UMD GC2011 Honorary Chair Ambassador Ljubica Z. Acevska

- Macedonia’s first woman diplomat -

Macedonia had no representation in Washington, D.C. before Ambassador Ljubica Z. Acevska. “I frequently told government officials, ‘You should have a representative in Washington.’” Finally Macedonia’s president, then President Kiro Gligorov said to her, ‘You take the job.’ “I agreed to take the job for six months,” she remembers. These six months turned into nine years serving in this capacity from 1991 to 2000.

This was the beginning of what would mark a milestone in Ambassador Acevska’s life and career. She would become the first woman diplomat of Macedonia abroad to the most powerful country in the world. She gave up her U.S. citizenship and started her role as Macedonia’s first representative, and then Ambassador to the United States of America. Although Macedonia was an island of stability in a sea of Balkan turmoil at the time, the job of Ambassador was not easy for Acevska.

Ambassador Acevska for several years was the only one working in Washington, D.C. trying to win the support of the United States. During her time representing the Republic of Macedonia, she successfully established bilateral relations between Macedonia and the United States, advocated for the U.S. to agree to send peacekeeping troops under the United Nations’ umbrella to Macedonia’s northern border to prevent spillover from the Yugoslav wars, and convinced the U.S. to send foreign assistance. Ambassador Acevska handled Macedonia’s membership in the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and served as a Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly.

Ambassador Acevska has an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Hood College, received the 1996 Alumni Medalist Award for international distinction in service to humanity from The Ohio State University, and in 1997 received the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award. In 1999, the U.S. Department of State bestowed upon her the Secretary’s Open Forum Distinguished Public Service Award, and in 2000, she received the Ambassador of the Year Award from Howard University. Ambassador Acevska was included in the Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership, for becoming Macedonia’s first woman diplomat.

After her service as Ambassador, she went on to become a Public Policy Scholar at the prestigious Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. From 2005-2008, she was a co- host of the DC-TV talk show Conversations focusing on international issues.

In addition to her current public speaking engagements, and international business development consulting work, Ambassador Acevska is Co-Founder and President of Pencils 4 Kids International, an organization that provides school supplies to kids worldwide. One of the most recent projects was traveling to Haiti after the devastating earthquake in 2010. Acevska has served on numerous Boards including The Ohio State University Alumni Association Board of Directors; The Ohio State University, The Provost’s External Advisory Board on Education; Board of Governors Pacem-in-Terris Institute at La Roche College; the American Bar Association’s Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (CEELI) Advisory Council, and currently serves on the Advisory Council of the United Macedonian Diaspora and is Chairman of the Women Ambassadors Foundation. Before becoming Ambassador, Acevska was a founding partner of Gulf Enterprises, which deals in trading, consulting and development in the Arabian Gulf with offices in Washington, D.C and Abu Dhabi.

Ambassador Acevska’s leadership and involvement in far-reaching projects brought her appearances on many television programs including CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, FOX NEWS, PBS THE LEHRER NEWSHOUR, C-SPAN where she provided her expertise and opinion on key issues affecting Macedonia and U.S. policy towards the region, among other topics. She has spoken at many universities, World Affairs Councils, Chambers of Economy, Rotary Clubs, the United States Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute, and at national and international conferences.

Acevska was born in Capari, Macedonia. She came to the United States with her family at the age of nine, and grew up in Mansfield, Ohio. Acevska completed her undergraduate and postgraduate studies at The Ohio State University in the field of international studies. She attended Harvard University twice, once at the JFK School of Government for a fellowship in Leadership in the 21st Century: Chaos, Conflict and Courage and later at the Business School for an Executive Development Program sponsored by the World Bank.

She currently resides in Washington, D.C. with her husband Washington Psychiatrist and author, Dr. Joseph R. Novello and enjoys golfing, gardening, traveling, and meeting people in her spare time.