Local Branch Serbia

Finance and Administrative Officer, Belgrade
Vesna Savić is a professional with over 15 years of experience in finance, procurement, as well as the monitoring and evaluation of grants. With a BA in Economics and an MA in Democracy and Human Rights, she has committed her career to advancing impactful local, regional, and international projects centered on human rights and social justice.
Throughout her extensive career, Vesna has developed a diverse skill set that goes beyond finance, encompassing project planning, implementation, and impact assessment. She has successfully led and managed complex, donor-funded programs, collaborating with renowned organizations such as the EU (Horizon, CERV, Creative Europe, Erasmus), USAID, UNICEF, IREX, OSF, GIZ, OESC, SDC, British Council, and many others.
Beyond her professional achievements, Vesna is deeply passionate about the arts and aromatherapy. She immerses herself in dance five days a week and is an active member of a pop-rock choir, which not only allows her to express her creativity but also provides a fulfilling balance to her commitment to social impact, fostering both personal well-being and artistic expression.

Finance and Administration Officer, Belgrade

Ms Jelena Rodic, born in Belgrade, holds MS in History from Belgrade University but spent more than 5 years in Finance department in one of the biggest Open Access Publishing companies in Belgrade, MDPI doo. During this period, she was directly involved creation of several Rulebooks, responsible for e-banking payments, creation of financial reports, supporting colleagues in travels to conferences and scholar visits. Additionally, while working, she completed accounting course in Belgrade from Privredni savetnik, allowing her to understand better financial practice she was involved in. Jelena finds Excel sheet amusing, as a playground for releasing imagination, though it can be frustrating sometimes, keeps her mind busy.

In addition to this, Jelena use to be a professor in one of Belgrade’s Gymnasiums and has a full understanding of learning processes.

In free time, Jelena likes to ride a bike, lift weights, and walk her dog, black German shepherd female, Dia.


Local Program Assistant, Belgrade
Mr. Simić discovered his passion for regional cooperation as early as elementary school, during his first exchange at the Pestalozzi Children’s Village in Switzerland, where he met peers from across the Balkans. Together with young Albanians and Serbs, he was tasked with building a cardboard bridge strong enough to hold 10 kilograms of Swiss chocolate — a challenge they successfully completed, marking the beginning of his journey.
Since then, he has remained deeply engaged in civil society and his local community through collaborations with Local Press, Deutsche Welle Akademie, the National Youth Council of Serbia, and the Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans, where he worked as Communications Officer. His work and activism are centred on regional cooperation, media and political literacy, European integration, and intercultural dialogue.
At the University of Belgrade’s Faculty of Political Science, Simić defended his Master’s thesis, “Multilateral Media Diplomacy in the Western Balkans: The (In)Visibility of the Berlin Process from 2014 to 2024,” which, among other topics, explores the role of RYCO. At the same Faculty, he earned his Bachelor’s degree in International Relations with a specialisation in European integration and served as a teaching associate in the course Contemporary Diplomacy. He speaks Serbian and English, can communicate in Italian, and is currently learning French.

Local Program Officer, Belgrade

Ms Markulić  has been actively engaged in the civil society since 2013, firstly as a volunteer of EMinS afterwards as a President of its Youth Forum in two mandates. Her focus was on establishing and enhancing a network of young people interested in the EU on a local and national level, advocating for regional cooperation and promoting reconciliation  in the framework of EU integration process, among youth in Serbia and the WB region . 

In CRTA she continued to work on empowerment of CSOs on the local level, focusing on direct work with informal groups and CSOs on strategic and organizational development, mentoring and monitoring of project cycle and sustainability as well as enrolled in the grant making process. In October 2022. she has obtained certification on Conflict Resolution and Mediation Skills from the Open College Network Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

Ms Markulić holds a BA degree in International Relations and MA in European Integration, both from the Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade. She speaks English, French and Russian language. Ms Markulić is an alumnae of OSCE Dialogue Academy for Young Women from Belgrade and Pristina.


Head of Local Branch Office, Belgrade

Ms Bulat holds BA in International Relations and MA in Project Management. Youth policy and youth empowerment are the focus of her work. Her civic engagement started in 1996 with Scouts. Since then, she has been volunteering, through which she has experienced how personal commitment can make social change.

Ms Bulat participated in the establishment of the National Youth Council of Serbia, going on to take up a leadership role as its Secretary General (2012 – 2017). She also worked as a consultant providing support in developing strategies, action plans and projects, providing training in organisational management, youth participation and intercultural learning in Serbia and abroad. She has been contracted by UN agencies, OSCE, Council of Europe, governmental institutions and various CSOs.

She was a member of the Working Group for the establishment of RYCO.


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