Milena Zajovic is a psychologist, journalist, and human rights defender. She organized Croatia’s first Gay Pride in 2002, co-led the first Croatian LGBT organization, Iskorak, and co-founded the queer activist group Ponosni Zagreb. Since 2015, she has focused on migration issues, leading the NGO Are You Syrious, serving as the Head of Advocacy for the Border Violence Monitoring Network, and consulting for European institutions. Among the numerous publications she has written and co-edited, the most important are the Black Books of Pushbacks, documenting testimonies of over 25,000 people on the move. These books, presented in the European Parliament in 2020 and 2022, are used to advocate against harmful border policies.

In addition to her human rights engagements, Milena works as the Editor of Culture in the Croatian daily newspaper Vecernji list, and serves as the curator of the EFA-nominating Motovun Film Festival.