Jelena, Nole and the children
Graduated in Bocconi in 2008 in business administration,Jelena Ristic, who married in 2014 the number 1 ranked tennis player, Novak Djokovic, sits today on the board of the Foundation established in 2012 by the Serbian champion to help disadvantaged children especially in education. On September 21 and 22, in Milan, a tennis event with, apart from Djokovic, Nadal, Serena Williams, Pennetta and Fognini with the aim of raising funds.
What does the Foundation deal with in detail and what at the moment are the most important projects?
Our mission in Novak Djokovic Foundation is to enable children equal access to preschool services, where they can play, grow up, socialize and develop into caring citizens of the world. Currently in Serbia, every second child doesn't have access to preschool care and knowing the importance of investing into early childhood education and development, we dedicated all our efforts in hopes of changing this stark number. Our biggest programs at the moment are Schools of Life (establishing ECE programs and preschools in rural Serbia), Mind Up Program (training teachers to teach children how to cope with social and emotional problems so they grow up to acquire mindful approach to life), Teacher trainings (through series of seminars, we bring teachers up to speed with the latest in Early Childhood Education, ensuring that more high quality ECE programs are being implemented in schools), Friendship Games (a week long retreat for children from socially disadvantaged areas of Serbia where they learn how to socialize, play, and work in team with others).
When and why was the idea of the Foundation born?
Novak Djokovic Foundation was established as it is in 2012, but the idea of giving back to the country and to the children was born much earlier. As a matter of fact, Novak, with the help of his parents, founded the Novak Fund in 2007 to help the underserved communities in Serbia through various initiative, but he realised that although his help was helping many, it wasn't making a lasting change. So in 2012, he made a decision to change the mission and the direct his attention where he thought the help was most needed - to children age 3 to 6 and their education. The area to which we intend to contribute our help and efforts is not the path many NGOs would choose to follow because it takes years to see the results. However, knowing how much early care and support were crucial in becoming who we are today, Novak and I continue to believe that any child can become a champion of his dreams given the right care, support and education.
What is your role in the Foundation? What do you deal with in first person?
I am a national director of the foundation in Serbia, a Board member in the UK and US subsidiaries as well as a co founder. I am involved in day -to- day strategic decision making of the Foundation and communication with the donors.
How many funds does the Foundation destine to its projects every year? Have you or do you look for some partners for your initiatives?
We don't have the special amount we dedicate to projects each year but ever since 2012, the amount dedicated was being enlarged yearly as our team was becoming more adept and able to address and tackle more and more problems in our society. Until now, the Foundation has spent circa 3 million euros for the projects. 100% of donations that we received went directly to the programs and to the end user: the child. Novak and I are covering the administrative costs by having established the endowment that we hope will ensure that the Foundation continues to run and help many children for the years to come. In order to grow this endowment, we continuously seek supporters and like minded individuals who believe in helping the world become the better place by investing into early childhood education and development programs.
Are the skills acquired at university, in particular at Bocconi, in some way useful in your work for the Foundation?
When I started studying at Bocconi, I have officially transitioned into adulthood. It was a very special time for me and I will never forget it. I left my family and home and joined one very, very complex machinery that produces the finest businessmen and entrepreneurs of the world. I dreamed of becoming one of those "finest" and realized how far I am from that goal. So, I started taking baby steps and learned a lot of very useful skills that I proudly use in every aspect of my life. I was and still am very grateful for the scholarship I received by the university. Without it, I would never be able to attend the university abroad. I think that kind of opportunity thought me even more to be responsible and grateful. For my work today, I feel that I am applying everything I learned, every day. I am excited to be in a position to invest in education because I know it is a spring board for the future of children and healthy economy.
Do you have a project which you realised which you are particularly proud of and another you maybe want to realise in the future?
I am proud of each and every project we realised because they all try to tackle problems from the root. Focusing on consequences tends to take too much man power and money and it rarely fixes anything. We have many great projects, some of them - Schools of Life, Family Outreach worker, Teacher trainings, Mind Up program..., are more systematic in nature, and others, like Friendship games, Sports Day, tend to be more focused on raising awareness of the issues in our society.
One of the projects that is raising awareness and in doing so, is also trying to change attitudes, is the student magazine Original, launched just last September. The magazine was launched with an idea to combat the trend of having students and young people focus on the negatives surrounding us and instead being given good examples that will motivate them, help them grow and become the leaders of tomorrow. By telling them inspirational stories from around the world but also next door, we try to help the young people take control of their lives and find their formula of success by following the right values. This project is a wonderful trip to how the world can be and we already have a lot of positive feedback on this. The magazine is a kind of a society's alarm clock, telling us that we need to wake up and shake up in order to make it. If we do not invest now in growing new leaders, how can we expect them to lead our society to success tomorrow?