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Sasa Vucinic

Journalist and co-founder of the Media Development Loan Fund

The Americas
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Sasa Vucinic is the founder and CEO of ;IndieVoices and co-founder of the ;Media Development Loan Fund, an investment fund for independent media in the developing world. By providing low cost capital, management advice, and new technological solutions in lieu of giving grants, MDLF helps build sustainable businesses in challenging environments. Since its founding in 1995, MDLF has invested more than $125 million to independent media companies in 30 countries. Prior to founding MDLF, Vucinic worked as a media consultant to the Soros Foundation Network. From 1990 to 1993, he was the general manager and editor-in-chief of Radio B92 in Belgrade, a rare outlet for independent news under Slobodan Milosevic’s tyrannical regime. While studying at the University of Belgrade Law School, Vucinic worked with NON, a weekly political magazine, and eventually became editor-in-chief in 1989. Later, as a media consultant for the Soros Foundation,Vucinic managed projects assisting independent media in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Vucinic’s experiences led him to recognize the difficulties faced by newly established media companies trying to succeed, especially in countries such as South Africa, Malaysia, and Guatemala. His work running a media outlet under the Milosevic regime and his experiences with media assistance programs inspired Vucinic to create MDLF. Today, its clients provide news and information to more than 32 million people around the world. In2000, Vucinic attended the Harvard Business School’s General Manager Program. He was named a Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum that same year and was named a Senior Ashoka Fellow in 2008. Vucinic served as the managing director at MDLF until March 2011.

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