Teams

Transition from Higher education to labour market and professional life

The potential of the youth in the Western Balkan region is very high, however education and employment remain one of the biggest challenges.
Exploring the needs of fresh graduates and young professionals in the Western Balkan region, this team intends to help the young generation in accomplishing a smooth transition into the labour market. In order to reach this goal, this WBAA team tackles the following subjects:

promoting fair competition in the market for young people
encouraging quality internships, apprenticeships and job shadowing
Capacity building of WBAA members and young people in the region – soft skills and career skills training
Promotion of the different benefits of the Erasmus+ Programme for personal and professional development and finally bridging the gap between academia and practice.

If you would like to become a member of this team, please log into the WBAA Online Community and submit a join request to the following group: https://community.western-balkans-alumni.eu/page/view-group-profile?id=65

Team

Dr. Aleksandar Nacev

Head of Team

Aleksandar Nacev PhD is the Dean of the Faculty of Detectives and Criminalistics at the European University in Skopje and is also the Executive Direct...

Dr. Aleksandar Nacev

Aleksandar Nacev PhD is the Dean of the Faculty of Detectives and Criminalistics at the European University in Skopje and is also the Executive Director of the think tank Center for Security Research (CSR). He holds a PhD degree in Security from the Institute for Security, Defense and Peace in Skopje. His previous work assignments include working as a diplomat in the Mission of the Republic of Macedonia to NATO HQ in Brussels and serving as the Director of the Directorate for Security of Classified Information of the Republic of Macedonia. His research interests include security, defense, information warfare, intelligence and counterintelligence. He is the author of three books and numerous scientific articles. He is fluent in English and has a good command of German. He has held this position within the WBAA Teams since January 2022.

Jolta Kacani

Vice Head for Advocacy

Dr. Jolta Kacani holds a PhD in International Economics from Polytechnic University of Barcelona and a Master of Science from the University of Manche...

Jolta Kacani

Dr. Jolta Kacani holds a PhD in International Economics from Polytechnic University of Barcelona and a Master of Science from the University of Manchester. She received additional certifications on Innovation Ecosystems and Entrepreneurship from University of Lund in Sweden, on Agile Project Management from International Labor Organization, and European Union Policy Evaluation from the Center of E xcellence in Belgium. She had authored in the Data Engineering and Communications Technologies book series of Springer International. She has published several articles journals with Springer and has received international recognition for innovative work on global value chains. She is currently a full time lecturer at the University of Tirana, Faculty of Economy and CEFE International certified trainer and coach of agile enterprises. She has trained and coached over seven hundred international enterprises. Dr. Kacani has an extensive professional experience in the management of large and complex international donor funded projects including World Bank, European Commission, United Nations, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, German Government, etc. Her previous appointments include management positions in Deloitte Central Europe and Director of Innovation, Technology and Statistics at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy. She has held this position within the WBAA Teams since January 2022.

Dinka Smajlagic

Vice Head for Communication

Dinka Smajlagic successfully completed a PhD training in statistical genetics from the University of Bergen. The project was fully funded by the Europ...

Dinka Smajlagic

Dinka Smajlagic successfully completed a PhD training in statistical genetics from the University of Bergen. The project was fully funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant. Dinka also holds a master degree in mathematical engineering, after graduating from the Erasmus Mundus Master Joint Programme during which she studied at the University of L’Aquila and University of Hamburg. She is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oslo. She has been an active member of the Erasmus Mundus Students and Alumni Association from the beginning of 2015 until the end of 2017. She joined WBAA 4 years ago and this is her first role as a team leader. Her mission as a Vice Head for Communication is to develop an internal and external communication strategy within this WBAA team. Additionally, she is planning to implement coordinated communications and support consistent messaging platform across the WBAA Board and other teams. Finally, she is planning to ensure positive relationships between the WBAA and (social) media with the aim to attract new members to our organisation. She has held this position within the WBAA Teams since January 2022.