Jelena Bojovic, Team Leader of the Local Economic Development component of the USAID - Urban Institute

With over nine years of experience in local government reform, Ms. Bojovic has worked extensively with Serbian municipalities, ministries, and political parties. As specialist in the structure and performance of local governments as they relate to economic growth and the democratic process, Ms. Bojovic is currently serving as the Team Leader of the Local Economic Development component of the USAID-funded Municipal Economic Growth Activity program, implemented by the Urban Institute.

In this position she has performed an assessment of the participating municipalities related to economic development strategic planning and economic development tools and techniques, introduced the concept of performance management and evaluation, and developed an internal communication model for the municipalities. She is actively involved in designing business support programs and investment attraction activities.

Core of her expertise is associated with municipal management of economic programs, building institutional and political framework for local economic development, program effectiveness analyses and introduction of new concepts of business friendliness in municipal administration.

Prior to her engagement with MEGA program, Ms. Bojovic worked for 6 years for International Republican Institute. Some of the notable achievements throughout the project include: 1) introducing the concept of performance management and evaluation system in five municipalities through the training of municipal leaders in areas such as developing performance management plans and evaluation systems, salary administration systems, managing progressive disciplinary actions, performing strategic interventions to increase workflows, and implementing innovative human resource technologies, 2) developing the Internal Communication Model for several municipalities in Serbia.

Ms. Bojovic has worked on similar programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Slovakia, Jordan and Kyrgyzstan and has served as a speaker at the Local Government Reform - Best Practices Conference, which brought together 96 mayors from Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. She studied Molecular Biology and Physiology, at the Belgrade University.