Finalist

Female Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year Award

Gordana Nikolić

Finalist of the Female Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year Award

PAR University - Croatia

"A leader is worth as much as the people who follow him"


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Summary

Gordana Nikolić, PhD is the Dean and founder of PAR University College in Croatia. She is still the only women in Croatia who is the owner of private higher education institution. For her work she received a several awards, out of which the most important one is for the Women entrepreneur of the year in Croatia in 2014. She also award in 2015., for outstanding international achievements in promoting science, education and entrepreneurship of women in the countries of the region. For extraordinary contribution in the field of higher education and entrepreneurship in her city she received the special award in 2016.

Fifteen years ago she had a clear vision and founded PAR as a Business Academy Rijeka. After years of hard work and determination, PAR became an University College. When Gordana first founded PAR, it only had a few students and employees, today PAR is an institution with five study programs, five hundred students, two hundred alumni students and a lot of awards and acknowledgments for being the leading private University in the Adriatic Coast. With her leadership and positive energy Gordana has created an institution where creativity meets knowledge, an institution that not only teaches and forms young people but that also has a positive impact on society. Through tuition fonds PAR helps many young people that don’t have the possibilities to fund their education. PAR also organizes many events that support female entrepreneurship and helps young women to develop their business ideas like Gordana did.

Through being responsible, creative, innovative and always ahead of time, Gordana is an example to all young people. She motivates everyone around her and is always there for her students and employees. She always likes to say that her greatest success is the success of her students and employees, and that makes her an amazing leader and a person that positively changes our society.

She has been included in the book 100 Croatian Leaders where she reflected on important events that she considered crucial for her success.

Among the most significant international recognitions, professor Gordana Nikolic,PhD points out the "Exceptional Women of Excellence 2018" award presented at the World Women Economic Forum.

Key People


Assist. prof. Gordana Nikolić, PhD
Dean and Founder
PAR University College



Prof. Martina Jurković
Vice Dean
Academic & LLL department,  PAR University College



Višnja Mrakovčić Super
Advisor
SME,  EBRD



Radovan Fuchs
Minister of Science and Education
Croatian Ministry of science and education



Nenad Sajfert
Director
RegHUP- Croatian employers associationion North Adriatic



Ivanka Springer
Director
F+U Academia Heidelberg



Prof. Vidoje Vujić
Director
County Primorsko goranska,  HGK – Croatia Commercial Chamber


Images

International Conference PILC

Women Economic Forum New Delhi

EBRD

Portrait

Women Economic Forum

IMPACT STORY

Impacting lifes

Sara Fuchs was one of the students in one German higher education institution where assist.prof. Nikolić used to work as a lecture. Stories are best told by the persons directly involved in them so we convey her words fully.

They asked me to write a few words about Gordana Nikolić, a few words that describe her and the impact she had on me and my generation. It seemed like a simple task, no there are too many words and epithets to describe her, and too little time to do so. I’m going to try to do it in hope that you will see from my words how special she is, how unique is her personality and why she is an admirable person.

I remember like yesterday the first day I came to college and entered the classroom. There she was, full of enthusiasm and positive energy, ready to show us the world. I’m saying the world, because Gordana wasn’t a typical professor, she was the one who decided to take us on a coffee break and meet us before teaching us, because she had an attitude that she needs to know her students to be able to transfer any knowledge. This is one of the things that make her special, she has to know every student and doesn’t only teach theoretical knowledge but needs to know details about everyone so she can individually adjust the approach and encourage the most in each student.

There are so many of us that she raised, advised, transformed for the better and then let into the world as people with character, knowledge and a special glow and energy to change the future and make the world a better place as she did with us. She was the light for our generation, a person that made us think about everything and gave us self-confidence to express our opinions. She was a person that taught us that everything is possible if you decide to work hard and fight for it. It’s just a small part of who she was for her students, but she still is a special person to me. While I was a student, she was the one who motivated me and helped me to go study in London, she searched for apartments with me just to be sure I will be safe. Today, she is my strength, a person that encourages me and guides me, she opens my perspective and whenever I’m lost, she directs me through conversation and helps me to find solutions.

Along with my parents, Gordana is the only person that stood by me through every success and acknowledgment and lifted me up through every difficult situation. She was the one who helped me to develop myself and to go after a PHD. My mother would be so happy with the direction I’ve chosen, but she is no longer with us so Gordana made it her task to unlock the passion of developing myself and becoming a better person in every way possible.

If you still didn’t realize, Gordana Nikolic is one of the few people that is really changing our society for the better.

LEARNINGS

Lessons learned

You can’t be a leader if you don’t believe in people and if you don’t have people who follow you, but to be followed you need to be a motivator. You have to have a clear goal to be a proper leader. It’s also very important to be determined because as a leader you make the most important decisions.

It’s also important not to be afraid. If you follow a goal but you make a mistake and “fall”, don’t give up, learn from your mistake, rise above it and continue forward even stronger.

You have to remember to be human, to be compassionate, socially responsible and to be there for your team. I always like to say that a leader is worth as much as people who follow him.

FUTURE PLANS

What's coming?

My professional desire is for PAR University College to become one of the leading schools that will continuously upgrade through a fusion of economy and science in different projects and study programs. I have a lot of dreams and plans, and I think I will be able to achieve them with the amazing team I created.

One of the biggest desires is to progress outside of Croatia, to create more opportunities for young people from Europe. I intend to use my experience and internationalize it, to use my knowledge and creativity to develop new ideas in Europe and the world. I will continue to support women entrepreneurs, to develop my institution towards becoming a joint venture with an international university. I know that PAR University college will become the leading international educational center in region.

My personal plan is to develop myself, to continuously learn and grow so I can be a better professor to my students, a better leader to my employees and a positive example for everyone around me. There are many of projects and ideas that I am looking forward to relize.


KEY STATISTICS

5+

Study programs

500+

Students

200+

Alumni students

600+

Hours of internship

70+

Inter-institutional agreements

30+

Strategic partnerships

87%

Employment rate after graduation

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