Jelena is the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Western Balkans Institute (WEBIN), an NGO active in development cooperation programs and projects in the Western Balkans operating from the office located in Belgrade, Republic of Serbia. Apart from strategic leadership of organization, for the past decade Jelena has been a leading project developer, researcher and evaluator on a roster of high-end multi-beneficiary EU, BMZ and UN funding endeavors in Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Armenia, Georgia and Kosovo* addressing socio-economic development thematic areas. Following her stint at the EU Delegation of the European Commission to Serbia economic integration section where she contributed to team’s analysis on the country’s policy progress in the European Union accession process, she continued her career as a junior project developer and PMI certified project manager with the international public consulting company HD European Consulting Group working on technical assistance projects supporting Serbian public sector institutions in transferring and implementing EU IPA development assistance in a number of sectors. Prior to joining WEBIN, Jelena held the position of Program developer at World Vision foundation in Serbia. She has a track record in educational and training programs development, conducting of development assistance evaluation/impact analysis of implemented local, national and regional projects with the aim to maxima the scope and effects of the assistance provided in line with policy objectives and priorities. Since 2017 Jelena has been engaged as an external assessor of project proposals and funded projects final reports on EU and other donors’ annual grants calls. As a ToT trainer she has been actively supporting young adults’ empowerment in project development and management, and closure of schools-labour gaps through upgrading of soft skills. Jelena holds MA by research in European Studies, specialization track in European international politics and foreign aid from Maastricht University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in the Netherlands.