Natasha Despotovic

Roles: Special Guest

Natasha Despotovic is the director of the Dominican Republic Environmental Film Festival (DREFF) and the executive director of the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD), a US non profit organization. A national of Croatia and the Dominican Republic, Natasha currently lives in the Washington DC metro area and divides her working time between Washington DC, New York and the Dominican Republic . Following an academic background in Philosophy and Spanish, French and English literature and linguistics, Natasha has had an extensive and diverse international career in which she has held-high level positions in the private, public, non-governmental and multilateral sectors in Europe, the Dominican Republic and the United States. Her professional experience is very expansive and ranges from teaching, writing, translation, film production, architecture, interior design and holistic health to business management, public relations, marketing, international development, international affairs and non-profit management. At GFDD she leads numerous international sustainable development programs as well as book publishing and filmmaking projects. Her first short movie Garbage or Resource: A Dominican Republic Experience, that she directed and produced as part of the GFDD Environmental and Sustainable Development Program, was screened at seventeen international film festivals and earned one first place award and two second place awards. The second short movie Value of Life, produced in 12015, is currently traveling around the world. In her free time, Natasha continues to operate her hotel property Villa Serena in the Dominican Republic, which she had designed and built, and practices as a yoga and meditation teacher, health coach and homeopath.