"The most important takeaway for me is to never rush to judge someone."

What is your personal understanding of diversity and inclusion?
Diversity and inclusion lives when people are encouraged to be their authentic selves, when they can feel comfortable, rewarded and recognized – even if they are different.

What does it mean to you to work in a diverse environment?
From a cultural but also all other aspects, for me it means working in an open-minded environment that leaves room for each individual to focus on different things. In my long career at Deloitte I have met many different characters, like writers, professional athletes, artists or socially engaged people, and they are all strongly encouraged here. An environment like this doesn’t only boost your inner creativity, it also brings strong potential to attract new talents and clients from different industries.

What is your personal impact to living diversity and inclusion?
I see myself as a cultural ambassador, meaning that I am, among other things, in charge of promoting our diversity and inclusion strategy. For several years now, Deloitte Serbia has supported an international theater festival by including and welcoming various vulnerable groups. This is one of my achievements which I am very proud of. The aim of this collaboration is to foster a diverse culture that shows we need each other, and that together we can make a positive change in our society. Last year, we supported a famous Belgium theatre company, “Ultima Vez”, and their play “Invited”. We invited young people who are most at risk of social exclusion and poverty from all around the country to attend the play. Together, we enjoyed both watching the play and participating in it. The actors invited us to join them on stage and create choreography together. We learned the true meaning of trust, support, cooperation, exchange and solidarity – it was a great experience for all of us!

How did you experience working with diverse colleagues? What did you learn from it?
As a Director, I am responsible for business and talent development so I have to maintain professional relationships with clients and colleagues from diverse businesses and social environments every day. By working with these different kinds of people across the globe, I have discovered different ways of how people act, communicate and work, how they approach certain matters and how they rank their priorities. The most important takeaway for me is never rush to judge someone. Certain perceptions change across the ocean. So, always listen and try to learn more.

How did you become a protagonist for the diversity and inclusion videos?
I am leading a team with people from different cultures who live on different continents. Some are classic business people, but some come from less conventional backgrounds, a professional athlete for example. I guess that was the trigger 

How important is and has diversity been in your personal career?
Diversity is and always has been crucial for me. I have been working at Deloitte for 20 years now. One of the key reasons why I have stayed for so many years is diversity. Deloitte does not only encourage individuals to be their authentic selves, but also make an impact that matters on society. That is Deloitte’s key. I am happy to have people around me who can show that being different, thinking different or looking different is always a good thing.