40) Ella Mische: Lives in NYC and is a song writer, actress & screenwriter.   Official Website
We Have Met Ella at the Association of Croatian American Professionals Meeting in April 2016 in
Washington DC. We are very impressed with her commitment to success in the entertainment field
and to being an activist in the Croatian American community. We congratulate Ella for being
our first approved "40 Under 40" Rising Croatian American Star.
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40) Ella Mische:   Ella is From NYC/ Croatia.
She Would Like to See More Young People on the ACAP and NFCA Panels.
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40) Ella Mische: & her parents, Tommi (great singer) & Nikola have lunch with Steve Rukavina in Philly
Click in the middle of Ella's video below: "While I Think Of You".

39) Derek Hohn: City=Pittsburgh?, College= , Job Title=CFU Fraternal Programs
It is nice to get in a pic of Bernie Luketich
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39) Derek Hohn:
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39) Derek Hohn: having fun with family
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38) Christina Cindrich: Los Angeles, California.  Television Producer, Host and Actress. Official Website Family from Duga Resa and near Zagreb.  Christina describes herself as a two time Emmy Award-winning
TV producer, host, writer, storyteller, adrenaline junkie and world traveler. Christina's amazing fifteen year
career in the entertainment business has encapsulated so many achievements and even twenty acting roles
in feature films and TV including: Desperate Housewives, Spider-Man 3, Boston Legal and many more.
She even had a stint as a news anchor in Boone, North Carolina. She's very proud of her work with the
show called "Private Islands" on AWE TV which attracted 25 million viewers and garnered seven Emmy
award nominations and and her two Emmy Awards.  Christina has produced and hosted over fifty

38) Christina Cindrich:   episodes in over forty countries with some of the world's premier executives and
CEOs across a multitude of industries and from luxury, travel, real estate, and environmental conservation.
Having an incredible strong social media presence makes her a major influencer with a high volume
sizeable reach to bring inspiring messages and campaigns to international audiences.  She has worked with
some of the biggest brands and organizations on the planet.  Christina's impact is growing exponentially
by the minute, as she continues to bring engaging content through her own media channels while impacting
thousands globally in the process.  Christina has developed a real expertise in the realm of travel and
educating folks about the beauty and best of locations from around the world.  She is hoping to do a major
project with the Croatian Tourist Board soon.  Christina was Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 1999 and
competed in the nationally televised Miss Teen USA Pageant in 1999.
Raised in Pittsburgh, Pa, now lives in LA.
An extreme work ethic, a careful eye for detail and a strong dedication to her craft

38) Christian Cindrich:
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37) Mario Talanga:  Port Richie Florida (North of Tampa Bay).  Mario currently is a medical student working to become a physician, specializing in cardiology. Born in Sarajevo, his family fled to Hamburg Germany to escape the war that broke up Yugoslavia. They were fortunate the United States offered them permanent living status . Since Mario did Not know a single word of English, he was placed in a class for students who speak English as a second language. He was determined to learn the language quickly, because he knew he had potential. In high school, he was enrolled in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, a challenging set of classes that prepared students for college (also did Advanced Placement).
He graduated HS in 2009 as the IB salutatorian, an honor awarded to the student with the 2nd highest GPA

37) Mario Talanga:   in the school.  He received a prestigious scholarship at the University of Florida, his major was Health Science and he graduated in 2013 with summa cum laude honors. Next he attended Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Bradenton, FL for medical schooling.  He will be graduating in 2018. Currently, has clinical rotations and realizes that he made the correct choice in becoming a doctor.
He was on numerous honor rolls throughout his educational career.  He has achieved 500 plus hours of community service, primarily from volunteering in the hospital setting.  Wow, his parents never had the option to attend college and now their son is on his way to become a successful doctor in America.
Talk about a success story, these are the kinds of immigrants we want.  Obviously, their family eats delicious Croatian food and speak Croatian at home.  His father is President of the Croatian-American Club of Florida and his mother is the social activity organizer.  Mario he maintains the club’s website. This active club is based in St. Petersburg, the Tampa Bay area.

37) Mario Talanga:
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36) Jennifer Rukavina:  Job Title= Chief Meteorologist WPSD.  Raised in Canton, OH.   Website
Currently lives in Paducah KY. Chief Meteorologist since 2007 overing the evening broadcast. Community
Service-National Weather Service.  Family from: Small Village in Lika, Croatia.  Jennifer Rukavina is
proud to have followed her dreams of becoming a meteorologist and working to educate through public out
reach concerning weather & climate.  It was a goal she has had since she was a small child who was scared
of thunderstorms.  Employed by the same television station for the past 13 years at the NBC Affiliate,
WPSD Local 6 in Paducah, Kentucky.  Jennifer began as the weekend meteorologist and then promoted to Chief Meteorologist in 2007 covering the evening broadcasts.  Jennifer's work has been recognized

36) Jennifer Rukavina:  with one Edward R. Murrow Award, three Emmy Nominations, 3-time Best
Weather Award recipient by the Kentucky Associated Press, and One Best "Series/Documentary" Award
by the Kentucky Associated Press, and most recently the Glen Gerberg Weather & Climate Summit Awards
for Outstanding Accomplishment-Contribution.  For the past three years, Jennifer has been recognized
as the most accurate forecast in the region by WeatherRate.  Jennifer has been able to visit with
thousands of children and many civic groups to teach the importance of weather times preparedness and
climate change of the future.  Jennifer proudly marched as a young girl several in the annual "Canton, Ohio
International Parade" with her Grandmother Theresa Rukavina with the Croatian and Hungarian groups.

35) Marco Paulic:  Cleveland, Ohio.
DRAFT
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 Rocky River, Ohio. Career Achievements=Although I am finishing up my undergraduate degree, I have built many professional relationships through my volunteerism and service within the dietetic community. As secretary for the Student Dietetic Association in 2014-15, I arranged numerous events such as Apple Crunch Day and Make A Difference Day in and around the University of Akron (UA) campus. I always try to incorporate nutrition and education at these functions because I believe people learn best when they can taste the facts. Now, I volunteer as the student liaison for the Greater Akron Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a professional organization that connects professionals and students in the greater Akron area. I maintain my full time student status while also collecting internship hours in the Coordinated Program at UA. In this unique 2-year program, I balance a 3.5 GPA along with clinical rotations in hospitals, schools, government programs, skilled nursing facilities, and long-term care facilities. I have collected to date over 400 clinical hours in the accompaniment of a dietitian. As my hunger for culture and language continued to grow, I earned a Spanish minor and certificate for the health professions while working in the community. I am able to communicate with Cleveland’s strong Hispanic population in my hospital rotations to motivate them in making healthier life style changes. As a much deserved break from my never ending homework, I teach folk dance every Saturday from 9AM to 2PM in the Cleveland Junior Tamburitza (CJT). Working with children teaches me not only patience but the importance of smiling. CJT has nearly 100 members, ranging from 4 to 21 years of age. Every child teaches me something new when Saturday practice comes along. To make sure I expand my knowledge in the art of folk dance, I am a member of Zelena Polja, an adult Croatian folk dance group, and attended Ljetna Å kola Hrvatskoga Folklora in 2012. Future projects=At the end of this year, I plan on taking the state registration exam to become a registered dietitian. I hope to help many ethnic communities in Northeast Ohio become food secure and manage chronic diseases through nutrition. My family experienced that difficulty when migrating from Croatia. By working with hospitals and having many resources at my disposal, I can organize health fairs in the communities which can connect each family with the appropriate services. To spread my passion for food, I dream of opening a bakery, like the many sprinkled across Istria. I want to help reignite the relationship between Americans and food. While traveling and visiting family in Croatia, their own success in entrepreneurship has most definitely inspired me to become one in the food industry. It would be a personal goal of mine to attend culinary school as my father in Opatija. To help strengthen American’s relationship with food, I would introduce cooking classes along with nutrition at my bakery. While across seas, I would take advantage of learning more about the enteral/parenteral nutrition (tube feeds) that Europe has to offer. The USA has been trying to bridge the gap with Europe in the world of dietetics and I believe I can certainly help. Activities or Groups=I have been involved with the Cleveland Junior Tamburiza since 2010 as a folk dancer. In 2013, I was asked to become an assistance dance instructor. Also since 2010, I have been a member of the Croatian Fraternal Union of America and have participated in every annual junior tamburitza festival. Croatian pride and heritage=My Croatian heritage has inspired me to work hard so I can share my future dreams with my family while supporting them. My family has taught me the importance of loving and caring for one another and that value is engraved on my heart. My maternal grandmother reminds me how she had the bare minimum growing up. She still continues to share a few almonds and a piece of fruit with family at Christmas. This tradition inspires me to continue into modern America with old Croatian traditions. Awards, Community Service, Other=An award that I am most proud of receiving is the Most Outstanding Student in Nutrition Communication Award. It demonstrates my eagerness to work with the community and make nutrition understandable. During the past summer, I volunteered as a camp counselor at the Akron Children’s Hospital Diabetes Camp. I monitored children’s blood sugar levels while they participated in daily activities and worked with nurses in providing care. I also volunteered for the Akron Children’s Phenylketonuria (PKU) Camp. PKU is a metabolic disorder in which children are unable to digest proteins. I worked with campers in developing snack recipes that are low in overall protein content. Another event in where I worked with children is the We Run This City Youth Marathon Program. This is a 14-week program that collaborates with the YMCA of Greater Cleveland to train runners for four race options. I taught 125 teenagers every Friday how nutrition plays a vital role in sports and overall healthy living. Other community service projects I feel accomplished are the St. Bernard Health Fair, where I translated between medial students and limited-English speaking Hispanics, and the Shaw Jewish Community Center of Akron, where I developed community news flyers with respect to the Jewish faith and food laws. Family=I am proud to say that I come from a long bloodline of Istrijani and KordunaÅ¡i people. My maternal great grandparents were born in Butlug (a village near Pazin) and Mutvoran (another village near MarÄ ana). Those were the villages where both my grandparents were born and where many of my present family lives. Tracing back to my great grandparents on my father’s side, generations have resided in a hilltop village called Radovica. From my grandma’s kitchen window, one can admire the historic town called Cetingrad. My father's family has since moved to Slunj and Plitvice. Having the two distinct regions of Croatia flow in my veins has taught me how to respect the ocean and the mountains, understand how local cuisine came to be, and how to love family no matter how many kilometers separate us.
Dance Instructor Cleveland Jr Tamburitzans

35) Marco Paulic: - work/ hobby/ fun/ vacation picture
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34) Ana Vidovic:   Baltimore Maryland.    World Renown Classical Guitarist.   Official Website
Ana is truly an Ambassador for Croatia through her music and her performances all over the world. She has won first prizes in the Albert Augustine International Competition in Bath, England, the Fernando Sor competition in Rome, Italy and the Francisco Tarrega competition in Benicasim, Spain. Other top prizes include the Eurovision Competition for Young Artists, Mauro Giuliani competition in Italy, Printemps de la Guitare in Belgium and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York. In Croatia, the guitarist has performed with the Symphony Orchestra and on Croatian Radio and Television, as well as having been featured in three television documentaries by the eminent Croatian film director Petar Krelja.

34) Ana Vidovic:   Ana comes from the small town of Karlovac near Zagreb, Croatia, and started playing guitar at the age of five, and by seven had given her first public performance. At the age of 11 she was performing internationally, and at 13 became the youngest student to attend the prestigious National Musical Academy in Zagreb where she studied with Professor Istvan Romer. Ana’s reputation in Europe led to an invitation to study with Manuel Barrueco at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore from which she graduated and then off around the world sharing her classical guitar talent.
Click in the middle of Ana's video below to view one of her many Performances on YouTube.com

33) Alex Salopek:   Previously, Alex had been named the Access Services Librarian at the Sister Helen
Sheehan Library as well as being the Acting Head of Circulation in the summer of 2015.  He first started
working in libraries when he was a student at the University of Chicago because of his advanced studies
in Croatian, Modern Greek, Japanese and Latin. Alex is graduate of the Cleveland Junior
Tamburitzans Croatian Pride. Alex actively supports both Cleveland Junior Tamburitzans and
Zagreb Junior Tamburitzans, attending functions whenever able. Alex is a member of the Croatian
Fraternal Union and has recently performed with Zelena Polja, an adult Tamburitzan group.

32) Peter Hazdovac:  San Pedro, California.  Owner: Adriatic Travel/ Real Estate Agent. Official Website
Activist, Croatian American Club of San Pedro. Family from Mljet and Konavle, Croatia.
Began working full time at his family's travel agency, Adriatic Travel that has been in San Pedro
since 1974. Working for a family business that has been in San Pedro for close to 40 years has provided
the opportunity to work with many Croatian Americans who reside in our area.

32) Peter Hazdovac:   Peter now brings the trust and integrity his family has built over the years in the
community to his work as a real estate agent. Over the past three years, Peter has become a multi
million dollar producer every year for Keller Williams of Los Angeles Harbor. Peter has been involved
with the Libertas Foundation of Los Angeles for many years. After being a member for many years,
in 2016 Peter became secretary of the nationally known, Croatian American Club of San Pedro.

31) Maria Sentic:  Born and Raised in Chicago, Illinois.  Graduate of Northwestern University. 
Partner in Chicago Accounting Firm.  Family from Ljubuski and Siroki Brijeg, Herzegovina. 
Maria is a Certified Public Accountant, and the CEO and Founder of AccountingLeap LLC, a technology platform providing outsourced accounting and finance help, business process automation, and strategic consulting. She was accepted into the second cohort of the WiSTEM (Women in STEM) accelerator at 1871, Chicago's top technology incubator. In 2013, Maria had co-founded Cloudsourced Accounting, a successful online accounting and cloud integration firm. After only 6 months her company was nominated for Partner of the Year at the Xero accounting conference. In 2015, Cloudsourced Accounting was acquired

31) Maria Sentic:  by a large CPA firm.  Maria writes a blog about accounting, technology, and business topics at  Maria Sentic.com  and was recently featured in Women in Adria online magazine.
Maria is a member of the Illinois CPA Society. Maria is the Treasurer of the Association of Croatian American Professionals (ACAP) and one of the founding members and currently President of the Chicago Chapter of ACAP. She is on the organizing committee for the 2nd annual conference of ACAP to be held
in Chicago on May 12, 2017. Maria is active member in the Croatian American community and has been
a parishioner of St. Jerome's Croatian Catholic Church in Chicago her whole life.
She is a member of the humanitarian organization Croatian Woman Branch #1 in Chicago.

30) Nickolas J Begich III   Chugiak, Alaska.
Founder and President- FarShore Partners. Family from Podlapaca in Lika, Croatia. Nick has over a
decade of business and information technology management experience, and has advised global
development teams for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to startups. CEO and Founder of
FarShore Partners a custom software development firm with a Zagreb office;

30) Nick Begich III:  and co-founder of Dashfire a start-up enabler assisting companies with business
architecture & technology development where he has launched over 40 high- potential startups through
strategic application development services; multi- year Top Achiever in the Ford Motor Company
Information Technology Leadership Program; served as the Interim CTO of record to several
client-partners; was elected Co-Chair Finance, State of Alaska Republican Party.

29) Marina Masic:  White Plains, NY.   Owner – Lumina NY Company, Hypnagogic Light and Lucia
Light Technology. Marina Masic, Ph.D. is clearly an innovative philosopher and has worked in the fields of art, education and wellness for over fifteen years. She received a Masters in Art Therapy from NYU and her doctorate from The European Graduate School in Philosophy, Media and Communications. She also pursued graduate studies in performance interactive media art and art and social change. Marina has utilized and mixed all combined interests in philosophy, neuroscience, nonfiction and art into actual career opportunities. She has worked as a Professor and also, a Therapist at Columbia University Medical Center She has facilitated a Mindfulness meditation program in over ten public and private schools.

29) Marina Masic:   She was a journalist at the UN for Climate Change as a student. She has been a professor of Media Art at Manhattanville College and College of New Rochelle and faculty in Art Therapy at Columbia University Medical Center in the Developmental Neuropsychiatry Program. Marina is the founder of a company called Lumina NY which brings new ways of envisioning the world in a praxis combining revolution light technology, healing arts with consciousness and life coaching. Her future plans include publishing a new book of philosophy that delves into more awareness about consciousness and healing. Her research and new company explores consciousness, multi sensory experiences with healing principles and a new means and pathway to envision the world through hypnagogic light. In her youth, Marina was awarded cultural ambassador for Rotary International as a Croatian American young professional in Germany. Marina has collaborated with Croatian artist Zoran Orlic and published a book during the Croatian war years to address the arts and art therapy. She was also in a Croatian Folk Art Dance troupe which toured Croatia in 1999. Family from Lika (Velebit) and Devcicgrad (near Starigrad) Croatia.

28) Ivana Masic:  Scarsdale, NY.  Valhalla High School Teacher.  Multi Dimensional Artist.
Long time member, Kardinal Stepinac Folklore Group Family from Lika, Croatia.
Ivana proudly teaches High School Art at Valhalla High School in New York. Ivana collaborates often with
various artists, musicians, producers, directors, writers, educators & healers. Notably, she also acted as art
director for the NY based company called The Last Automat Press and designed over 30 book covers.
Ivana also enjoys being involved with the Croatian community and various types of philanthropic work.

28) Ivana Masic:   She currently acts as the Education and Arts Director for CNYLA, a non-profit
organization, which promotes education and culture among young Croatian professionals. Ivana has also
been added to The Internet Movie Database for her artful achievements in film production and acted as
Art Director for the romantic horror film, Affections, directed by R. Barrieles. She has also composed
and recorded her music on the award-winning feature film, Fatalis, directed by S. Mueller.
Ivana has enjoyed singing vocals for the new album by Ludvig & Stelar: Beyond Second Thoughts and
worked with music producer, Damir Ludvig from Zagreb on this project. Ivana's art has been featured
in over thirty exhibits and shows the past fifteen years.

27) Tom Forti:   St. Paul, Minnesota.  Owner of Sunrise Creative Gourmet.
Family from Baric Draga, Croatia.  Tom is the proud owner of his family's 4th generation gourmet food
business. Located in Hibbing, Minnesota, the Sunrise Bakery was established in 1913 by his great grand
father, Guilio, an immigrant from Rome. Over time, their product line evolved from artisan Italian breads
to a wide variety of Eastern European ethnic specialty foods, including sarma and potica. Tom moved back
to Hibbing to help transform the family business from a retail deli/bakery to a gourmet food manufacturer.

27) Tom Forti:  Their gourmet pastas are now sold in over 300 grocery stores in the Upper Midwest,
and their distribution continues to grow. Tom launched his own gluten free pasta line and also recently
opened a gourmet specialty market and restaurant called Sunrise Creative Gourmet in a trendy area of
St. Paul, Minnesota.

26) Daniel Radocaj:   California, Maryland.  Patuxent River Naval Air Station.  Lt. Commander, US Navy Flight Pilot.  Daniel has currently achieved the rank of Lieutenant Commander.  After graduation from Purdue, he was commissioned as an officer in the US Navy.  It was always his dream to fly and accomplished that when he became an F/A-18 pilot.  Professionally he has been awarded four Navy and Marine Corp Commendation Medals, three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals as well a Humanitarian Service Medal. He has flown over 2600 hours and has spent over two and a half years deployed onboard aircraft carriers during 6 deployments and done 600 carrier landings on 11 different aircraft carriers.  In 2009 he graduated from the US Naval Test Pilot School and thus, became a test pilot.

26) Daniel Radocaj:   was the first test pilot from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 23 to man the first Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch system in 2010. He was the 2011 Naval Test Wing Atlantic Test Pilot of
the Year as well as 2011 NDIA Naval Tester of the Year. In addition he was recognized with the 2013
Purdue University Engineering Young Alumni Award. He had graduated in 2000 from Purdue University
with a Bachelors Degree in Aerospace Engineering and 2001 with a Masters Degree too.  Presently, he's finishing his Executive Masters of Business Administration in 2017.  He's close to becoming the commanding officer of an F/A-18 test squadron and help test and develop the next generation of aircraft and weapons for the US Navy. In the long term, his biggest dream has always been to become an astronaut. Daniel has applied with NASA in 2012 and 2016 and as of fall 2016, he's made it through the first round
of selection and will hear more in the spring of 2017. Daniel has attended a few NFCA meetings and did attend the first Association of Croatian American Professionals meeting in April 2016. His father,
Mijo Radocaj is a long time NFCA officer and two time President. Dan has always enjoyed visiting his
Croatian family in the village of Generalski Stol near Karlovac.

Raised in Massillon Ohio
(ACAP)
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Lt. Commander Daniel Radocaj inheadig

25) Biljana Lovrinovic:  Lakeline, Ohio.  Successful Entrepreneur-Family Business.  Left Bosnia in 1999.
Active St. Paul's Croatian Catholic Church.  Founder Cleveland Croatian Business Network.  Family
from Travnik, Bosnia and Herzogovina.  Involved with Sound of Croatia Radio Program.  Biljana has
been very successful helping her mother, friends and other startups get the marketing and entrepreneurial
business advice crucial in the start-up phase.  Her expertise & focus is with the ever important marketing
and brand awareness consultancy and other effective communication solutions to grow your business.

25) Biljana Lovrinovic:  Biljana hopes to someday advise clients in Croatia and Bosnia
and Herzegovina and to create global win-win connections via technology and exchange programs.
She has been a very active Croatian American activist with St. Paul’s Croatian Catholic Church:
singing with choir, teaching the Croatian language and member of the Finance Committee.
She s very proud that she created a Cleveland Croatian Business network with over 125 members.
Biljana has been a member of the adult Tamburitzans group Zelena Polja.  She has been
active with other political projects and even attended the NFCA convention in Cleveland in 2011.

24) Aaron Stazicich: City= , College= , Job Title=
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23) Emily Halasha:  Cleveland Ohio.   College Associate Management Position, Ohio Medical Mutual. Emily is a recent graduate, just beginning her career with the largest health insurer in Ohio, Medical Mutual. She was selected from a pool of 500 applicants nationwide for one of the six coveted positions in the College Associate Program. In this program, the six graduates spend the first year of rotating through each department of the company to learn all about the business of health insurance. Emily intends to go to law school in the near future and become a general practice attorney who specializes in immigration issues. She plans to continue her mother’s work of providing high quality legal services to the Croatian- American community. Emily graduated from Cleveland State University with a degree in Health Science in May 2016.

23) Emily Halasha: During her pursuit of an undergraduate degree, she served in Student Government and was elected Student Body President her junior year. As President, she represented over 17,000 students on a variety of committees and councils, most notably the President's Council on Diversity and the Provost's Council on Sexual Violence Prevention. She presented to the Board of Trustees and represented the university at the Ohio State House and in Washington D.C. for various lobbying events. Emily has been a member of the Croatian Fraternal Union of America for 22 years. Currently, she is the President of Zelena Polja Adult Tamburica of Cleveland and is working to make it a 501(C3) organization in order to further promote the preservation of Croatian culture. She is a proud graduate of American Zagreb Jr. Tamburica, where she played the Brac and Prim. She was a member for ten years and says she was able to learn so much about Croatian heritage and culture through this experience. She is also a member of the Association of Croatian American Professionals. She has already volunteered for several non-profit organizations including United Way of Greater Cleveland, and Susan G. Komen Northeast since joining Medical Mutual. Family is from Donji Dragonozc (Turoplje region) which is now part of the city of Zagreb.

Graduate of Jr Tamburitzans in Clev. Pres Zelena Polja and once again
perform at the CFU TamFest this November.

22) Filip Pirsl: City= Wash DC area, College= , Job Title=
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22) Filip Pirsl: - Family picture
Sonya Pirsl, Croatian Ambassador Josko Paro and Filip Pirsl.

21) Mark Yelich:  Washington DC.  Immigration Attorney.
Croatian Teacher-English Translator/Cleveland Students-Political Guests President-Founding Member
of Croatian Youth Club of Cleveland Family from Zagreb, Knin, Marija Bistrica, Stolac, Croatia
and Pozega, Herzogovina. Mark  focuses his practice on employment-based immigration corporate immigration law and his practice focuses on helping clients transfer and retain elite talent from around the world. Mark represents clients in non-immigrant and immigrant visa matters before the Department of Labor, Department of State, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Mark has particular subject matter expertise with all permanent residency matters.

21) Mark Yelich: He has had a lot of success and enjoys representing small clients and start-up companies and to help them grow and mature over the years. Unrelated to his legal practice Mark is very proud of his work for the Croat Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2003 and 2004. Mark had the unique opportunity to work directly with Dr. Dragan Covic and serve as a member of his Cabinet. Mark was involved in numerous domestic and Croatian or BH Croat international projects, and would highlight the international investment conference that was held in Mostar in February 2004. Mark is a proud member and attendee of the first Association of Croatian American Professionals (CroAmPro) meeting.

20) Jelena Rudela:  Anaheim, California.  Director of Student Success, Concordia College (CA).
Past National Federation of Croatian Americans Officer-Treasurer. Currently, Jelena is back in California and a Director at Concordia College and serves on the Admissions Committee and Women’s Leadership Task Force. Jelena finished her studies at UCLA in political studies in 2005 and moved to Washington, DC and had Rudy Perpich Fellowship with the NFCA and continued involvement and was NFCA Treasurer for two years. Jelena’s thirst for more education and a MBA took her to Mexico City and completed it in Kiel Germany. Her MBA experience brought her a consulting position with Speyside Corporate Relations and within her tenure, exciting collaboration to produce in depth market reports and presentations for

20) Jelena Rudela:   multinationals seeking market entry into Latin America. She is very proud of her work and their effort to successfully garner approval for a prominent Hepatitis C drug with this consulting position Jelena has done due diligence about several Croatian business opportunities and could end up back there as an entrepreneur. She even volunteered her time for two months to help elect the first woman President of Croatia. Jelena comes from a very active Croatian American household and during high school was a member of the Los Angeles Croatian Folklore Ensemble. She remains an active member of the NFCA and is a member of the Association of Croatian American Professionals
Famly is from Radovin, near Zadar and Zdrelac, Otok Pasman.

19) James D. Kresnik:   Omaha, Nebraska.  Residential Real Estate Investor. Family from Kljuc, Croatia.
Lifetime Member of Croatian Fraternal Union (CFU).  Treasurer of Croatian Cultural Society of Omaha.
Jim proudly comes from a family of serious long term Croatian American activists.  Jim's professional
career after graduating from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, put his banking and finance major to
good use at Applied Underwriters, the Omaha World Herald Company and First National Bank of Omaha
before Jim decided to earn an MBA and make a move into the real-estate investment market.
Today he owns and manages a seven-figure RE portfolio and working with college students to retirees.
Jim has been such a dedicated and committed Croatian with so many groups and even with the Croatian

19) James D Kresnik:   Catholic Union before it merged with the CFU.  Jim is the organist and leads the choir for the St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church founded 100 years ago by his Croatian great-grandfathers. He remains active with the CFU Lodge #101 and has been the treasurer for the Croatian Cultural Society of Omaha for ten years now.  Jim wears so many hats and even cuts the lawn around the Omaha Croatian Hall which was the host site of the NFCA convention ten years ago.  Jim has been a leader with many Croatian charitable activities and loves to visit his relatives in Croatia and continues to learn the Croatian language. Jim is the son of long time NFCA Board Member, Jim Kresnik and the nephew of NFCA founding member Joe Cupich. and he is the cousin of the new Cardinal from Chicago, Blaise Cupich is his cousin.

18) Marko Buljan:  Palo Alto, California (south of San Francisco, north of San Jose).
Commercial Real Estate Associate, Marcus & Millichap Inc.  Executive Board, Croatian Scholarship Fund
Family from Imotski and a village outside of Dubrovnik, Croatia.  Marko is an associate at the elite
commercial real estate offices of Marcus and Millichap in Palo Alto, California.  Marko represents both
buyers and sellers of investment properties in the Bay area and works with both private institutional
investors who own prominent properties in Silicon Valley.  He provides an extraordinary commitment to
the clients he serves and takes great pride in helping his clients exceed their investment goals.

18) Marko Buljan:   Marko is active as the Secretary on the Executive Board of the Croatian Scholarship
Fund (CSF), a nonprofit organization based out of Northern California that provides college scholarships
to deserving students in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.  In addition to serving as Secretary,
Marko helps organize an annual golf tournament fundraiser in Northern CA to raise funds for the CSF.
 Marko recently became a member of the Association of Croatian American Professionals (ACAP)
and attended the first conference in Washington D.C. in April 2016.  He is currently involved in
starting a Silicon Valley ACAP chapter for this organization.

17) Kristin Vukovic:  New York City.   Kristin is a very talented writer with a focus on travel and has real passion for Croatian projects. She's working on a book of fiction based on her experiences on Pag island. The Croatian National Tourist Board is sponsoring her 2016 individual Croatia trip (Istria/Kvarner/Zagreb), where she will be writing a feature assignment for BBC's Good Food Magazine and an article about Pag cheese chocolates, Paskinjice, for Culture Magazine. During her undergraduate years at Columbia University, from 2002 through 2006, she was fortunate to study a year of Croatian language with Kansas University's six-week summer program, "Language and Culture in Dubrovnik". Also, while pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Nonfiction Writing at Columbia University, she was elected editor-in-chief of

17) Kristin Vukotic:   Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art (published annually).  Here's her wonderful literary essay about her grandmother's Croatian cooking which was published in Connecticut Review in 2007. After graduating in 2009, she has pursued travel writing with a passion.  She proudly has written about Croatian culture and cuisine for print and online publications such as Conde Nast Traveller India, Culture, Afar, Food & Wine, Wine Enthusiast. In 2011, Kristin covered the 6th Annual Croatian Days of Cheese Festival, held at the Pag island cheese factory. In 2012, Ivan Miletic, a historian and librarian in Zagreb and coauthor of From the Adriatic to Lake Erie: A History of Croatians in Greater Cleveland, asked her to help edit a book project, Croatians in America: A Photo Monograph.  In 2012, Sirana Gligora invited her to work on a book project about restaurants on the island of Pag that highlighted Pag cheese (Paski sir) in their dishes. Kristin has been a reporter for the Croatian Chronicle and some highlights include: interview with President Ivo Josipovic in Dubrovnik during the 2011 summer festival; wrote an article about the grand opening of the Croatia Club of Tampa Bay, Florida, attended by then Croatian Ambassador Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. She has attended "Croatian Professionals in New York" meetings and took Croatian classes at Saint Cyril and Methodius Croatian Church in Manhattan during her college years. Family from Svarca Donja, Karlovac.

Do we need to verify NYC

16) Daniel Glad: Chicago, Illinois.  Special Assistant U.S. Attorney’s Office for Northern District of Illinois Office's Criminal Division and General Crimes Section. Family from Gorski Kotar plus villages near Vrbovsko and Rijeka. Daniel is a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney and investigates and prosecutes a variety of federal offenses, including fraud, bank robbery and embezzlement, and illegal possession and sale of narcotics and firearms. Prior to being the Special Assistant, Daniel was a prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice and Assistant Inspector General at the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General. Daniel was a PILI Fellow and worked in Zagreb, Croatia, where his work focused on implementing judicial

16) Daniel Glad:   and institutional reform in a post-Communist country. He was also involved in research related to creating a regulatory framework and educating Croatian lawyers in modern legal practices. Daniel is a member of the American Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association. He was a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan law school. He is also a former Indiana Junior Tamburitzan and very active over the years with St. Jerome's Croatian Catholic Church in Chicago. He is been a member of the Croatian American Bar Association, Association of Croatian American Professionals and the Croatian Fraternal Union.
Also worked in Zagreb

15) Kelsey Aho:  Anchorage, Alaska. ORISE Research Participant at the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. Resilience and Adaptation Fellow at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Environmentalist-
Intercultural Dialogue in South Eastern Europe. Family from Sisak and Zagreb, Croatia. Lifetime Croatian
Fraternal Union Member (Lodge 1014-GA) with Cro grandparents that let to her interest in the Croatian
language, culture, music and then to the Croatian landscape. Professionally and academically, Kelsey's
environmental work has been focused on human communities along political boundaries and her

Raised in Georgia. Lived in Cincinnati. Currently lives in Alaska.

15) Kelsey Aho:  research and special initiatives have taken her to Croatia, BiH, Kosovo and Montenegro.
Her project, Balkans Peace Park project has involved managing and coordinating youth programs and
volunteers. These programs focus on the locally shared environment, as a tool for lessening political
tensions that cascade through borders and from higher levels of govt. Kelsey has had six years of
experience with the Balkan alpine ecosystem, specifically the Dinaric Alps. In the long term, she hopes
to return to Croatia as a legal advocate for the region's transboundary environmental features which
have no political boundaries. Winner of CFU-Rotary scholarships and the Davis Project-Peace Grant.

14) Mario Govic:  City= Delray Beach, Florida.
Mario is the current founder and President of Govic Capital.  Family from Brodarica, Sibernik, Croatia.
In 2006, Mario joined MetLife and made his first million dollars, in earnings, in one year at the age of 27,
which was unheard of at the firm.  Mario was a member of the prestigious Chairman's Council for the six years he was with Metlife.

14) Mario Govic:  In 2012 he started his own firm, Govic Capital in order to be fully independent for his
clients and to start a hedge fund and other ventures, not possible working under a corporate umbrella.
Mario's firm specializes in wealth management for high net worth individuals & families.  Mario currently
owns a handful of companies and involved in numerous business ventures and is excited about investing
in Croatia, in the not too distant future.  Mario represents the American Dream and is an inspiration
for every young person with a drive to succeed. Video below: Daughter Marissa debut song "Ready".

13) Sam Miltich:   Grand Rapids, MN.   Gypsy Guitarist and Tamburitzan.  Official Website
Family from Rtina and Miletici Croatia. Sam is a jazz guitarist born and raised in the woods of
northern Minnesota. He is a musician by profession and plays regularly in the Upper Midwest as a soloist
and with his band the Clearwater Hot Club. In addition to gypsy swing and traditional jazz his musical
interests include Brazilian choro, French musette, Eastern European tamburitza and traditional
folk music. After hearing the music of the late gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, Sam decided to…

13) Sam Miltich:   dedicate himself to the study of gypsy jazz. By the time he was eighteen he was touring
touring with the Robin Nolan Trio in the U.S. and Europe.  He would later join the Hot Club of San
Francisco for two years before starting his own band, the Clearwater Hot Club.  In 2010, he fulfilled a
dream he had since he was 5 years old & started the Big Dipper Jazz Band- a traditional six-piece jazz band

12) Nancy Mikacenic Allen:   Seattle, Washington.   Family from Zagreb and island of Susak, Crotia.
Nancy is co-founder and CFO of Stay Alfred, one of the nation’s largest corporate housing and short term rental companies that has recently received recognition from Inc. Magazine as one of the 500 fastest growing companies in the United States.  In four short years, her company has grown to $25 million in revenue without any outside capital or debt and employ seventy people in Washington State.  Prior to starting her own company, Nancy became Director of Investor Relations for American Capital Group where in 2009 she received 'Employee of the Year' for outstanding performance during the Great Recession.
While working for American Capital Group, she earned her MBA from Seattle University, then transitioned

12) Nancy Mikacenic Allen:   to law school and graduated summa cum laude from Gonzaga University. Nancy is a member of the Washington State Bar. After college Nancy lived in Zagreb, Croatia where she was a translator for the Department of Agriculture and the Croatian Ministry of Defense.  She had the opportunity to interface with Croatia’s emerging leaders and European Union delegates.  Currently, Nancy is a member of the Association of Croatian American Professionals (ACAP) and attended the first annual conference in Washington, D.C.   She has also volunteered for CroatiaFest in Seattle, an organization that celebrates Croatian heritage.

11) Carmen Mikacenic:  Seattle Washington. Assistant Professor, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
University of Washington Hospital. Dr. Mikacenic in her current role, takes care of patients with interstitial lung diseases and those who are critically ill in the intensive care unit. She is still actively involved in biomedical research, focused on understanding how common genetic changes affect immune responses in lung disease and critical disease. She was summa cum laude in BioChemistry at Tufts University. She went
on to University of Washington School of Medicine for medical school and had internal medicine training at Brigham and Women's Hospital, a Harvard hospital. Dr. Mikacenic has won multiple medical honors,
grants, fellowships and professional awards. Her University of Washington Hospital laboratory is focused

11) Carmen Mikacenic:   on the pathways of critical illness which leads to an inflammatory reaction and to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. She hopes to secure more National Institute of Health funding soon and for possible collaboration with some Croatian academics with similar research. She is a proud Croatian with a "Zagreb" license plate and long time connection to CroatiaFest, the annual Croatian heritage festival in Seattle. She is an active member of the Association of Croatian American Professionals (ACAP) and with the organization's Health Sciences section. As a college student, she was an All-NESCAC Academic Team Member, Soccer (1999) while at Tufts.  Family from Zagreb and from Susak, Croatia.

10) Joe Hovanic:  Washington, D.C.  Employer: Association of American Medical Colleges.
Title: Sr Specialist, Enterprise Risk Management.  Joe has been fortunate to have many different experiences in the Washington, D.C. area that got him to his current position. He worked as an intern on Capitol Hill and also, at a European think tank while in college at George Mason University. He says the people he has met from all walks of life and backgrounds has been incredible, and has been a huge influence on him. From there, he entered the nonprofit world, working first for an international development firm and a trade association before landing at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
His current major project is the implementation of the COSO framework within their organization for the

10) Joe Hovanic: Enterprise Risk program. Professionally, he had the privilege of being in a position of facilitation of communication and projects between numerous private, public, and nonprofit entities.
He feels that a big part of his achievement in his professional career is the work he does with the community, assisting the legal team with pro bono cases with the Washington Legal Clinic, working with the homeless and vulnerable populations in the nation's capital. Joe believes it's such a rewarding experience making tangible improvements on people's lives who truly need it. While working full time
at the AAMC, he has also taken the Virginia real estate exam in September. He’s excited about a possible
new venture in the real estate world in conjunction with his day job. Joe's Croatian great grandparents
worked in the textile mills near Pittsburgh and then settled on a family farm in Warren County, PA.
These values and ethics of hard work from his grandparents really shaped him and his whole way of life.
He credits the faith of his family and ancestors (Catholic) for influencing him and his desire to help people both in my professional and personal life. That's the pride he takes in his Croatian heritage, and which he
tries to exemplify every day. Joe is a current member of the Association of Croatian American Professionals (ACAP). He proudly was active in promoting Croatian cultural awareness and other interests at international student functions while he attended George Mason University.
Family is from Vrbova, a town in Slavonia and a family house is on Hvar.

my s/b his, ACAP issue, AAMC spelled out twice,
such a rewarding experience being able to make a tangible improvement on people's lives who truly need it.
such a rewarding experience making tangible improvements on people's lives who truly need it.

9) Ivana Peric:  White Plains, New York.  Family Law Attorney.  Ivana is a partner in a New York law firm
practicing matrimonial and family law.  Her stint in college with an internship with a non-profit law firm to help victims of domestic violence sparked her interest and desire to go into family law. She worked full time during the day to put herself through Pace Law School (now Haub Law School at Pace University). She became an associate with Harvey Landau, Esquire and afterthree years became partner. She is admitted to practice in the states of New York and New Jersey. Ivana is a member of the Family Law section of various bar associations, and is a member of: New York Bar Association, American Bar Association, Westchester County Bar Association, Westchester Women’s Bar Association and the Croatian

9) Ivana Peric:   American Bar Association. Ivana has been involved with the Croatian community in the New York City area her whole life and attended the Croatian school in Manhattan and learned so much about Croatian history, the language and folklore. In more recent years, she was involved with the Croatian American Bar Association, as well as the Association of Croatian American Professionals. It is through the ACAP that she found the opportunity to potentially participate in Domovina Task Force which is a program to help establish a Croatian "Birthright Program", which would enable Americans of Croatian descent to visit Croatia and learn about their country and heritage.  Family from Grebastica and Visoka, Croatia.

8) Peter Kosovec:  Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.   Software Solution Consultant, Zycus Company.
Peter's entire career has been in the software space. The first major accomplishment was with his first company, designing a deployment software tool for his customers. He next worked for a Company called "Ariba" where he worked a variety of roles including Technical Support, Project Management, and Consulting. He was an expert for contract management on a consulting team and he was instrumental in converting hundreds of fortune 500 companies over to their software over for two years. He was recently recruited by another company in the procurement software space called "Zycus" where now he's selling the software as a Solution Consultant.  Peter is a lifetime member of the Croatian Fraternal Union.

8) Peter Kosovec:   He started young as a member of the Start Junior Tamburitzans under CFU guidance from ages 6-18. He was a member of the Detroit Tamburitza Orchestra under the direction of his father
Ken Kosovec for several years. He has been the Tambura director of the South Hills Junior Tamburitzans
with the CFU where he taught his own children how to play Tambura. He has played in a Croatian Tambura band called “Momci” with his father. He started two more Tambura bands and one called “Otrov” and
performs with "Tamburasi Sastav Ponoc" now. Peter has always been proud to be Croatian and loves sharing this fact with people that he meets personally and professionally. In 2001, he was the youngest recipient to receive the Lou Cavic Founder’s award given by the Tambura Association of America for demonstrating an outstanding devotion to the preservation of Tambura Music and Slavic culture.
He has recorded and produced 15 albums since he started recording this music at the age of 17.
Today, he composes, arranges, and records Tambura music for professional Tambura artists and bands in Croatia such as Stjepan Jersek, Slavonske Lole and has collaborated with Miroslav Skoro, too. In the future, he hopes to record more Croatian Tambura CDs both with his band and maybe a solo project to include a Croatian Children’s album to help perpetuate Croatian Tambura folk music to our children. Family is from Zagorje, Lika and more from the Karlovac region.

7) Julia Jaksic:   Nashville, Tennessee.  Executive Chef and Restaurant Owner. Ten plus years in NYC.
(Lower Manhattan West side). "Employees Only" Official Website  Family from Skakavac, near Karlovac.
Julia Jaksic is a self driven professional chef focused on sharingwith the world her love of cooking,
Croatian heritage, and family values. Since graduating from culinary school and leaving Milwaukee, Julia
has been focused on traveling the world and opening restaurants in pursuit of sharing the best cuisine
possible. Continuously promoting her Cro family story and morals and integrating Croatian culture and

7) Julia Jaksic:   cuisine to all she meets. Former lifelong Tamburitzan player Julia promotes the Croatian
culture through food and music. Julia is a constant supporter of the Federation of Croatian Societies of
Milwaukee including her parish and the Croatian Radio Hour there. Julia was head chef at Employees Only
in the West Village for ten years. At the moment Julia is working on opening a restaurant in Miami this
year, and one in Panama City, Panama set to open in January 2017 and one in Manhattan in March and in
in Nashville, too in 2017. Julia will also have her first cookbook being published by Penguin/Random
House early next year. It is a collection of recipes from the cafe Jack's Wife Freda in New York City
where she had been the Chef-Consultant for the last 4 years.

6) Tom Skara:   Stratford, Connecticut.  Co-Owner and Director of Operations, Macron Sports Store.  Family from Skabrnja near Zadar and Bugojno in BiH. Tom is proud to state his life long love affair for soccer and Croatia. He has found multiple ways to honor both these passions by his hobbies, sports commitment via a college scholarship and now as a business career. Tom's Macron global brand store provides high-end team-wear and athleisure wear to youth clubs, schools, colleges and pro clubs throughout the USA. Macron is Italy's premier technical sportswear brand and the official supplier to English Football League. His store provides a full range of direct team-wear products for football, rugby, volleyball, handball, basketball and baseball. Tom's Macron store offers a one-stop shop and first class personal

6) Tom Skara: service for so many types of sports team-wear.  Tom has been successful in blending soccer with a Croatian connection. Tom founded the Connecticut Croatia, amateur soccer club and the team is a recognized member of Croatia North American Savez. He even played for the Melbourne Knights in Australia where Josip Simunic and Mark Viduka played for and after his successful college soccer career at Fairfield University. Tom was on a full scholarship and was conference player of the year one year in college. He played soccer for New York Croatia as a young child and attended school at Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius in New York City. He met his wife at a Mate Bulic concert in Canada and actually submitted his "40 Under 40" information while he was still on his honeymoon.

5) Tatiana Mustac:   Whitestone New York.  Rutgers University.
With her outstanding and stellar high school achievements and coupled with all her Croatian activities
has earned her, the one spot set aside for a rising star Croatian American college student in the USA!
Throughout her high school career, she was part of science research program at her high school and
even conducted her own own original research project under the mentorship of a Rutgers professor.
Her research looked at the effects of bilingual memory when exposed to various music samples. It was a four year commitment and her project was entered into a few STEM competitions and a few conferences. During the spring of her senior year, she had the privilege of presenting her work at a competition in

5) Tatiana Mustac:   New York City and a conference in Washington D.C.!  She even created a Croatian Club at her high school, in which she was the President for three years. The club participated at various school events such as International Night. She earned and gained the membership of three National Honor Societies: The National Society of High School Scholars, The National Honor Society, and The Foreign Language National Honor Society. Tatjana is now a freshman at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey and already is pursuing a double major in Cell Biology, Neuroscience and Psychology.
While pursuing a double major, she has already joined and is participating with a new research lab
studying children with ADHD and autism with eye tracking. She has already joined the Rutgers American Medical Student Association (AMSA) and upon the completion of her Bachelors degree, she plans on attending medical school and pursuing a PhD/MD in Neuroscience in hopes to become a Neurosurgeon. Tatjana remains and has been an active member of the New York City Kardinal Stepinac Kolo Group, teaching traditional Croatian folklore and performing and traveling throughout the United States and Canada. She has been a teacher at Hrvatska Skola, and this year, she's the assistant kolo teacher for the fourth graders, teaching traditional Croatian folklore for their annual performances. She has been a member of the Robert Mann Dance Center Company, in which she has studied various styles of dance. She has also participated in various community service activities including Drug Alcohol Prevention Team and has been a helper at Dancing Dreams and which assists physically challenged students in their dance class. Tatjana's commitment to Croatian American activities and community service is truly a role model for her age group. Family from Labin and Barban near Pula and from Privlaka, close to Zadar.

4) Mario Jurcic:  Cleveland, OH.  President: Ohio IT Security Firm.
Family from Batnoga and Tatar Varos, Croatia.  Mario Jurcic is a 31 year old entrepreneur and has built
a very successful IT business. In 2008, StartupNation.com recognized as one of the top 20, best dorm based
businesses in America. Mario's company now Secure-Ohio is working with national companies such as

4) Mario Jurcic:  First Energy Corp.  He was also named fortune 5000 company and selected as
Impact 100 as a young 30 under 30 entrepreneur in 2012-2013. chievements also include: 2013 Inc 5000
and 630th on the list of America's most rapidly growing privately held companies.  He volunteers
his time to mentor new business owners and does hire Second Chance Employees and formerly
incarcerated or in active in addiction recovery programs and paying them above minimum wage with
opportunity for advancement and growth.  Mario was active with Croatian soccer leagues for many years.

3) Brenda Brkusic:  Los Angeles, California.  PBS Television Executive-Producer.  Emmy Award
TV Producer, and Award Winning Film Maker. Father from Bogomolje, Hvar.  Mother from Jezera, Murter.
Brenda Brkusic is a six-time Emmy Award winner and a seasoned television executive with over 10 years
of experience in program development and production.  Brenda directs the acquisition, development,
production, distribution and marketing of programs and series for national broadcast on public TV.
As a filmmaker she has been recognized on the Congressional Record of the US House of Representatives
and at the International Leader's Summit at the European Union in Brussels. At the age of 21, while still
a film student at Chapman University, in 2004 she took on the arduous task of funding, writing, producing,

3) Brenda Brkusic: directing, editing "Freedom from Despair" a feature documentary film about the
the Croatian people's struggle for independence which was screened in multiple countries including
Croatia won high critical acclaim and recognition. Brenda has continued in her mission to tell the
stories of her parent's homeland. She coproduced the film Mia, A Dancer's Odyssey, a biopic about
the famous Croatian ballerina Mia Slavenska and won Brenda her fourth Emmy Award. Her 5th and 6th
Emmy Awards in July 2016 at the Television Academy's Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards. She was
recognized as Executive Producer of "Variety Studio: Actors on Actors" and "China's Challenges:
Can China Be Harmonious?".      Raised in Chicago, IL

2) Stipe Miocic: Cleveland, Ohio.  Mixed Martial Artist and the current UFC Heavyweight Champion of
the World, with an impressive 16-2 MMA record. Official Website  Professional Firefighter with
Oakwood and Valley View Fire Departments.  Family from Cetinrad and Rtina.  He prides himself on
his loyalty to his family and friends.  Professionaly, Stipe looked up to fellow Croatian Mirko Cro Cop.
He won the title in May 2016 & Defended it Successfully in September in his Hometown of Cleveland, OH
Since entering the UFC in October 2011, Stipe has amassed 3 Fight of the Night Awards, three Performance
of the Night Awards, and one Knockout of the Night Award.  He has main evented six UFC cards.

2) Stipe Miocic:   Well known for his accolades inside the Octagon, Stipe is also prominently recognized for his work as a firefighter and paramedic and proud of his charity work with many groups including
the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.  A full time UFC fighter, Stipe has noted numerous times
that "one of my proudest moments was becoming a firefighter".  Saving and helping people, is just
something I always wanted to do. Stipe will participate in an event with the Toronto Croatian Chamber on
December 3rd.  Stipe loves the Cleveland Indians, Browns and Cavaliers.  Division I baseball player and
wrestler at Cleveland State University.

1) Teresa Scanlan: Gering, Nebraska  Miss Nebraska 2010 and Miss America 2011. Professional Public
Speaker.  Teresa won the Miss America contest at age 17.  Her beauty, intelligence and polished piano
talents with her Croatian charm won the judge's votes and the crown. This incredible accomplishment launched her speaking career and into a whirlwind tour of America and multiple volunteer and speaking opportunities.  Teresa remains an active Board member of the Youth Service of America and has aided orphanages in Haiti. She's happily married and a a proud mother of a beautiful son and plans to attend law
school when finished with her college studies with a major in government. Teresa has been extremely active at Patrick Henry college and begin part of the Moot Court Team, College Chorale and Student Senate.

1) Teresa Scanlan:

1) Teresa Scanlan: Please visit the Nebraska State Museum to see the Teresa Scanlan "Miss America" exhibit. Her grandparents, the Jelich family hail from the tiny island of Ilovnik near Mali Losinj.
Her Croatian grandparents instilled in her, a real love of family, Croatia and for reaching for her dreams. Teresa has visited Croatia numerous times and is in awe of the beauty of the Adriatic Sea and all the seaside landscape. She was a guest speaker at the NFCA annual convention in 2013 and thrilled the attendees with her inspirational story and commitment to worthwhile causes. Currently, she is a member of the Association of Croatian American Professionals (ACAP). She's an active Board member of Youth Service America and has aided orphanages in Haiti. Newlywed-mother of son Jace and will finish undergraduate school in gov't and then to law school. Her grandparents, Frank-Nives Jelich hail from tiny island of Ilovnik, near Mali Losinj.

Just a note to myself: might want to put in Teresas mottos: "Beauty with a Purpose" and "True Confidence is to Let Go of your Fair of Failure" Family has instilled a real love for Croatia.