Our team
Biljana Braithwaite
Founding Partner & Chief Executive Officer
Biljana brings twenty years’ experience advising governments, businesses and international organisations on social justice and human rights issues in the region. She has worked with the AIRE Centre, a UK based NGO, the World Bank, the UNDP and major consultancies. She has particular expertise in human rights law, anti-corruption, good governance and other key social policies. Biljana has deep knowledge of the region, extensive networks and practical experience in implementing reforms.
A lawyer by training with degrees from Belgrade University and Lund University’s Raul Wallenberg Institute, Biljana is a member of the boards of the AIRE Centre USA and the Geneva-based International Bridges to Justice. She founded and co-edits the professional legal bulletin, Human Rights in Europe, as well as a series of guides for judges, decision-makers and legal practitioners in South-East Europe.
Biljana is the founding partner of Sustineri Partners.
Andrew Jackson
Founding Partner & Chief Operating Officer
Andrew is an experienced organisational and leadership consultant. He has 30 years of experience working on governance, leadership, and organisational change issues at senior leadership levels.
He takes a particular interest in corporate governance, ensuring that key policies and controls are in place and that senior leadership can adequately fulfil its responsibilities for compliance. Andrew has reviewed the Board and governance arrangements of Boards of numerous companies and other organisations. He has worked widely across industries – financial services, manufacturing, hospitality, property, tourism, utilities – in the UK and internationally and across government, regulators, and NGOs.
Andrew’s early career was in the UK government, where he worked on criminal justice issues. He was the private secretary to two Home Secretaries. He also worked in Margaret Thatcher’s office. His consulting career took him from KPMG to Towers Perrin and Stanton Marris. Most recently, he spent two years as COO of Flint Global, a leading business and political and advisory firm.
Andrew has an MA from Cambridge University, an MBA from Warwick Business School, a coaching diploma from the Oxford School of Coaching.
Aleksandra (Sasha) Njagulj
Founding Partner
Sasha is an accomplished ESG expert with over 20 years of practical experience in architectural design, design management and the sustainable built environment. She has worked for several international corporations covering various stages of real assets investment: design, construction, operation and asset management.
Throughout her career, she has built a reputation both professionally and personally for championing the cause of responsible real estate investment.
She has received numerous awards for ESG programmes she has designed, including the 2020 GRESB/BREEAM Individual Leadership Award, recognising strong leadership and commitment in the field of sustainable development. She also won the global Future Proof Real Estate Woman Award.
A qualified architect, Sasha holds a Master’s degree in Architectural Design from the University of Belgrade; a Master’s degree in Sustainability Leadership from the University of Cambridge.
Nevena Kostic
Policy & Research Lead
Nevena is a lawyer with fifteen years of experience in policy development, project management, research and strategic litigation.
With a background in human rights, she has worked on the engagement of diverse stakeholders in the uptake of responsible business standards with the leading role in establishing a business and human rights footprint in Serbia. As a consultant, she worked on numerous projects collaborating with international organisations, including UNDP, GIZ, Council of Europe, EU Delegation, USAID. Nevena focuses on introducing and implementing EU standards in the Western Balkans, particularly human rights, due diligence, risk assessments, and reporting.
She holds a Master’s degree in European Law from the University of Belgrade and International Business Law from Queen’s University in Belfast.
Marija Jovanovic
Senior Advisor
Marija is a Human Rights academic. Her research work lies at the intersection between criminal justice and human rights and the protection of human rights in the private sphere, especially in the context of international business, trade and global value chains. She has a particular research focus on human trafficking and modern slavery. Beyond academia, she has also consulted a range of international and non-governmental organizations, including the Council of Europe, UNODC, USAID, CIDA, and the AIRE Centre. She is one of the founders of Sustineri Partners.
Marija is a Lecturer in Human Rights Law at the Essex Law School. She previously worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in ASEAN Law and Policy at the Centre for International Law, National University of Singapore. Her work features in leading law journals, and she is currently working on a book on modern slavery to be published by the Oxford University Press.
Marija holds a DPhil in Law, MPhil in Law, and Magister Juris degrees from the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, and a law degree from the University of Kragujevac, Serbia.
Ledi Bianku
Senior Advisor
Ledi Bianku is a widely experienced international human rights judge and academic. From 2008 to 2019, Ledi was a Judge at the European Court of Human Rights as the nominee of Albania. He currently holds the office of international judge of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
For much of his career, Ledi has worked to secure a balance between the interests of states, the needs of businesses and the rights of individuals.
He has held several academic appointments, including, since 2018, as an associate Professor at the University of Strasbourg.
From 2006 to 2007, Ledi served as a member of the European Commission for democracy through law (Venice Commission). He further worked as a legal advisor for various national and international bodies and is currently a member of the Ethics Committee of the Prince Albert II Foundation. He served for five years on the Nominations Committee of Thomson Reuters and has taken a particular interest in subjects such as banking and human rights.
Ledi graduated from Tirana University and the College of Europe in Bruges.
Peter Sorensen
Senior Advisor
Peter Sorensen is a seasoned diplomat with a demonstrated history of achieving results. He brings deep knowledge of European politics and institutional structures and has extensive European networks.
Peter has broad experience in the Balkans.
From 2011 to 2014 he was EU Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina. As EU Special Representative, he was responsible for developing and coordinating a wide range of EU policies towards the country. From 2006 to 2011 he was Personal Representative and European Council Liaison Officer in Belgrade on secondment from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, working with the EU High Representative (former NATO Secretary General Xavier Solana). This followed six years of postings to the UN Interim Administration Mission In Kosovo (UNMIK) and a spell as EU Ambassador to Macedonia. Before that, he spent five years in various military and diplomatic posts in the Balkans.
Peter brings specialist knowledge of a range of human rights issues and social policies through his time as the EU Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations (including the UN Human Rights Council) and other International Organisations in Geneva. Whilst in Geneva, he had oversight of a wide-ranging set of policy issues, including human rights, technology, research, development, health, humanitarian, asylum, migration and economics.
Peter has a BA and a Masters in Law from the University of Aarhus, Denmark. He is currently delivering international and governmental affairs advisory services for international clients.
Zorana Dulovic
ESG Consultant
Zorana brings a blend of expertise, having worked as a Business Developer in an IT Startup and as Consultant for different industries. Her role merges passion for market research, business development, and sustainability, creating a dynamic approach to her work.
Her achievements include securing First Place at the Global Circular Challenge hosted by the London School of Economics and receiving the esteemed Saint Sava Award from the Ministry of Education of Serbia. Zorana lead teams through five World Case Study Competitions.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management and Organization from the Faculty of Organization Sciences in Belgrade, and she’s currently pursuing her Master’s degree while writing her thesis on Sustainable Fashion. Zorana enriched her academic journey through two exchange programs: one at Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg in Germany, and another at Pole Leonardo da Vinci in France
Sabina Djapo
Western Balkans Programme Manager
Sabina is an experienced programme manager with an economic background.
She has extensive accomplishments in strategic planning, project development and implementation, planning, analysis and reporting and performance review for large scale and complex programmes. She brings over 20 years of experience working for multilateral international organisations managing development programmes in the business climate, good governance, leadership, accountability and transparency.
Gender equality, particularly women’s economic empowerment policies and procedures, has been a specific area of her interest and work.
Sabina is the author of a Gender pledge, a document with a list of commitments to equal rights for women and men in BiH, fully endorsed by 14 international organisations in BiH, including UN, OSEC and EU Delegation.
Nedim Jahic
Media Officer
Nedim Jahic is a communications specialist with a law and human rights background.
Nedim worked with local communities across Bosnia, and Herzegovina supported communications and campaigns of different local efforts, including environmental, social and human rights movements and organizations. He worked as communications and outreach support on various international community supported activities in BiH (World Bank, USAID, UNDP), a researcher on community organizing (C. S. Mott Foundation), a contributor to various international, regional and local media outlets.
Through his work, Nedim assisted in promoting and storytelling over 400 multiple start-ups and SMEs in BiH.
Ana Popovic
ESG Consultant
Ana has over 20 years of professional experience in implementing environmental and sustainability policies and strategies, sustainability reporting, actions towards circular economy, environmental management, and life-cycle assessments.
Ana has been a key resource in advancing small and large-scale projects in Serbia, Central and Eastern Europe and Middle East and North Africa region. Her positions included: ESG Global Board Member, Global Sustainability Specialist at Ball Corporation 2018, Senior Expert at the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe 2012 – 2017, Topic Area Leader in Environmental management and Local Governance, Task Manager of the Regional Environmental Reconstruction Program Secretariat in South Eastern Europe supported by European Commission 2007-2010. She managed two multi-annual projects with over 2 million EUR value.
Recently, Ana provided technical expertise in UNDP projects: Climate Smart Bio – Waste Management Challenge and EU for Green Agenda in Serbia: Get Started, Take Action, Scale-up (2021-2022).
Ana holds a PhD degree in Environmental Engineering from University of Belgrade, Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy. Ana received her Environmental and Social Sustainability Management Master Class Diploma from Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. Since 2021, Ana is a Senior Lecturer in environmental engineering at the Academy of Applied Technical Studies Belgrade