PASSIONATE PROFESSIONALS

The Queens World Film Festival, New York Women in Film and Television, Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, The Gaia Zine and Epicenter – NY proudly announce PASSION in ACTION, a day-long mentoring event to bring high school and college students together with Passionate Professionals in the Arts, Sciences, Finance, Women’s Sports, Nonprofit Sectors and More.

The morning session of this day long event will concentrate on developing personal professionalism related to the arts including developing a mission statement, compiling ideas on how to promote your work and creating your back pocket networking tool kit. The afternoon is devoted to a round robin speed networking event so that all attendees have the opportunity to spend 30 minutes with 3 different Passionate Professionals.

The morning will concentrate on developing personal professionalism related to the arts with the afternoon devoted to a round robin networking event so that all attendees, have the opportunity to spend 30 minutes with 3 different Passionate Professionals.

Thank you to Marija Sajkas for being one of our Passionate Professionals!

IMG_1438 - Marija Sajkas

Journalist, Advocate
Professional Affiliations
International Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders
OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Follow on LinkedIn

Marija Sajkas

Founder of 4Better Media, Journalist, Activist

“Marija Šajkaš is a U.S.-based writer, media expert, and human rights advocate whose work focuses on freedom of expression, the safety of journalists and minority groups, and the state of media in the U.S. and the Balkans. She is a founder of 4 Better Media and, since 2018, a curator of the Freedom of Speech block at the Queens World Film Festival. In addition, she is a staff writer for Cenzolovka, a Serbian media watchdog website, a Balkan consultant for Global Freedom of Expression at Columbia University, and a regular contributor to Reporters Without Borders.

Before that, Sajkas was the Head of Development and Operations for Media Diversity Institute –USA, the Advocacy Manager for New York Immigration Coalition, a Press Officer for The International Committee of the Red Cross, and a Deputy-Editor-in-Chief of The Bridges Magazine, the first media outlet distributed in post-war Bosnia, produced by the United Nations, SFOR Forces.

She was a consultant for the documentary Common Ground: Survivors- A conversation between communities (2019), in which survivors of the Holocaust and Sino-Japanese war are finding similarities in perseverance, and co-author of Missing- the Right to Know (2003), a documentary that chronicles lives of families who are looking for their loved ones in mass graves. Her novel Esther Jovanovich’s Scrapbook (Klett, 2013), historical fiction situated in the time before WW2, explores topics such as the fatality of love, multiple forces of immigration, and unlocked secrets from a letter found between strings of a grand piano.

Marija Sajkas holds M.S. in International Affairs, with a concentration in Culture and Media Studies, from The New School University in New York, and a B.S. in Serbian Language and Literature from the University of Belgrade.”

Question & Answer

What is a personal character trait that you have leaned on in your career?

perseverance

What is your best advice for young creatives who are thinking about college?

Go for it, you will enjoy it more than you think you are

What is your best advice for young creatives who are beginning their careers?

Look for internships not at places that offer one but at places where you would truly like to work/contribute