Ms. Maruška Vizek is a deputy director of the Institute of Economics Zagreb, a leading Croatian think-tank in the field of economics with the foothold in the Western Balkan region. She has over twenty years of experience in managing research oriented projects aimed at designing and evaluating public policies promoting economic growth and development. Her specializations include international macroeconomics, tourism, housing, and digital economics. She also has considerable experience in various public outreach and engagement activities, and as such she is considered as one of the opinion leaders in Croatia, who effectively blends complex economic concepts and the results of a rigorous empirical research into engaging, credible and easy to understand public narratives advancing sustainable development agenda. She is currently a member of the Council for Energy Transition of the President of Croatia, the Fiscal Policy Committee of the Croatian Parliament, and the Council for Spatial Development of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction and State Assets. She also currently serves as the president of the Supervisory Board of a state-owned commercial bank Croatia Banka. In the past she served as a member of the Economic Council of the President of Croatia.

During her Humphrey program, she plans to focus her academic activities on deepening her understanding of developmental policies tailored for middle income countries with a special emphasis on interweaving energy transition, technology and resource management, and spatial development policies into an integral development policy framework. By the end of the Humphrey program Maruška also hopes to expand her leadership, teamwork and management skills that would allow her to become more efficient in fostering the changes needed to transform Croatia from middle income to high income economy, which is able to adequately address immanent socio-economic challenges stemming from the climate change, intensive digital transformation, demographic decline, spatial degradation, and rising inequality.

Ms. Vizek holds a Master of Science in Economic Development and a Ph.D in International Finance from the University of Zagreb.