Our Team

For me, ERA is much more than an organization – it is a living example of what collective courage, solidarity, and vision can create in a region where equality has too often been denied. ERA represents not only the progress of our movement, but also the resilience and determination of countless people who refused to be invisible. It is a space where our communities find strength, where alliances are built, and where the dream of full equality becomes a shared responsibility.

My name is Danijel Kalezić, and I am the Executive Co-Director of ERA. I began my public activism more than 18 years ago in Montenegro, where I co-founded the first grassroots LGBTIQ+ initiatives and helped launch Montenegro Pride. Since then, I have dedicated my life to advancing the rights of LGBTIQ+ persons, from shaping laws on life partnership and gender recognition, to building regional alliances and advocating for change in EU and globally. I am also a proud openly gay man, son and husband, and for me activism is not just a profession – it is my way of life, my responsibility to my community, and my vision of a fairer society for all.

I am the Finance and Administration Manager at ERA, but beyond my professional role I am also a passionate activist for LGBTIQ+ rights, an anti-war activist, a feminist, and an ARTivist. With more than 10 years of experience in activism, I bring both organizational skills and creative energy into my work, always striving to connect management with movement building and social change.

For me, ERA represents the first regional LGBTIQ+ organization that unites amazing activists and organizations from across the Western Balkans and Turkey. It is important because it gives us strength and collective power to fight for equality and to build a freer, safer future for younger generations. Much before I started working in ERA, I was recognized and chosen by ERA as one of only two young activists from Serbia supported in youth activism projects, and that experience strongly shaped my activist growth. Today, being part of ERA means continuing that journey in a stronger, collective way—transforming our region step by step.

How do you measure more than a decade in ERA? Not in years, but in connections. When it was born a decade ago, it became a pivotal force, a catalyst that redefined LGBTIQ+ organizing across the Western Balkans and Türkiye and began building a powerful legacy. But when I try to describe what ERA truly means to me, my thoughts don't go to reports or meetings. They go to people from our community. In a region of borders, ERA has always been a bridge. I'm not thinking of the policies we've influenced, but the hands we've held across those divides. It’s the activist friendships that become forever dedicated safe spaces, the unwavering support system we've built across borders. In the face of our region's complexities, knowing you are not alone—that someone has your back—is the most powerful tool we have. This is ERA's soul: its human touch in a world of professional activism.

These life-long connections, rooted in genuine care, are what make our movement resilient. They sustain our stamina, unite us in difficult times, and keep our focus sharp on the ultimate goal: winning liberty, dignity, and power for our community. ERA is the living proof that our greatest strength is each other. Here's to a decade of celebrating wins and fighting injustices, shared visions for a better tomorrow, together.

I am Elena Petrovska, Project and Advocacy coordinator at ERA. I’ve built my career on making good trouble. Since 2013, my work has been driven by a simple philosophy: fight fiercely for our rights and have fierceness while doing it. It started with my activist roots in the lesbian-feminist scene with 'LezFem'. From there, I learned that advocacy has two crucial fronts. The first is protection, which I learned as the manager of the 'Safe House' shelter—creating a safe place for our community. The second is power. I’ve spent years taking our fight directly to the decision-makers. I’ve worked with everyone from local municipalities to Parliament and government bodies and Ministers, leading legislative changes and making sure the issues of marginalized communities are impossible to ignore. Whether it was pushing for inclusive education, Legal gender recognition, or researching the impact of anti-gender rhetoric, my goal has always been to shake things up. But our movement is only stronger if it’s inclusive. That's why I poured my heart into Skopje Pride, ensuring lesbians and queer women were not just included, but celebrated at the very center of our fight. Today, I bring this blend of continuous advocacy and spark rebellion to my role at ERA. As the Project and Advocacy Coordinator, I’m here to build power, forge connections, and help our movement thrive across the Western Balkans and Türkiye. Keep making history!

My background is rooted in over a decade of creative work in design and communication, both across the Balkans and globally. ERA gave me the chance to bring that work home, to put my skills in service of something bigger than myself. Here, creativity becomes activism, and storytelling becomes a tool for justice. I see communication as both shield and bridge: a shield that protects us from invisibility, and a bridge that connects us with one another and with broader society. At ERA, I have the privilege of turning design and storytelling into tools of resistance, into signals of hope, and into records of change.

Being part of ERA means carrying responsibility, but also immense privilege. My daily work contributes to giving strength to people who may be seeing their own stories reflected for the first time. It also means being surrounded by colleagues whose courage, brilliance, and persistence remind me every day why this work matters. When I think about ERA, I don’t see only reports, strategies, or campaigns. I see moments of recognition, solidarity, and shared resistance. I see activists across borders coming together, communities reclaiming space, and the quiet but powerful shifts that happen when a message lands, when a visual resonates, when someone feels less invisible because of the story we told. That is what communication means to me, and that is what ERA has allowed me to build. What inspires me most is the knowledge that our work is never abstract, it is deeply human. Every campaign is a story of survival and courage. Every visual identity we create carries the memory of those who fought before us. Every press release, policy brief, or social media post is a step towards making equality not an idea, but a lived reality. This is what ERA means to me: a collective heartbeat that keeps us moving forward, even when the odds are against us. It is a place where professionalism and passion meet, where activism is sharpened by creativity, and where solidarity is written into every line and image we put into the world. To me, that is the soul of communication-and that is the ERA I am proud to be part of.

ERA reminds me of what’s possible when people work together with care, trust, and determination. In a region where advocating for LGBTIQ+ rights is really challenging, being part of ERA means having a team that supports each other, shares knowledge, and strengthens one another. It also means being part of a much larger network of organizations and colleagues across the region, each bringing unique expertise, experience, and approaches—creating a rich web of collaboration and mutual support.

I’m Buğu Sıla Evren, a feminist killjoy at heart and Project Coordinator at ERA. I bring my passion for justice, persistence in challenging inequality, and commitment to collective action to every step of our work. At ERA, I find a space where commitment to equality is not just talked about, it’s lived, shared, and celebrated every day.

Admir Adilović is the Executive Director of the Tuzla Open Centre (TOC), a leading organization that advocates for the rights of LGBTI+ people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. With a background in management and business psychology, he is also a Gestalt psychotherapist under supervision. Active in the NGO sector since the age of 15, Admir brings over a decade of experience in human rights work, with a focus on LGBTI+ rights, gender equality, feminism, and social justice. He has co-authored numerous publications and training manuals, including resources for social workers engaging with LGBTI+ communities.

In addition to activism, Admir is a writer of feminist and queer poetry and theatre, utilizing art to amplify the voices of those who are underrepresented. As a member of our Steering Board, he brings invaluable insight, commitment, and intersectional expertise to our mission.

Aleksa Milanović is a Serbian activist. He was born in Kragujevac in 1981. He is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Media and Communications in Belgrade and the author of Representation of Transgender Identities in Visual Arts (2015) and Media Construction of Other Body (2019). He holds a PhD in Transdisciplinary Studies of Contemporary Arts and Media from the Singidunum University in Belgrade and a MA degree in Theory of Arts and Media from the University of Arts in Belgrade.

He has been involved in trans activism since 2008 and has volunteered for numerous activist organizations and informal activist groups. Aleksa participated in the founding of Trans Network Balkan in 2014, as well as Kolektiv Talas TIRV (Collective Wave TIGV) in 2020. He is currently a Programme Director at the Trans Network Balkan.

David Tasevski is a psychologist, MSc in Psychological Sciences, European Certified Psychotherapist (ECP – EAP), and Family and Systemic Psychotherapist. With over a decade of experience, he specializes in supporting survivors of domestic violence, discrimination, hate speech, and members of the LGBTI+ community, as well as other marginalized groups. David has also coordinated and delivered training on mental health, human rights, and social inclusion for institutions, civil society organizations, and private companies.

He actively contributes to policy development and advocacy for vulnerable communities in North Macedonia. His therapeutic approach is rooted in systemic and holistic principles, providing a safe and inclusive space for personal growth.

Helena Vuković is a lesbian, LBTI activist and feminist. She is the founder and Executive Director of the organisation L*-Communio from Novi Sad. Also, she is a board member of EL*C. She is very mobile and ready for action, so in 2022, she spent 6 months on the Poland /Ukraine border as a part of EL*C's mission, rescuing lesbians from Ukraine, where she and her team established 4 safe houses for them. That team rescued more than 350 lesbians(some of them with pets and children)

She and her organisation work in the field, with the community and for the community.Her focus of work is sexual health of LBTI women and the battle against GBV and discrimination.

Jelena Vasiljević, Executive Director of Rainbow Ignite, is a longtime activist of the LGBTIQ+ movement and feminist movement in Serbia. For many years, she has worked on capacity building for organizations and activists in the LGBTIQ+ movement of the Western Balkans, with extensive experience in organizational, program, and project management, community organizing, advocacy, fundraising, and organizational development.

For over 20 years, Jelena has been dedicated to improving the position of the LGBTI community in Serbia with a special focus on addressing lesbian and feminist issues at the national, regional, and international levels.

Jovan Džoli Ulićević is an activist from Montenegro. He was born in 1991 in Podgorica. He graduated from the Department of Biology at the Faculty of Science and Mathematics in Podgorica, where he specialized in ecology. He is currently a finishing year student of Diplomacy and International Relations at the Humanities Studies, University of Donja Gorica in Podgorica. The topics he actively deals with are anti-fascism, queer activism, feminism and decolonialism.

He is the founder of several queer feminist organizations, such as Spektra, Trans Mreža Balkan and LGBTIQ Association of Queer Montenegro. He also works as an executive director in the Spektra and Trans Mreža Balkan, and serves in the Activist Circle of Guerilla Foundation.