Professor Nikica Mojsoska-Blazevski is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Macedonia2025. Nikica’s prior experience was in academia, where she served two terms as Dean of the Business School at University American College-Skopje, as well as in the public administration where she worked as a Head of the Macroeconomic Policy Department at the Ministry of Finance of Republic of Macedonia.

Nikica has an extensive experience of over 15 years in research, consultancy and advisory in economic policies, social systems and policy, labour markets, and education in Macedonia, as well as the Western Balkan region. She has been so far working with major international economic organisations and institutions, such as the World Bank, ILO, RCC, UNDP, UN Women and the European Commission. Mojsoska-Blazevski is  author of many journal articles and several book chapters, mainly in the area of social policy, labour markets, education, gender issues, youth, etc. Nikica has served as an advisor to the government institutions in Macedonia and the Western Balkan region on economic, employment and social policy issues. Nikica is a member of several professional organizations in Macedonia, as well as of well-renowned international scientific organizations.

Nena Manchev is the Leadership and Education Program Manager at Macedonia2025. She graduated at the Faculty of Economics at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, at the Department for Comprehensive Economy.

Nena’s prior experience is in the public administration sector, where she worked as Head of Unit for Administrative Support and Coordination at the Fund for Innovation and Technological Development. She also worked as Head of Cabinet of the Minister of Finance at the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of North Macedonia.

Before joining the public administration, Nena accumulated an extensive experience of around 15 years in the civil society sector, working at the Country Office of the German Foundation Friedrich Ebert, Skopje. She has been working mostly in developing and implementing consultancy programs in the field of political science, strengthening of political dialogue and political parties’ capacities, as well as programs in the area of socio-economic policies, social-just reforms projects, active civic participation and improving citizens’ and youth participation in social discussions and decision-making processes. Nena has a significant knowledge and experience in conceptualizing and organizing regional SEE platforms and programs, political and experts programs for high-ranking politicians/officials/experts from Germany and EU member-state countries, as well as for representatives from the SEE region. During her career in FES Skopje, besides the position of Program Coordinator, she also held the positions of Finance and Accounting Manager for 6 years and Head of Office for two years.

Galena Cunningham is the Diaspora Relations Officer and Summit Speaker Coordinator with Macedonia2025. She works to connect people and support the extension of Macedonia2025’s strategic vision.

Galena has been a local project manager on international research projects in the field of education. She has worked on transition teams, helping to launch small businesses in Macedonia. Galena started her professional life in Macedonia in 2013 as an intern with the Macedonian Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Before arriving in Macedonia, Galena studied Political Science at the University of Toronto. More recently, Galena rounded out her competencies by completing a degree in Business Administration and Finance at University American College Skopje.

Petar Trendafilov is the Economic Analyst/Researcher at Macedonia2025. He holds a Master’s Degree (MSc) in Finance and Banking from University American College Skopje. He was a recipient of various scholarships and won the 1^st place from the Warsaw School of Economics in their summer school program (2011).

He has gained extensive experience working in the audit and insurance sector at the beginning of his career. He then worked as the Chief Operating Officer at a company dealing with copyright for television channels distributed and broadcasted by all telecom operators in Macedonia. In the same time, he established his own start-up company. The startup works in the area of operating carrier grade Wi-Fi infrastructure and related services. There he worked with various telecom operators in the Western Balkans region, with the aim of developing a SaaS solution for operators to streamline their network operations and bring additional benefits and faster connection to consumers for lower costs. His other professional involvements include several job positions in the area of finance and project management for solar photovoltaic power plants in his family-run business, where he was responsible for day-to-day operations and streamlining of existing procedures.

Katerina Kolarova started at Macedonia2025 in 2019 when she was volunteering as part of the team for the MK2025 Summit.  Not long after the Summit she joined the team as a Project Assistant. Katerina has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Applied Economics from University American College Skopje.

After getting her Master’s degree from UACS she moved to Canada where she studied Global Business Management Program at Humber College in Toronto, Canada. After earning her Graduate Certificate in Global Business Management focused in Business/Managerial Economics from Humber College, she was working as a Senior Analyst/Migration at the Independent Electricity System Operator in Ontario.

She is an experienced professional with a demonstrated history of working on different projects, one of which is the agile software development with Scrum methodology and the 21^st Century Schools Program implemented in cooperation with the British Council micro:bit. She is also working on the project Support Fund for Talented Students “Talents Today – Leaders Tomorrow”, through which 10 scholarships are provided each year.

Matej Mincev is a student volunteer at Macedonia2025. He edits and proofreads a variety of written documents, such as monthly newsletters, interviews and articles. Matej joined Macedonia2025 in February 2021, after he was featured on the Youth Diaspora campaign.

Matej is going into his final year of engineering studies, and is currently working as an intern at HTS Engineering in Toronto, Canada. Along with his native Macedonian and English, he also speaks French and Spanish. Throughout his time at university, he has been involved in several projects pertaining to the fields of electronics, fluid mechanics and programming.

Outside of school and work, Matej likes to stay active by participating in different sports, including soccer and skiing. He enjoys travelling and experiencing new cultures, as well as watching major sports leagues such as the National Basketball Association (NBA). Matej is also a Level 1 Ski Instructor, having obtained his license in 2016 from the Canadian Ski Instructors’ Alliance (CSIA).

Matej also seeks to give back to his home country of Macedonia in various ways. Since 2021, he has been involved in Project Happiness (Proekt Sreka), which is a fundraising campaign that builds and renovates homes for children in need.

Tea Pesheva lives in Toronto, Canada, and works for the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks. She has a BSc in Sustainable Development from the University of St Andrews, Scotland and an MSc in Sustainability Management from University of Toronto. She has worked with the Ontario government for over 4 years, in various environmental departments as well as for accessibility.

Her primary focuses are on stakeholder relations, communications, and program implementation and enhancement.

Before moving abroad, she lived in Skopje, Macedonia, where her family still resides. She is always interested in learning and finding ways to bring back the knowledge and experience she has gained through her professional career to enhance Macedonia’s awareness of environmental management options.