Meet The Team

Petar Markovic

From Belgrade, via London, with a pit stop in Bengaluru, landed amidst New York City skyscrapers in 2014.

Today, Vice President in Investment Banking‘s Financing Group of Goldman Sachs, focusing on corporate derivatives in the USA and Canada. At one point, burnt candles at both ends, while getting an Executive MBA degree from Columbia University. When time permits, making attempts at arts with over-qualified friends – such as playing the piano with Aleksandra Denda and writing a novel with Stevan Lee Mraović.

First step towards philanthropic work was a volunteer position at the 2009 University Olympics in Belgrade. Later on, started mentoring students and professionals; organized and helped organize several fundraisers in New York City: flood relief in 2014, a traditional music concert in 2016 and banquets from 2015 to 2018 for the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava. Currently, main philanthropic activities revolve around the non-profit school IT Bootcamp where I’m co-founder, and the Serbian Philanthropic Association where I’m founder and Chairman.

Igor Mladenovic

At the age of 7, I was in possession of an non-exhaustive amount of energy that my parents didn’t know what to do with. They thought sports were the only answer, and lucky for me, they were right. Fast forward 10 years, I was a part of the Serbian water polo national team, traveling across the world and winning many championships. Soon after, I decided to move to New York City to study finance and play NCAA Division I water polo. During that era, I was a 3 times Final 4 finalist and was also recognized as a first-team All-American athlete.

However, since we all know water polo is no American football, I decided to hang my water polo cap and put my finance hat on and pursue a management consulting career. A decade later, I am still wearing the same hat and happy to call New York City my second home. What I have learnt working at Ernst & Young is that working in a corporate job is very similar to a water polo game, it all comes down to who your team is and how you work together. That is also exactly why I am truly honored to be a part of this fantastic group of people.

Jelena Guduric

Wanted to study interior design, but ended up with a law degree and bar admission. From a boutique law firm in Belgrade, via the United Nations war crimes courts in the Netherlands and Tanzania, and trial monitoring and prison inspection in Rwanda, settled (for now) in New York City to continue working for the United Nations.

Enjoy personal challenges, so climbed Kilimanjaro and ran the NYC marathon. What would my mum say about me? That I need to stop biting my lip. Not proud of having dug a hole in the wall and peeled off wallpaper at my granny’s at the age of five. Proud of being part of the amazing group of people at the Serbian Philanthropic Association.

George Petkovic

As someone who grew up in a small village not too far from Belgrade I never stopped dreaming big and always pictured myself in this amazing city. After obtaining a degree in hospitality in Belgrade, I started my career at the famous Coleridge’s Hotel in London. Living in London was very fulfilling but after calling the city home for over a year, I decided to embark to Crystal Cruises, traveled the world from one end to the other and visited over 40 countries and more than 120 cities around the globe. Almost two decades ago, my journey on the sea ended and I landed in New York, a city that I could call my dream home.

From Waldorf Astoria to Four Seasons, from Starwood to Trump Hotels, my journey as a hotel executive was very fruitful and very rewarding. Traveling the world, representing hotel brands and living the dream of a hotelier was an experience of a lifetime.

Needless to say, 2016 was the year of great excitement. I joined Air Serbia in the capacity of a Vice President Americas and got to play an important role in connecting Belgrade’s and New York’s sky. Air Serbia has turned out to be an incredible platform that connected me with this amazing group of people and Serbian Philanthropic Association has become something that I am a very proud member of, and a community that has a very special place in my heart.

Milos Citakovic

Founder and Chief Operating Officer of EvermedTV, an online platform that is bringing world-class medical education to physicians around the world.

I’m entrepreneur and an active angel investor in the New York City tech scene. In 2017 I started the New York City chapter of Serbian Entrepreneurs, a pay-it-forward global network of entrepreneurs fostering the Serbian startup ecosystem.

Dijana Jovanovic

I am originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where I am proud to say I donned a pair of opanke and nošnja about as soon as I could walk and began singing with the church choir not long after that.

I eagerly moved to the West Coast in order to attend Stanford University and pursue degrees in Industrial Engineering and Engineering-Economic Systems and Operations Research. After a focused career in Marketing Sciences Consulting as well as Market Research and Web Analytics in the Hospitality and Lodging industry, I transitioned from the tranquility of numbers to the turbulence of parenting three boys in New York City, with whom I enjoy sharing my passions for science, math, music, dance and design.

I am happy to have the opportunity to contribute to Serbian Philanthropic Association and in so doing recognize and celebrate our rich heritage, culture, and people.

Aleksandra Markovic

I entered the vibrant world of fashion at the age of 23, and ever since, never wanted to leave.   I got knee-deep with three different publications – started off with Jolie, continued to Grazia Serbia as Editor-in-Chief and then to Harper’s Bazaar Serbia as an Executive Editor. From Rome with Valentino, to London with Burberry and Paris with Givenchy, I got to travel the world with high end fashion brands, and eventually dropped my anchor in New York City.

Philanthropy is quite literally in my blood, as that was how I got to beat leukemia – thanks to the kind donations of my Dad’s coworkers. Driven by that experience, ever since the early age, I’ve been eagerly looking for ways to give back to other children that are fighting the same battle.

Mark Jovanovic

As a child of immigrants from Serbia, I was raised in San Diego and have fond memories of growing up around the St. George Serbian Orthodox community there where I was taught about our Serbian culture and heritage, and I remain proud of the heritage and hope to use all the resources that I have at my disposal to help those of Serbian descent in the US and back in Serbia in creating and supporting a network of like-minded successful Serbs.

Whether through support of the arts, mentorship of individuals or simply philanthropic, the idea of giving back when having been so lucky to be afforded opportunities is a major driver in my life. That and raising a family and running a real estate business in the greatest city in the world! Serbian Philanthropic Association provides that avenue and I am grateful for all the hard work of the team running this wonderful organization.

Vladimir Pavlovic

Born and raised in Belgrade, I’ve lived in New York City for 20 years now. Did a number of odd jobs early on: parking attendant, yellow cab driver, graveyard shift waiter, ultimately ended up in law school.

Practiced law in New York City for a number of years, now working in legal tech. I enjoy basketball, biking, and most other sports, reading fiction, Harlem jazz. Late bloomer. These days spending time with my daughter Leda. Really excited to be a part of Serbian Philanthropic Association.

Marta Stijepovic

Born in Belgrade, raised in Italy, I had no choice but to grasp the best of both worlds – to live among the people with the most amazing human stories and to practice the art of dolce far niente whenever possible. Although I tried to escape my creativity and true passion for storytelling by studying law, after 5 years as a judge assistant in Serbia I had decided that I needed a change. What better way to do so than a one-way ticket to New York City and challenging myself to make it on my own from scratch?

I love discovering new walks of life, new ideas, people with different backgrounds and strongly believe every day is a new opportunity to create. This is why I chose to continue my career in marketing, events and PR in the hospitality industry.

I am proud to be part of Serbian Philanthropic Association, hoping to bring some spark and fresh energy to the team.

Mihajlo Kozjak

Born in Belgrade and raised in a part of town called “New Belgrade” (across river from the old
town and city center) did not stop me from getting on an adventure as a curious 10-year-old
boy to cross the bridge by myself and explore new neighborhoods and playgrounds I’ve never
seen before. That same curiosity kept growing and by the age of 17 I found myself once again
on a lonely adventure, except this time I was crossing the Atlantic Ocean to study in USA.
Now, after almost 15 years, few different states and cities, I’ve settled in Washington, D.C.
where I’ve been working as an M&A advisor at EY-Parthenon for the past five years.
Leaving Serbia in pursuit of my professional career always felt like a piece of me was left
behind which is why I would always get myself involved within local Serbian community,
whether through dancing “folklor”, volunteering at the “SerbFest” or participating in different
social and cultural events. Naturally, it made sense to be part of SPA, teamed up with Serbian
professionals with the same passion and willingness to make a positive impact involving both
Serbia and its diaspora. Through SPA platform, my personal commitment is to help inspire
other Serbian communities to become organized, and philanthropically active.

Ivana Boberić

Coming from a small town in “South Bačka” called Bečej and being surrounded by people with
big hearts, I embarked on the journey to make my dreams come true. It all started at tennis
courts close by the river Tisa where I spent every day practicing tennis. Little by little, tennis
became my passion and after countless hours spent on the court practicing tennis, I received a
scholarship at Division 1 university in the United States. After finishing my undergraduate
studies, I got the opportunity to be a graduate assistant tennis coach while completing my
master’s degree. Little did I know that my tennis journey is about to come to an end, and that
the new chapter of my professional life is about to start.
My professional career started at Deloitte as an international tax consultant and after gaining
some experience, I decided to transfer and move into the Mergers and Acquisition – Valuation
and Modeling team.
While working in the New York City, I had the opportunity to meet like minded professionals
from Serbia, with similar journeys, same love for our culture and one common vision to make a
lasting positive impact on the Serbian community. After volunteering for two years and helping
to organize the Serbian Philanthropic Gala, I am proud to be a member of Serbian Philanthropic
Association and I am looking forward to all the new projects and ideas that will continue to
make this positive impact in our community.

Milica Rajkovic

In 2019, I left my hometown of Belgrade, Serbia to embark on a new adventure as a participant in a global exchange program at EY’s New York City office. Currently, I hold the position of CFO at AAA Holding, a company that focuses on logistics, real estate, and factoring industries.

Even though I have only been apart from home for a few years, my passion for giving back to Serbian community has flourished during that time. When I learned about the Serbian Philanthropic Association, I felt an instant connection and knew I had to become a member. The opportunity to collaborate with like-minded individuals in a distinguished organization has been a tremendous honor.