Anita Hrast, 1972, Slovenia, has B.A. in communication (marketing and marketing communications) and is doing postgraduate study (Ph. D. - Management of non-profit organizations, Marketing).) at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. She is founder and general manager of IRDO – Institute for the Development of Social Responsibility (from 2004: www.irdo.si) and at the same time registered researcher at Slovenian Research Agency.
Her work experiences are coming from co-founding and general secretary at association Ozara, Slovenia – National Association for Quality of Life (1994-2000), general management of marketing agency Verus (2003-2004), general management of advertising (SPEM, 2001-2002), project management at PR and marketing agencies (bronze Effie award in 2003, Spektra Press), product management at publishing house Založba Forum Media (development of new products and services). She was author of radio broadcast “7 minutes for business” (at Radio Maribor, 2003-2006), journalist in different media (newspaper Večer, radio Marš, TV Slovenia (1989-1995)).
She is researching and publishing texts from the social responsibility and marketing field in different magazines and at Slovene and international scientific conferences (STIQE, WOSC, EMCSR…). She was involved in Project CSR – Code to Smart Reality with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (CCIS) through its regional Maribor chamber. Her vision of raising awareness on social responsibility in advertising is realised by different marketing and PR activities -also through IRDO Institute Award on Magdalena Festival.
As researcher and development manager she is working in communication, marketing, social responsibility filed and is developing new methods, new projects, products and services for different clients (companies, media, individuals). She links many Slovene and international organizations, experts, with purpose to develop and implement social responsibility in theory and practise.