This is the story of the Zagreb School of Economics and Management alumni, of which there are more than 2,800 today. After completing their studies in economics and management, ZSEM alumni work in Croatia and in more than 36 countries around the world, while 8% of them bravely embarked on entrepreneurial waters. They work in small, large, private and state-owned companies and European institutions, work in finance, investment funds, banks, marketing, PR, tourism, and many other jobs, dispelling stereotypical thinking about what can be done with a completed economy.
Petar Butorac, Amazon
Petar Butorac started his career at Amazon as a financial analyst and is now the Partner Development Representative team manager at Amazon Web Services. During his studies at ZSEM, Petar gained international experience at the ESSEC Business School in Paris. Petar is also the founder of the first Junior Enterprise team for consulting services in Croatia, which still operates as NEXT Junior Enterprise and is run by new generations of ZSEM students.
Antonio Žabčić, Hugo Boss -> Porsche
Antonio Žabčić, alumni of both undergraduate and MBA studies at ZSEM. He gained international experience on a student exchange in Mexico City at IPADE Business School, a business school that Forbes magazine regularly ranks among the top five MBA programs in the world each year. Antonio began building an international career at Hugo Boss in New York City as a business analyst for the U.S. and Canadian markets, and is currently employed by Porsche Stuttgart as part of the aftermarket strategy team for the Porsche Taycan, Porsche’s first all-electric model.
Andi Islami, Bentley Motors -> Ralph Lauren
Andi Islami, MSc is a successful ZSEM scholarship holder who has made great use of all the advantages of studying at ZSEM. With the help of the Career Center of ZSEM, Andi did his internship at Phillip Morris International. In addition, he was an intern at Hrvatski Telekom and worked closely with Apple in Croatia for three years, working in various departments. After completing his undergraduate degree in economics and management, Andi got a job at Bentley Motors in London and continued his career in the luxury goods industry and currently works at Ralph Lauren as Digital Operations Manager, Omni-Channel for the EMEA region.
Ivana Kesten, S&P 500
Ivana Kesten, MSc began her education as one of the first scholarship holders at the Zagreb School of Economics and Management. Ivana moved to Switzerland in 2015, where she worked at Raiffeisen Bank in the CSR Department, focusing on energy efficiency and environmental protection. In 2018, in GreenBiz magazine, Ivana was ranked on the prestigious 30 under 30 list in the Inspiring Leaders category. At that time she worked as a Sustainability operations manager for the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in the investment company RobecoSAM. He currently works as a Lead ESG Business Analyst at S&P Global in Zurich.
Ana Škeva, Oganj
Ana Škeva, MBA is a successful entrepreneur who took over the family company Oganj d.o.o. at only 28 years old, which has been operating on the Croatian market as an authorized Canon partner for almost 30 years. Ana has ten years of experience working in a family business, of which five years as a director. Since she became the director, she has initiated the transformation of all departments of Oganj d.o.o. which continues to this day. Thanks to teamwork, innovation, continuous investment in employee education and new technology, and thanks to grants from European funds, the company Oganj d.o.o. has, despite challenging times, achieved growth in market share, revenue and expanded its portfolio of services.
Danijel Pevec, Alpha Capitalis
Danijel Pevec, MSc, after studying at ZSEM, has a master's degree in corporate finance from SDA Bocconi University in Milan. Daniel has gained his professional skills for many years in an international environment, global companies such as Bosch, Deloitte, Sitra Holdings International Limited in Singapore, Unicredit in Milan in the corporate finance and investment banking department, and finally in 2013, he founded Alpha Capitalis. Deals with financial consulting, accounting, auditing and taxes. They also recently launched the ALPHA CAPITALIS BUSINESS TRANSFER PLATFORM, which helps investors find the target companies they want to buy and business sellers to find a strategic or financial investor.
Borna Janeš, Pod Zidom
Borna Janeš has a reputation as one of the smartest Croatian investors in the hospitality and tourism sector. Pod Zidom Bistro was opened as a wine bar in 2014 and has now grown into one of the most respected restaurants in Zagreb, which in 2019 earned the recommendation of the prestigious Michelin restaurant guide. After a series of successful projects Pod Zidom Bistro, micro hotel Pod Zidom Rooms, ZSEM alumni and entrepreneur Borna Janeš recently opened the Ficlek Inn.
Domagoj Tomasović, Hotel Beach Duće
Domagoj Tomasović successfully took over the family business and, with building a new hotel of high 4+ category with additional content, introduced it into a new era. His Hotel Plaža Omiš has received the prestigious TUI Holly Award 4 times, the most in Croatia, and thus entered among the 100 best hotels in the world in accordance with the ratings of TUI guests. The new Hotel Duce Beach was named the best hotel in Croatia according to guest ratings on the main German rating page holidaycheck.de
Matea Hanžek
Matea Hanžek, MSc, MBA is currently a PhD student at the University of Brighton in England, and with various projects in tourism, she teaches Tourism and Marketing at ZSEM. Mateu has always been interested in tourism. After her undergraduate and MBA studies at ZSEM, she also received her master's degree from Edinburgh Napier University, specialising in Heritage and Cultural Tourism Management. Matea gained professional experience in tourism at the consulting company Horwath HTL in London and at the Corinthia Hotel London. During her studies at ZSEM, she used numerous opportunities to gain international experience. She attended summer schools at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and Oxford University and conducted student exchanges in Norway at the BI Norwegian School of Management and in Spain at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC).
Anita Flajšlik, Agrivi
Anita Flajšlik completed her undergraduate studies in economics and management at ZSEM and spent her student exchange at one of the world's most prestigious Queensland Universities of Technology in Australia. She gained experience as a project manager and then as an event manager at ZSEM, where she organized various events such as Startup Weekend. After ZSEM, Anita continued to build a successful career in the then start-up, and today a successful company, Agriva, where she progressed from Office Manager & Marketing Specialist, then Marketing & PR Manager to the position of Senior Marketing Lead.
Marko Nožica, Aretis
Marko Nožica spent 15 years in Silicon Valley, California, where he lived until he finished high school. Marko was accepted and was able to study at top universities in the USA such as Stanford and Berkeley, but curiosity, adventurous spirit and nostalgia brought him back to Croatia, where he enrolled in ZSEM as a first generation student. He is the founder and the first president of the Student Union of ZSEM, and as a first year student, he founded Aretis, a company that today, as a preferred partner of many global corporations, is one of the leaders in the marketing communications market and continuously surprises with innovative ideas and projects. He is also active in the Croatian Lobbying Association, where he is the Secretary General, and he also found time to give an extremely inspiring and instructive Ted Talk speech.
