Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović is the 4th and 1st female President of Croatia (2015-2020) with broad national and international experience in politics, diplomacy and security studies. During her career as an elected official and in national and international civil service, among other, she was elected a Member of the Croatian Parliament (2003), and served as Croatia’s first female Minister of Foreign Affairs (2003-2008) and Ambassador to the United States, co-accredited to Mexico, Panama and the Organisation of American States (2008-2011), as well as the first female Assistant Secretary General and member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Senior Leadership (2011-2014).

She was elected an independent member of the International Olympic Committee in 2020, and has been appointed Chair of the Future Hosts Commission for the Games of the Olympiad. Currently she is a Practitioner in Residence at the Zagreb School of Economics and Management. She is member of the GLOBSEC International Advisory Council, the Future Security and Defense Council and Ukraine Support Group, and serves on the boards of a number of non-profit institutions, such as Friends of Europe, the US Atlantic Council, Halifax International Security Forum, Concordia Leadership Council. She is a Member of the HighLevel Advisory Council for the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), the Global Ambassador for Immunization for Women Political Leaders (WPL), and chair emerita of the Council of Women World Leaders.

Parallel to her diplomatic and political careers, she has pursued an academic career in government, international relations and security studies at the Vienna Diplomatic Academy (1994-1995), the George Washington University (2002-2003), Harvard University (2009), the Johns Hopkins University (2011), and the University of Zagreb. She holds a Master’s degree, and is currently writing a PhD thesis in the field of International Relations and Security Studies on the Responsibility to Protect. She is a recipient of the 2019 Fulbright Lifetime Achievement award for her "remarkable contributions as a leader, diplomat, and public servant", the George Washington University President’s medal, and a number of other national and international awards, decorations, recognitions, honorary doctorates and honorary citizenships.