Croatian Employers’ Association

I can do anything I want. Because I’m a woman.

Nataša Novaković spent the last five years as the President of the Commission for Decisions on Conflict of Interest, and after the end of her mandate, she returned to CEA and has been in the position of ESG Director since April of this year. Previously, she worked at CEA for 12 years in the position of Director for HR and the labour market, and at the same time, she led the UN initiative, Global Compact Network Croatia. Gender equality is a topic that she has been living on for years in her professional and private life.

She graduated from the Faculty of Law in Zagreb, Advanced Master of European Studies at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Zagreb and Executive MBA at ZŠEM.

Carmen Majetić – Pavić, Business Consultant & Coach

TAGORAS

Work more successfully, live more happily!

She successfully wears many “hats”: psychologist, certified Executive Business & Wingwave Coach, EBRD consultant for organisational development and human resources management, trainer, change facilitator, and external associate of ODRAZ (Sustainable Community Development).

Carmen loves working with people, she is successful in facilitating changes and transferring knowledge, soft skills and personal experience in a creative, practical and simple way. Her mission is to support you on your path of change using all her knowledge, skills, positive energy and inspiration to make you more successful and happier. Her passion is to create positive changes on an individual, organisational and social level.

Nikolina Silov Konjevoda, Director of Procter & Gamble for Croatia and Slovenia

Procter & Gamble

Nikolina Silov Konjevoda started her career at Procter&Gamble 17 years ago, during which she progressed from the head of local sales teams and the head of the clothing care category to the director of the personal hygiene category in the markets of Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

A number of leading positions in regional markets, precision and responsibility in business, and extensive experience in leading teams led her to the position of distributor director in the markets of Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia, and then to the position of commercial director for the aforementioned markets.

She took over the position of general director of Procter & Gamble for Croatia and Slovenia in 2021 with the aim of further developing these two markets.

Dunja Firšt, Director of the Human Resources Sector

Kaufland Croatia

Strength is in people is the motto that guides me in my work. The key value of the company’s success is people, without people, it is not possible to achieve success.

Dunja Firšt, master of German and Russian studies, is the director of the Human Resources sector at Kaufland Croatia. Dunja is an experienced human resource management expert. With strong leadership skills, she creates and implements strategies that attract the best talent. Through projects such as Talent Management, mentoring and improvement of corporate culture, she achieves excellence in the working environment. In the last two years, together with her team, she introduced the Employee Care function. With a strong focus on human resources and constant improvement, she achieves results that contribute to the success of the organisation.

Gordana Ana Dijaković, Head of the Department for Finance and General Affairs

Zagorje Development Agency

Life begins at the boundaries of comfort.

Gordana has 28 years of work experience in public administration. She has been working at the Zagorje Development Agency for 24 years, almost from the very beginning of its activities. She grew professionally with the Agency, investing all her knowledge, experience and working energy in the creation and improvement of business processes and its overall development.

Currently, she is the Head of the Department of Finance and General Affairs. In addition to accounting, financial and administrative work, she continues her professional growth in the field of human resource management after the introduction of the MAMFORCE Standard.

Zlatko Galešić, Chief Expert for Refining & Marketing

INA

Being a leader in a company today does not mean being responsible only for business and employees, but also for a much wider community, their families and society…

Expert in the field of energy with specialisation in oil and gas business – Downstream and with more than 10 years of managerial experience in the field of logistics, supply chain strategy, and commercial and corporate management. He received his education at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, where he obtained a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering, after which he completed an MBA in business management at COTRUGLI Business School. The husband of a modern woman, the father of two beautiful children, occasionally plays sports and enjoys joint trips and adventures with his family.

Ksenija Galešić, Senior Director for Environment, Health and Safety at Work

PLIVA Croatia

Time is precious so don’t waste it on completely unimportant things, dedicate it to people you love and activities that are important to you.

Employed at Pliva Croatia d.o.o. in the position of Senior Director for Environment, Health and Safety at Work. Born in Slavonia, she came to Zagreb to study, where she stayed to live. Ksenija graduated in aviation from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, and that’s where she found the love of her life, her husband Zlatko. She also completed her EMBA studies at the Cotrugli School of Business. Mother of two beautiful children, Luka and Petra. She likes to relax with a good book or a romantic movie, enjoys gardening together with her husband, and most of all looks forward to family trips and exploring new countries.

Ružica Šimić Banović, Associate Professor

Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb

Ružica is an Associate Professor of economics at the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb. She received her doctorate from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Ljubljana, her master’s degree in Public Policy from King’s College, University of London, and obtained an executive certificate in the field of economic development from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She studied at LSE, UCL and George Washington University. She worked in the private sector and was a consultant at the National Competitiveness Council. He researches institutional changes and migrations in Eastern Europe and participates in mentoring initiatives. She is a member of the CEPOR research team and a CERGE EI Foundation Fellow.

Zvonimir Galić, Full Professor

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb

When the data changes, I change my mind.

Zvonimir Galic is a full professor of industrial and organisational psychology at the University of Zagreb, Croatia. His main research interests relate to the relationship between personality and work behaviour. His other research interest include work motivation, leadership and decision making. His research has been published in outlets such as Journal of Vocational Behavior, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, Personality and Individual Differences, Journal of Personality Assessment, Human Performance, and International Journal of Selection and Assessment. He was visiting researcher at Purdue University, Psychological Sciences (Fulbright’s Postdoctoral Research Award), and the Australian National University, Research School of Management (Endeavour Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

Andrea Božić, Project Manager

Saponia

I value people for who they are, not what they are.
And if they are gardeners…

Andrea is a Project Manager in Saponia related to sustainability goals and corporate responsibility, digitisation, recruitment, training and onboarding of employees. In Saponia, she went from an intern in quality control, through a professional associate to the manager of the Education and Information Center and finally to the project manager. She coordinates non-financial reporting and reporting on sustainability, led the certification MAMFORCE standard certification process, as well as preparations for other certifications related to social responsibility, EU projects related to the circular economy, and the introduction of SAP.

Etelka Kožar, HR Manager

SICK Mobilisis

Diversity makes the world an interesting place.

She completed her studies in psychology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb and further advanced her training at the Management Institute and the SELECTIO HR Academy. She started her career at Zagrebačka Banka d.d. where she worked in the field of candidate selection. After that, she went to SELECTIO d.o.o. where she managed recruitment and candidate selection projects for clients and dealt with HR audits as part of the “Employer Partner” project. Since 2020, she has been working at SICK Mobilisis d.o.o. as HR Manager and primarily deals with recruitment, employer branding, rewarding and conducting internal training for employees.