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Board of Directors

Igor Jokanovic, AmSECC President and Founding Member
Igor
Igor's family came to the United States from war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was settled in Rockford, IL in 1995. A year later, he enrolled in Rockford College's Bachelor of Arts program. What followed was the discovery of the exciting business world and world economies. He studied business management and the basics of finance and accounting, and fell in love with free market forces. Philosophy was also his passion, and he was able to combine business and philosophy in entrepreneurship classes. Soon after graduation, along with his younger brother and father, he started an interior remodeling business called Arete' Renovators Inc, and property management company Arete' Realty LLC.

He wanted to learn more about world economies, so he secured a job with one of world's top banks, ABN AMRO. He pursued further studies at Loyola University in Chicago, earning an MBA. Soon after graduation, he began a career with Morgan Stanley, the world's leading investment management company. Today, Igor is in a position to merge eight years of financial industry experience with an interest in international affairs of emerging markets and transitional economies. He wants to give back to his country, region and friends that same chance he had to make opportunities for himself. He wishes to contribute to the revitalizing of economies and help finance infrastructure projects; to help entrepreneurs create and expand their businesses and elicit the needed jobs.
Stevco Nikolov, Vice-President
Stevco
Stevco Nikolov is originally from Macedonia, and has been in the United States since 2003. He holds Bachelor’s degree in Management from Northeastern University in Chicago and an MBA in International Business and Finance from Governors State University. Stevco has experience in business relations, domestic and international trading, Information Technology and Consulting. He has been working at Governors State University as a graduate assistant and consultant with specialties in business plans, loan proposals, marketing and advertising strategies, financial plan development, cash flow planning, business promotion, accounting, taxation, legal and patent issues, government contracting, certifications and international trade.

Currently Stevco is President of S.N. Cleaning Inc. He is an active member of many international business associations and has won a number of awards for business. He is also a skilled Entrepreneur, Sales and Marketing Professional with a proven experience in building professional relationships, developing successful sales strategy and working with other institutions. Excellent organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills with the flexibility and experience required to remain highly focused and self-possessed in fast- paced, demanding environments. He is fluent in Macedonian, English, Bulgarian, Serbian and have working knowledge of Polish, Russian and Spanish.
Emir Zubovic, CPA: AmSECC Treasurer and Founding Member
Emir
Emir Zubovic, originally from Bosnia, has been living in the United States since 1997. Currently, Emir is managing principal of Zubovic CPA Tax Service, Ltd and brings over 10 years of experience in tax, business and individual planning, finance, and estate planning to his clients. In addition to his accreditation as a Certified Public Accountant (obtained through Northern Illinois University program), he holds two Bachelors degrees, in Accounting from Rockford College and in Finance from University of Zagreb.

Among his many professional affiliations, he maintains memberships in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Illinois CPA Society. With his experience and business relationships, Emir hopes to facilitate and promote business relationships in US and Southeast Europe.
Lidija Gjorgjievska, AmSECC Secretary and Member
Lidija
Lidija Gjorgjievska comes to AmSECC from Stip, Macedonia. She has been in the United States since 2004. During this time, she completed her Bachelors degree in Technical Management and Masters in Business Administration. While continuing her education, she worked as Project Manager for an international energy and engineering corporation. Currently, she is Assistant Director of Admissions at a leading creative educational institution in Chicago.

Her exposure to working in both international and American markets will add to AmSECC's ever-growing presence of expanding commerce with the southeastern region of Europe. In her leisure time, Lidija is training for her first triathlon, and is passionate about ballroom dancing, participating in Chicago's Summer Dance at Millenium Park.
Alexander Bojanic, Member
Alex
Natively from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Alexander Bojanic has lived in Canada and the USA since 1992. In the past 17 years, Alexander has worked in several technology-based companies and held leadership positions in complex software and hardware systems design and development. Most recently, Alexander assumed a position as Quality Engineering Leader with GE Healthcare.

Alexander is also recognized as an expert in the area of system and business analysis, and program management – in which capacity he presented a number of papers and lectured in several countries in North America, Europe, and Asia. While moving on with his career, Alexander kept strong ties with his origins. Through his work and job involvement he continues building business and academic relationships with his native region of Eastern Europe.

Lila S. Jokanovic, Founding Member
Lila
Lila Jokanovic is a writer and educator. She is passionate in her belief that all children, everywhere, deserve a high quality education and a safe place to learn. She developed and ran a successful writing program for at-risk teens in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood for four years. At present, she concurrently teaches part time at the college level and full time at a Montessori elementary school. Her dream is to open Montessori schools for at-risk youth in Chicago, Bosnia, and where she grew up - India.

Lila's writing has appeared in Hair Trigger, Kavithalaya, Gravity Magazine, fMagazine and NPR's WBEZ, among other places. She has won a number of awards for her writing, served as Assistant Artistic Director for one of Chicago's largest literary events - Story Week Festival of Writers, for five years, and is currently putting the finishing touches on her novel, American Raaga.
M. Scott Leonard, AmSECC Legal Counsel and Founding Member
Scott
Scott Leonard is a business litigation attorney and mediator licensed to practice in Florida and Illinois.In his private practice, Scott represents lenders, shareholders, international and domestic corporations and individuals in a variety of commercial disputes involving breach of contract, non-compete agreements, intellectual property and trade law. Scott also represents several non-profits and is a mediator with the Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago, Illinois.

Scott received his J.D. cum laude from the St. Thomas University School of Law. He served as two-term president of the International Law Society and was an active member of the International Moot Court Board and a Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competitor. During law school, he served as a federal judicial intern to Honorable Ted E. Bandstra, Chief Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida and was a member of the Peter T. Fay American Inn of Court. Prior to practicing law, Scott earned his Master of Arts degree with distinction in Diplomatic Studies from the University of Westminster. His graduate dissertation examined the US role in mediating the Dayton Peace Accords which ended the conflict in the Balkans. The research involved interviews with journalists, academics, soldiers and diplomats in Zagreb, Sarajevo, Paris, London and Moscow, and received academic honors. Before graduate school, he lived and worked in France where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the American University of Paris. He is married to Una Pipic and lives in Chicago.
Boki Glamochak, Founding Member
Boki
Originally from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, but has been living in the United States since 1995. He is principal owner of a Chicago based graphic design firm. At the design firm, he oversees the project development and client account management. The design firm services a variety of small to medium sized business with their advertising and marketing needs. He travels to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia regularly and has maintained strong business relationships with Banja Luka and Belgrade. A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He is an active member of the Serbian Diaspora.

Matija Biljeskovic, Founding Member
Matija
Matija, originally from Prizren, has also lived in Split, Croatia and Podgorica, Montenegro before moving to the United States. He received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Northern Illinois University. While working for Rapid Air, a stamping equipment manufacturer, he decided to expand his knowledge in the field and began pursuing a M.S. degree in electrical engineering with the concentration in power electronics. He completed his studies and earned his M.S. degree while working as a systems engineer on the Boeing 787 program at Hamilton Sundstrand.

After spending six months in Vienna, Austria and Belgrade, Serbia, in January of 2011, Matija founded World Challenge Games Ltd, a software development company for Android and iPhone applications. He currently works for Northrop Grumman. As AmSECC's website administrator, he maintains and regularly updates AmSECC's website. With his education and work experience, he hopes to contribute toward AmSECC's mission.
Vildana Kujundjic, Member
Vildana
Vildana Kujundjic is an experienced business lawyer, whose practice includes representing individuals, entrepreneurs, and middle market businesses in various areas of commercial, corporation and securities law. Vildana structures, negotiates and advises individuals and businesses on a broad range of business transactions, including asset and stock dispositions, joint ventures, private placements, mergers & acquisitions, fund formations, and corporate restructuring. She also counsels her clients on choice-of-entity considerations including creating, structuring, and financing various business entities and also advises her clients on general business matters, including employment agreements, intellectual property issues and vendor and customer agreements. Vildana’s experience in securities law, includes representing both issuers and underwriters in public stock offerings, debt shelf offerings, securitizations, and debt and equity private placements, including a wide variety of syndicated offerings in the real estate sector. In her securities practice she has also assisted public companies with their periodic filings and proxy statements and has counseled clients with regard to stock exchange and OTC market regulations.

She received her Juris Doctor in 2000 from Chicago-Kent School of Law, with honors, and a Bachelor of Sciences degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with a double-major in Psychology and English. Vildana is active in the community and is involved with severable charitable and civic organizations. She serves the Anti-Defamation League and recently acted as a committee member for its annual “Envision” fundraising event. Vildana also is a member of Step Up, a national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to connecting and advancing women and girls, mentoring under-served young women in addition to advocating investment in women-owned businesses.
Dimitar Tchalakov, Member
Dimitar
Dimitar Tchalakov has more than fifteen years experience in the Information Technology arena and especially in the area of software development and outsourcing. During this period he held positions as software developer, team leader, architect, consultant and entrepreneur working in Europe and North America interacting with teams from many different countries on different continents. His background helps him to establish many multicultural relations and see the value and innovations available from different parts of the world.

During his work assignments he was involved in building generic frameworks that were used in the area of Telecommunications and also developing and architecting products in many other areas. For the last few years he is helping IT companies from Eastern Europe in their efforts of establishing partnership relations with companies from US and other places and providing software consulting services. Dimitar is born in Bulgaria and has a master degree in Computer Engineering from “Technical University” of Sofia, Bulgaria.
Josip Soldo, Member
Josip
Josip Soldo was born in Chicago, the son of Croatian immigrants. He attended school in Chicago and received his Bachelor’s degree in Finance from DePaul University’s Finance Honors Program in 2002. That summer Josip began working for Merrill Lynch, and today he is a Financial Advisor and Certified Financial Planner™ with the firm.Though he was born and raised in Chicago, Josip has a deep respect and appreciation for his Croatian heritage, and has forged relationships with the Croatian community both in Chicago and abroad.

In 2001, Josip joined the Board of Directors of the Croatian Cultural Center of Chicago, and in 2004 became the youngest president in the history of the Center. Currently, he sits on the board of Almae Matris Alumni Croaticae, also known as the “Association of Alumni and Friends of the Croatian Universities” and is also the founding member of the Croatian American Professionals’ Association (CROAPA). Josip and his wife, Julie, live in Lincolnwood, and in his free time Josip enjoys playing the bass guitar at Croatian fundraisers, banquets, and parties across the Midwest with his vocal and instrumental ensemble, Ludi Ritam.
Ilhan Geckil, Member
Ilhan
Mr. Geckil, a Senior Consultant with Anderson Economic Group, has a background in corporate finance and economics. He serves as the Director of Finance and Business Valuation in the Company.His work includes economic and financial analyses, business valuations, commercial damages assessments, corporate finance advisory, M&A consulting, risk analyses, and strategy consulting.Mr. Geckil’s work has been applied in a range of industries, with significant focus on automotive, franchise, retail, beer, wine and spirits. He provides economic forecasts for Bloomberg’s monthly economic survey.

His book Applied Game Theory and Strategic Behavior was published in July 2009 by CRC Press. His recent papers include “A Game Theoretical Model of Corporate Average Fuel Economy,” on regulation in the automobile industry published in Business Economics, and “Pocketbook Predictions of Presidential Elections,” also published in Business Economics. The latter was awarded the Edmund A. Mennis Contributed Paper Award of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) in 2004.Prior to joining Anderson Economic Group Mr. Geckil worked as a Consultant for BBK, Ltd., a consulting company specialized in turnaround management, corporate finance, and strategy consulting, and as an Analyst for PDF Corporate Finance in Istanbul, Turkey, a consulting company specialized in merger and acquisitions.Mr. Geckil holds a Master’s degree in economics from the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management at Michigan State University, and a Bachelor’s degree in economics from Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey. He is a member of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE), and the Institute of Business Appraisers (IBA).
Andrew Magliochetti, Member
Andrew
Andrew Magliochetti is a Managing Director of Maroon Capital Group, a Director of Jameson Commercial Real Estate and a Principal of Helios Design + Build. He has 12 years of experience in real estate development, structured finance and construction. Andrew has a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Ohio University at Athens, is currently a candidate for a Master’s Degree in Homeland Security at Penn State University and is both a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) and a LEED Accredited Professional (LEED-AP). Andrew is a board member of the American Southeast Europe Chamber of Commerce, sits on the board of Operation Homefront Illinois and is also on the NextGen board of United to Restore Freedom. Andrew lives in the Roscoe Village neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.

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The American-Southeast Europe Chamber of Commerce (AmSECC) is a private, Illinois Not-for-Profit Corporation organized under 805 ILS § 101 et. seq. and recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt entity pursuant to 501(c)(6) of the IRS Code. This website is owned and managed by AmSECC. Any use or submission of information on this website or any links therein is expressly subject to the Terms of Use. Any unauthorized use is strictly prohibited. Copyright © 2010 AmSECC. All rights reserved.

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  • 5445 N. Sheridan Road Suite 3406
  • Chicago, IL 60640