Drasko Kraguljac (pronounced Drashko Kraguliats) was inducted on 19 February 2020 with the classification INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AGENCY – CORPORATE DESIGNEE.
Drasko was born in Karlovac, Croatia and educated at Real Gymnasium in Karlovac (same one Nikola Tesla attended) and the Law School, University of Zagreb, Croatia.
Unfortunately, war came to his country, and his hometown, in 1991 (-1995). This was a deciding factor to go on a different professional path. After the war ended in 1995, Drasko found a new career in humanitarian work. He started work with Médecins sans Frontiers (MSF) in 1995 and over the last 25 years was working with the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Australian RedR Cross, and since 2007 with RedR Australia.
His work in the humanitarian sector resulted in specialising in supply chain management (including medical logistics), capacity and business development, and stakeholder management. He was RedR’s Manager Humanitarian Training (2007), Director Operations (2013), Director Strategy, Risk and Partnerships (2017), and as of 2019 he is Director Strategic Partnerships.
RedR was invited to membership of the Rotary Club of Melbourne in late 2019 as a Corporate member and on 19 February 2020 - Kirsten Sayers, CEO; Robyn Hollands, Manager Private Partnerships; and Drasko - were inducted into Rotary Club of Melbourne, as corporate designees.
Drasko moved to Australia in 2003 with his Australian partner, Penny Harrison and they have two children. Drasko enjoys modern technologies (from building and repairing computers, to 3D printing, to using drones and blockchain for humanitarian purposes). He is an avid reader of history, politics, and philosophy. Whenever time permits, he dabbles in carpentry.
Drasko is financial supporter of RedR, MSF and UNHCR, as well as number of other agencies and humanitarian causes. He is the current Chair of the Digital Identity Trust Alliance, a growing coalition of organisations that use blockchain solutions to make it easier to take humanitarian action, by creating open credentials ecosystem and addressing digital coordination problem.
Founding members of the Trust Alliance include Australian Red Cross, Oxfam Australia, RedR Australia, Telstra Foundation, TypeHuman, Swinburne University, RMIT, Bridge of Hope, and Engineers Without Borders Australia.
Drasko is a member of Central Group 1 (and is yet to find a Committee to serve on).
