J O V A N K O V A C I C
CEO Biography
Jovan was born on February 20th 1953 in Belgrade. He was educated in British, Serbian and American schools and holds an American MA in communications and media management. His fields of expertise include agency and TV journalism, media and communication development and management, as well as political analyses.
Jovan was a translator to the late Yugoslav President Tito. After President Tito’s death he moved to the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug and soon became a war correspondent across the globe working for CNN, ABC, NPR, BBC and other major media outlets. He ended his reporting career as a Reuter’s correspondent for former Yugoslavia covering the wars from Slovenia in 1991 to Kosovo in 1998. In addition to this he covered the diplomatic side of the negotiations on former Yugoslavia in Geneva in 1993 and Dayton in 1995.
Jovan moved on from reporting and into the Office of the High Representative to Bosnia (OHR) in 1998. He was a political advisor in charge of one of the most sensitive aspects of the IC work – reconstruction and negotiating and facilitating the safe return of thousands of refugees and displaced persons in Bosnia. He was also tasked with restructuring RS national TV station into a Public Broadcasting Service.
Jovan joined OSCE in 2001 in Belgrade as a Media Development Advisor, tasked with streamlining and developing major media outlets. During the two year period, he created and implemented a strategy for transforming the state TV, RTS, into a mainstream PBS.
Three years later, Jovan formed his own company, SPG, Strategic Partnerships Group which helped many a foreign company find its way and settle in the turbulent waters of Serbian transitional economy. SPG was later incorporated into GCA Global Communications Associates, designed to help Serbian companies and political entities establish better working relationships with Euro-Atlantic structures and vice-versa. He has been since 2006 a consultant to the government of Republika Srpska and its President Milorad Dodik. He is also working as a consultant to the Serbian Government. GCA is an affiliate partner to Hill & Knowlton, the world's premier PR/PA agency, and to Quinn Gillespie Associates, one of the leading lobbying companies in Washington DC.
In May 2010, on behalf of East West Bridge which he co-founded, Jovan attended the Plenary Session of the Trilateral Commission in Dublin. It was the first such prestigious invitation by the Commission to an organization from Republic of Serbia. He again, in October, attended the 34th European Meeting of the Trilateral in Bucharest. Again, he attended the 2011 Plenary Session in Washington DC in April 2011. He is also a member of the Circle of Forty, an organization comprising US leaders from politics, military and security, legislation, judiciary and media. Jovan is actively engaged in several professional associations in Serbia. A former world-class swimmer and Yugoslav champion, Jovan is an avid promoter of sports in the country.