Celebrating women that make a difference in Croatia
Read this page in Croatian here.
In recognition of March 8 – International Women’s Day, Expat in Croatia wishes to honor and pay tribute to incredible women across Croatia. Being a woman-run business with primarily female employees, it is natural for us at Expat in Croatia to advocate and celebrate women whenever possible. In 2022, we dedicated the entire month of March to female entrepreneurs.
View the winners and their interviews here.
For 2023, our Women’s Month campaign will consist of two parts. The first part will be content. We will share posts focused on women’s rights, advocacy, history and where Croatia presently stands on women’s issues. In the second part, we will highlight extraordinary women who are making an impact on Croatia right now through entrepreneurship and leadership.
This year’s nominations focus on businesses that are at least 50% female-owned and registered in Croatia as well as women who do not own a business but are in leadership positions and make a difference in their own way.
The aim is to highlight how female-led companies have succeeded in Croatia and overcome challenges. We want to hear how they handle the current global trends and adapt to a competitive business world while applying innovation, addressing social issues, and creating more inclusive opportunities. We call on you to nominate incredible women inspiring all of us to go further.
2023 Women’s Month Winners
Innovation | Ladies Latin Zagreb, owned by Petra Jeričević – Read interview
Social Enterprise | BizKoshnica Coworking, owned by Mirela Marovic Omerzu – Read interview
Sustainability | ZMAG (Zelena mreža aktivističkih grupa), operated by Mateja Medić – Read interview
Woman in Leadership | Ljiljana Festini, Gradska knjižnica Pag (City Library of Pag) – Read interview
How the winners were chosen
Our independent panel below selected the winners. They reviewed all nominations in each individual category. Each nomination was scored in various areas. The nominations with the most points in each category were selected. Each winner will have:
- Interview on expatincroatia.com, which is visited by more than 100,000 people per month
- Promotion in our newsletter, which comes out every Tuesday and has more than 7,000 followers
- Promotion on our social networks (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter)
Our illustrious panel
Iva Silla (2022 Women’s Month Winner)
Iva Silla is creator of a number of alternative tours, gamified experiences, and interpretive activities for tourists. Her flagship project is Secret Zagreb, a brand of themed walking tours in her home town. She also runs an award-winning podcast Croatia Underrated. Her company called Kazivačica has been around for 10 years. She is an active educator and a consultant in the field of creative tourism and heritage interpretation. Iva is one of our Women’s Month 2022 winners. Read her interview here.
View LinkedIn profile here.
Mirela Petrovic (NGO Femina)
Mirela Petrovic was born and raised in Vienna, Austria. She studied marketing and sales at WU (Vienna University of Economics) and has been working as an international Marketing and Brand Manager for 15 years. The passion for the sea may be due to her Croatian roots, which in the end brought her back to Split, where she became a board member of the NGO Femina (Split). NGO Femina aims to create and support social initiatives that at the same time benefit the entrepreneurial sector and provide opportunities for transnational cooperation, networking, exchange of knowledge, and good practices among women entrepreneurs.
View LinkedIn profile here.
Michael Freer (Social Enterprise Warrior)
Michael Freer is a social entrepreneur based in Kaštel Stari. Proud to call Croatia his home, he runs ensoco and works with local companies and nonprofits to improve their social impact whilst developing new revenue streams. He is also the co-founder of both techforgood startup DonatQR and youth-focused non-profit Jedna Mladost.
View LinkedIn profile here.
