Marjan Jukic (He / Him)

Marjan Jukic has been passionately leading international development efforts to deliver innovative, effective solutions to complex development challenges worldwide for more than 27 years, after life-transforming personal experience of wars and political turmoil in the Balkans led him to give up his prosperous career as a shipbuilding engineer and to devote himself to more altruistic and meaningful endeavours. A seasoned, hands-on manager and a resourceful, enthusiastic problem solver, Marjan brings a unique combination of deep technical expertise in governance strengthening, civic participation, stabilization, and conflict transformation and vast, diverse experience providing vision, technical and operational leadership to wide range of programs in challenging, transitional contexts throughout Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa. Currently serving as Deputy Chief of Party (Technical) on USAID Enhance Activity in Thailand, for the last fifteen years, Marjan has held critical, long-term and short-term leadership roles on USAID- and U.S. Department of State-funded programs worldwide. He is intimately familiar with USG and other donor regulations and best practices, appropriate systems, policies, and procedures of implementing partners, and has an impressive track record of effective collaboration with donor governments’ counterparts on programs under contracts and cooperative agreements. Before HOVERLA Ukraine, he served with DAI as Deputy Chief of Party on USAID HOVERLA in Ukraine, Acting Chief of Party on a regional USAID CVECA activity in Central Asia, Operations Manager on a governance-strengthening USAID OTI Malaysia Reform Initiative (MARI), Senior Technical Advisor (acting Chief of Party) on USAID Enhancing Governance, Accountability and Engagement Activity (ENGAGE) in Philippines, Deputy Program Director on US Department of State “The Civil Society in Syria Program”, and Regional Program Manager on a USAID SAPAN governance-strengthening program in Thailand; with International Rescue Committee as Senior Advisor for Governance; and with Catholic Relief Services as agency’s lead on peacebuilding and social development programs in Balkans, South Caucasus and the Middle East. Marjan also regularly works as a consultant in capacity building, strategic planning, project/program design and business development on variety of development and humanitarian programs throughout the world, most recently on USAID Together program in Thailand. Each of these positions, performed in volatile and rapidly changing political landscapes, required flexibility, resourcefulness, and keen understanding of conflict sensitivity to effectively engage stakeholders and decision makers in governments, civil society, private sector, academia, and local communities to develop and implement locally appropriate solutions, while strengthening institutions, relationships and enabling environment for democratic governance, justice, and prosperity. Marjan is highly competent in all aspects of project implementation, including project startup and closedown, strategic planning, partnership building, staff recruitment and training, financial management, and administration of technical assistance and grants. He has built and led diverse, high-performing teams, managed annual budgets of over US$25 million, developed and executed complex strategies, and implemented grant programs with total value of over US$80 million. He established and coordinated networks, alliances and coalitions working for change and facilitated complex, multi-stakeholder processes and initiatives. Mr. Jukic holds MA in International Development and Peacebuilding. In addition to his native Croatian and Serbian, he is fluent in English and Spanish, has a working knowledge of Russian and Ukrainian and conversational Thai.