Ivan Marovic is an organizer, software developer and social innovator from Belgrade, Serbia. He was one of the leaders of Otpor, a youth movement which played a critical role in the downfall of Slobodan Milosevic, Serbian strongman in 2000. Since then he’s been advising numerous pro-democracy groups around the world and became one of the leading educators in the field of strategic nonviolent conflict. In the last two decades Ivan has been designing and developing learning programs on civil resistance and movement building, and supporting the development of training organizations, such as Rhize and the African Coaching Network.
Ivan started his activism journey as a student organizer in the Otpor movement which played a critical role in mobilizing voters in historic 2000 election and the subsequent nonviolent mobilization which pressed Slobodan Milosevic to accept defeat and step down. Soon after this firsthand experience, Ivan found himself advising activists and organizers around the world, helping them develop strategies best suited for their circumstances, but all anchored in self-organizing and mobilization of ordinary people to bring about political and social change.
Over the years, and as the demand for this kind of knowledge increased, Ivan began designing and implementing robust training programs, developing curricula, training trainers, advancing continuous education and mentoring, both in-person and online. Ivan helped develop two educational video games that teach activists civil resistance: A Force More Powerful (2006) and People Power (2010). He also authored a training guide The Path of Most Resistance: A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning Nonviolent Campaigns (2018).
In 2016 Ivan designed and developed Global Coaching Corps for Rhize, a US based organization, and implemented their Fellowship Program which is in its third year; he helped establish African Coaching Network, a network of trainers working in several African countries. Ivan has also been recruited by United States Institute of Peace to head the development of their Coach-Mentor team within SNAP (Synergizing Nonviolent Action and Peacebuilding Program), one of USIP’s newest programs. What all these projects have in common is the development of learning communities and transnational networks of educators and practitioners of civil resistance and movement building.
Ivan holds a BSc in Process Engineering from Belgrade University and an MA in International Relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.