Bosnian American Professionals Podcast

Alija Dzekic is an Experienced Senior Business Analyst with a demonstrated history of working on complex projects and initiatives. Skilled in Business Process, Analytical Skills, Banking, Management, and Insurance. Strong business development professional graduated from The University of South Dakota.  He currently works for Protective Asset Protection. 

Alija has a passion for community activism and has been involved within the Bosnian American community in various roles. Most notably, he is the president of the St. Louis Islamic Center-Nur and has helped oversee the construction of a beautiful new mosque in South of St. Louis County. 

A refugee himself, Dzemal Bijedic has become an Icon of charitable work in the St. Louis area.  This article by Ryan Shuessler gives you a glimpse of who our very own Dzemal Bijedic is: 

https://www.stlbosnians.com/a-helping-hand-from-one-refugee-to-another/

 Merima was forced to flee her home in Derventa, Bosnia & Herzegovina, at the age of 2 with her mother and a new born baby sister. She did not know where he father was until two years later when they were reunited and were fortunate enough to come to the United States in 1996. 

Since then, it appears that the world of Banking was her calling. She has a  demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry and has been doing it for the past 16 years. She is currently a Commercial Loan Officer and Relationship Manager at UMB Bank. A job she loves as every day she learns something new.  Skilled in Portfolio Management, Customer Service, Commercial Lending, Banking, and Credit Analysis. She is a strong sales professional with a Bachelor of Science focused in Business Administration and Marketing from University of Missouri-Saint Louis. 

She is also about to learn how to be a parent as well. Merima is expecting her first baby, a girl, in December of this year. We wish her the best of luck with that and in particular picking out a name for the baby girl. 

Denis Kuzelj remembers the horrors of Prijedor. He and his family survived, unlike so many others. Fat forward to today and brilliant mind is saving lives as an emergency room doctor in the United States. 

Dr. Denis Kuzelj is an emergency medicine physician who received his medical degree from Saint Louis University School of Medicine. He is a former Marine who served the United States of America, unlike some folks with bone spurs. 

This is the audio portion of Nedim Ramic's conversation with Patrick McCarthy on the Facebook Live "Lunch with a Lawyer" episode that recently aired. 

Patrick McCarthy is the co-author of “Ethnic St. Louis” and “After the Fall: Srebrenica Survivors in St. Louis.” He currently serves as the Associate Dean of Libraries & Director, Medical Center Library at Saint Louis University.

We talked to Patrick about the Bosnian American community and his experience from the Bosnian genocide to the Bosnian refugee’s influx into the United States and in particular to St. Louis.

Also, Patrick and I will be part of the upcoming ICTY Symposium: The Role of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in Understanding the War and Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina which will be held on Friday, October 4, 2019 at Washington University School of Law. We hope you will mark your calendars accordingly and join us on that date.

“Ethnic St. Louis” can be found here

https://www.amazon.com/Ethnic-St-Louis-Elizabe…/…/1935806998

“After the Fall: Srebrenica Survivors in St. Louis”

https://www.amazon.com/After-Fall-Srebrenica-S…/…/1883982367

Boris and his family were among the first ones to arrive in St. Louis in the early 1990's. While the challenges were real, his love for sports and camaraderie allowed him to excel in the Water-Polo Pools, as well as, academically. Novak & Ljiljana Cvijanovic, his parents, have been a staple within the Bosnian-American community. Ljiljana has helped countless Bosnian-Americans receive loans for cars, homes, business and more. 

Currently, Boris works at CenturyLink as a Senior level engagement manager with thirteen years of experience designing and implementing innovative and sustainable technology solutions that help clients meet their business needs. Broad work experience across multiple jobs and areas of responsibility within the technology industry provides a balanced understanding of business challenges, potential underlying issues, opportunities for collaboration, and best possible solutions. 

Boris is married to his wonderful wife Stacy and they have two amazing kids, Luka and Anya. 

Many Bosnian Americans in St. Louis know Ron Klutho as Amir Amerikanac. We believe they still think he is somehow Bosnian. Why? He has been on the forefront of helping many Bosnian-Americans settle into their new home. 

Ron is currently with the Bilingual International Assistant Services and has worked with the refugee communities of St Louis for over 25 years. With a background in linguistics and English as a Second Language, Ron has taught English in Japan and at several locations in St Louis. He started as a volunteer at St Pius V’s Refugee Support Ministry with Sister Paulette Weindel while teaching full-time, which evolved into a full-time position at the church. Ron speaks several languages fluently including Bosnian, and is trying to learn Arabic now with great interest but great difficulty. 

Why is Ron an honorary Bosnian? Well his article in the Post Dispatch should give you a good idea about that and can be found here

My Bosnians 

 https://www.bilingualstl.org/home/our-team-2/#28 

 What is Climate Engineering?

Also known as "geoengineering," it is the intentional large-scale intervention in the Earth’s climate system to counter climate change. 

Limiting the risks of climate change requires swift and deep reductions in emissions of heat-trapping gases and investments to prepare for now unavoidable impacts.  Given the daunting challenge of keeping the rise in global temperatures in check, some researchers are also working to understand the risks and potentials of  “geoengineering” or climate engineering technologies. A young Bosnian-American with a passion for science, Benjamin Cehic is one of those young minds that is warning us of the risks associated with this practice. 

Join us and let us know what you think about it? 

 https://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/climate-engineering 

 https://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/ 

Aldin Lolic is a Special Investigator CPO, CIAI, with City of St. Louis Government under the Department of Public Safety. His main function is to Investigate Police Officer Misconduct under COB, Civilian Oversight Board, known as Police Oversight. Aldin serves as the liaison between the City of St. Louis Government and the Immigrant Communities and is part of the Hate Crime Task for with ADL and several Federal Agencies. His passion is to serve his Bosnian American Community, therefore with numerous local partners, he created an Opioids Task Force and hopes to bring resources and education to the community and prevent the Opioids epidemic.

Elmedina is a senior accountant specializing in auditing and tax services. She began her accounting career with Milhouse & Neal, LLP in 2009 as an intern. She obtained a BA, Accounting degree from University of Missouri – Saint Louis and her MBA, in Accounting. She is a licensed CPA and exceeds the annual requirements of the Continuing Professional Education program of the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants. Elmedina is a member the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

She devotes her professional time to a broad range of clients in various industries. One of Elmedina’ s best qualities is her strong work ethic. She works hard and has a great deal of stamina. She enjoys working on challenging projects and at the end of the day, she likes to be able to point to something tangible and know that she had a hand in it.

Born in Bosnia, Elmedina spent much of her youth living in a country that was in the throes of war. She relocated to the United States at the age of twelve and entered seventh grade. Although she did not speak the English language she somehow managed to excel in her studies. At her eighth-grade graduation, she received several awards for her outstanding academic achievement. She looks back on her youth and realizes that everything she went through has only made her stronger. Elmedina is a born leader and very involved in her Bosnian community. She serves as Treasurer, for the Bosnian American Professional Network, and has been appointed by the Mayor of the City of St. Louis to serve on the Civil Rights Enforcement Agency Commission.

Elmedina has an adventurous spirit and a passion for traveling abroad. It's no surprise that she paid her way through college working for a travel agency. It is customary for her to spend several weeks over the summer exploring different parts of the world. She enjoys traveling as much as possible and her adventures have taken her to such far off places as Brussels, Istanbul, Frankfurt, London, Milan, Paris, Venice, Zurich, and many more.

There is no end to her adventures and her next trip is always just around the corner. Her motto is: Work. Save. Travel. Repeat.

 https://www.mn-cpa.com/tasic.html