Smart
Team
Smart
Tim
COMMITTED
EXCEPTIONAL
Igor Bajok
When you sit for a drink with Igor, the glass is always half full; and once upon a time, such a drink sparked the idea of SMART. Since then, Igor has gained plenty of work experience in various organizations in the fields of democratization and civil society development. He has organized and run many workshops and even more public events. SMART knighted him our in-house trainer/consultant, mostly on the topic of NGO management.
Igor is an eternal optimist, so he calls this part of the 21st century “exciting times”, and our country “not the greatest of the worlds”. When he isn’t facilitating other organizations, he facilitates bees. In spite of exciting times, he would like to have more hours in a day so he can cross out some other ideas from his long list.
PROFESSIONAL
VERSATILE
Slađana Novota
Slađana is, unexpectedly, an engineer in marine biology and water resources management, who continued her education in the field of NGO and project management. She is one of SMART’s founders, member of the executive board, trainer and consultant. These roles usually include writing project proposals, fundraising and project management. She focuses on European funds, strategic planning and quality management system for civil society organizations. All her current duties and activities create an endless array of open tabs on her computer, but she prefers to handle things in person whenever she can.
Slađana is rationally emotional, which makes her extremely successful in building confidence in others, changing their attitudes and skills to make them more active in their communities. One by one rehabilitation towards better and happier society!
EXPERT
REALISTIC
Zvijezdana Schulz Vugrin
Zvijezdana is the guiding star of SMART and one of its founders. She has a lot of experience in the way organizations work, especially in terms of obtaining and coordinating financial support. Her secret weapons are planning, fundraising, creating budgets and financial reporting. Even though she does whatever is necessary in SMART, officially she is our executive director, trainer and consultant, with heaps of paper on her desk.
Zvijezdana is well known for her (brutal) honesty, both in business and private life. She honestly teaches others how to be better at what they do. She honestly helps those who help others. She honestly teaches and encourages others to help. If she had more time, she would rest. But she doesn’t.
CREATIVE
RESPONSIBLE
Tamara Fabac
Tamara has a Master’s in Pedagogy, but is a true master in being punctual. In SMART, she works as an expert associate on implementing EU projects concerning civil society development and volunteering. She also prepares and runs various workshops on these topics and advises individuals and organizations. As if that is not enough, she writes texts, prepares forms, organizes conferences and makes the first morning coffee – she’s a keeper!
Tamara first came into contact with SMART as a participant in the workshop about writing for EU projects, and karma rewarded her with the full-time position in SMART in that very field. She also likes to explain to children how every member of the community is important and contributes with his/her actions. And that we shouldn’t, for example, wait for someone else to pick up trash from the ground, but to do it ourselves. Hope the lesson sticks.
THOROUGH
PERSISTENT
Martina Bukovac
Martina is our economist and office assistant, and she assists indeed! She helps with all things from education to volunteer center. Martina is SMART’s left and right hand and gets everything ready on time – both paperwork and space. All the things that are “invisible” but essential for a successful realization of every education, workshop, conference – they don’t appear magically but were done by Martina. She is always one step ahead.
Martina never shuts down the volunteer database on her computer and uses that info to fill in numerous other documents, applications, forms, certificates, etc. She is mostly calm and quiet, and the only thing that can make her complain is injustice. So, may our Martina always be without complaints, for all our sakes.
DEDICATED
COMMUNICATIVE
Marta Hauser
Marta is a big part of SMART – both the word and the organization. She has a degree in psychology and a long history in SMART, especially in our Volunteer center Rijeka which she manages. She works a lot on promotion of volunteering and education about volunteering, as well as volunteer management. Whenever someone wants to know more about volunteering, Marta is their gal. She knows everything on the subject and has a great sense of humor.
Marta describes herself as empathic, which is supported by her elementary school volunteer experience in Red Cross. Our story with Marta began when she was a student and worked in SMART as an errand-runner. As soon as you meet her, it is clear she wants to help others, whether they are kids, elderly or dogs. And that’s why she manages the volunteer center so well. Behind every individual volunteering experience in Rijeka, there is Marta Hauser (in some way).
PRECISE
SKILLFUL
Daniela Vuković
Daniela is SMART’s warm and sunny office and finance manager, with very few cloudy days. In real life she is surrounded by paper, and in virtual life with Excel tables. Even though she mostly deals with numbers, she has lyrics for every occasion. Since her cheerfulness is usually contagious, we recommend communicating with Daniela in person.
Daniela fell in love with SMART in 2000, when she met our members while working for a different organization. SMART requited her love and we started going steady in 2004. To our delight, the relationship is still going strong. After a productive day, she enjoys a good book, film or music, and in the morning she ‘ll continue taking care of business.