New year and new meetups begin: San Francisco - Bay Area

The first Bosnia & Herzegovina Futures Foundation (BHFF) meetup of 2026 was successfully held on Friday, 9 January, bringing together members of the Bosnian & Herzegovinian diaspora from across the San Francisco Bay Area for an evening of networking, dialogue, and collaboration.

Organised with outstanding local support from Irfan Sljivo, the meetup attracted a diverse and highly accomplished group of professionals working across technology, engineering, data science, AI, biotechnology, finance, entrepreneurship, academia, and startups. Participants represented a broad range of organisations—from major global tech companies and innovative scale-ups to research institutions and venture-backed ventures.

The discussion naturally evolved beyond introductions, focusing on concrete collaboration opportunities, cross-border business ideas, and ways in which the Bay Area diaspora can remain actively engaged with developments in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Topics included mentorship for students and early-career professionals, startup and investment pathways, knowledge transfer, research collaboration, and structured diaspora engagement through BHFF programs.

A strong emphasis was placed on practical ways to contribute—whether through mentoring, partnerships, advisory roles, project collaboration, or supporting innovation and education initiatives in Bosnia & Herzegovina. The atmosphere was open, forward-looking, and energising, reflecting a shared desire to turn global experience into meaningful impact back home.

This meetup marked a strong start to BHFF’s 2026 global engagement calendar and reaffirmed the importance of the Bay Area as a key hub of talent, innovation, and goodwill within the Bosnian & Herzegovinian diaspora.

We extend our sincere thanks to Irfan Sljivo for his leadership and local organisation, and to all attendees for contributing their time, ideas, and enthusiasm. More BHFF diaspora meetups and collaborative initiatives are planned throughout 2026. Also a special thanks for Ramiz Avdic and Euro Grill from Santa Clara for the food and drinks. We really appreciate it.