BOARD MEMBERS
KRISTIJAN CURAVIĆ, FOUNDER
Born on the island of Krapanj near Šibenik. He is a professional diver since 1994., educated in the Norwegian School of Commercial Diving in Fagerstrand, near Oslo. He is a former world record holder in extreme freediving under ice and the first man in history to freedive at the North Pole and set a world record in freediving by 51 meter. Founder and President of GUWAA Association.
MIŠEL PAVLOVIĆ
Diver that has been trained personally by Kristijan Curavić both in freediving and scuba diving. Mišel is the first investor, and supporter of GUWAA from the very beginning. He has attended many cleanups in Croatian coast and has been main mechanic engineer for all equipment that has been used for cleanups. Mišel Pavlović is right hand man of President Kristijan Curavić.
ROGER FISK
Former National Director of Special Events for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Involved in two presidential campaigns: Obama '08 and '12. These campaigns revolutionized the micro studying and learning from each voter, each consumer, and in the process designed nimble applications that used this information to maximize response and engagement. For the first Obama term, Fisk served at the commerce department where he coordinated trade and diplomatic missions all over the world. Since the 2012 re-election, Roger designed and managed the social media contingency plans for the 2013 Presidential Inauguration. He is also an award winning guitarist and singer. He participated in National Geographic's "Civil Warriors", published articles on politics and travel, and lectured on political organizing and social media.
FRANÇOIS SARANO
Professional diver, with doctorate in oceanography. Former Director of Research for the Deep Ocean Odyssey Program. He was the expedition leader and scientific adviser of Jacques Cousteau. He participated in twenty expeditions aboard the Calypso. He was head of the "Fisheries Resources" department at WWF. Cofounder of the Longitude 181 Nature association with Vincent Ohl, whose objective is the protection of the marine environment and the equitable sharing of resources. Diver, scientific advisor and co-writer of the film Oceans directed by Jacques Perrinand Jacques Cluzaud. He is the author/coauthor of many films and books.
STJEPAN MESIĆ
Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić is a Croatian politician who served as the second President of Croatia, 2000 to 2010. Before his ten-year presidential term between 2000 and 2010 he held the posts of Speaker of the Croatian Parliament (1992–1994), Prime Minister of Croatia (1990), the last President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1991), Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement (1991), a judge in Našice and mayor of his hometown of Orahovica. He is a member of GUWAA Association and Project Director for Southeastern Europe.
RADE ŠERBEDŽIJA
Rade Šerbedžija was born in the village Bunić (within Lika region), Croatia. He graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts of the University of Zagreb. Rade founded the Ulysses Theater with Borislav Vujčić on the Brijuni islands, where he also directs and acts in most plays. The theater was founded in 2000 and has been very successful so far.
He played in many Yugoslav films such as U gori raste zelen bor, Kiklop, Nikola Tesla. He later became a well known Hollywood actor, with roles in movies such as Mission Impossible II, Eyes Wide Shut, The Quiet American, Snatch, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, etc.
MARIO HIVEŠ
One of the first SPEED Unit divers who has attended all cleanups in Croatia and the global cleanup. He is a professional Counterterrorism Police officer (Special Forces) and one of the most fit divers in the team. He has spent more than 20 years in Special Forces, Anti terror squad in Croatian police. He is appointed as a board member personally by the president Curavic for his outstanding work and dedication to GUWAA.
SNJEŽANA KLAIĆ
Snježana Klaić was born on October 17th 1965 in Nova Gradiška, Croatia, where she acquired primary and secundary school (informatic and matematics). She graduated on Faculty of Economics in 1990. Her business career began in the Simplex company in her hometown. Until 1996. she was a director of the company. After that she moved in Novi Vinodolski where she became hotel manager. She is also a member of the City Government responsible for finance and budget. Speaks English and German.
BIANCA JAGGER
Social and human rights advocate and a former actress and model. Jagger currently serves as a Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador, Founder and Chair of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation, Member of the Executive Director’s Leadership Council of Amnesty International USA, and a Trustee of the Amazon Charitable Trust. Over the past thirty years she has written articles and opinion pieces, delivered keynote speeches at conferences and events throughout the world and participated in numerous television and radio debates, about numerous issues including genocide, the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, the war on terror, war crimes against humanity, crimes against future generations, the Former Yugoslavia, Sri Lanka, Central America, Iran, Iraq, India, children and women’s rights, the rights of indigenous peoples, climate change, the rainforest, renewable energy, corporate social responsibility, the ensuing erosion of civil liberties and human rights, and the death penalty.
DANIEL AZOUAR
Daniel Azouar is 43 years old security company owner (Trivselsvakt) in Oslo, Norway, and one of the closest friends of Kristijan Curavic. Daniel is project director for Norway, Sweden and Denmark and is responsible for all actions and cleanings in Scandinavia. He is a main adviser to GUWAA President and Vice President for GUWAA White Flag in 30 countries around the world. His special diplomatic skills in negotiation and organisation are crucial for GUWAA's expansion on the global market. Daniel Azouar is as well passionate scuba diver and animal rights supporter.
IVOR ZIDARIC
Ivor Zidaric is one of the top agents in Croatia specialized in concerts and events organization in SE Europe. He is a passionate scuba diver in his freetime. Married with two children and lives in Zagreb, Croatia. He became two years ago first official agent for GUWAA and has been supporting GUWAA in early stages of development.Ivor is very important GUWAA member and he is responsible for all the events and operations in EU countries including the former Balkan region.
LEANA DERIS
Leana Deris is a marine biologist. She was born in beautiful coastal town of Split, Croatia. Her passion for the seas was established early so it’s not surprising that she is so dedicated and active in its preservation and protection. At University of Split she studied Marine Fishery Biology and she also passed Professional Practical Training at Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries where she was part of team that did research about the length-weight relationship, condition factor and age determination of fish using otoliths from 300 specimens of Spicara smaris and 500 specimens of Solea solea. Her master thesis was "Marine litter in bottom trawl catches during the MEDITS expedition". Objectives were to provide informations about different types, quantity and distribution of solid waste collected during MEDITS expedition in Adriatic Sea. Now she is working on similar projects in GUWAA.