Dallas Meetup: Growing a Community, Strengthening Connections
The Bosnia & Herzegovina Futures Foundation (BHFF) held its second Dallas Meetup on Saturday, 7 February, bringing together nearly 40 professionals from across Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. This marked our first Dallas gathering since the end of 2024, and the energy in the room made one thing crystal clear: there is a strong desire to meet more frequently and continue growing the Bosnian-Herzegovinian professional community in the region.
A special thank-you goes to Iva Dedić, who represented BHFF on the ground and did a fantastic job securing the venue and helping coordinate the event locally. Iva was joined by Edhem Čustović, our Founder, as they welcomed guests and set the tone for an open, inclusive, and forward-looking evening. We are deeply grateful to everyone who attended, your presence, ideas, and enthusiasm are what make these meetups meaningful and impactful.
One of the key outcomes of this meetup was a collective proposal to meet more often, with plans already discussed for another event in May, and a longer-term vision of hosting three to four meetups annually in Dallas. Future gatherings will aim to include short talks by community members, where professionals can share their career journeys, lessons learned, and ways of staying connected to Bosnia & Herzegovina, while also strengthening ties within the diaspora.
Our Dallas community reflects the impressive diversity and depth of Bosnian-Herzegovinian talent. Attendees currently work across a wide range of sectors and organisations, including:
Technology & Engineering (semiconductors, software, AI, data centres)
Management Consulting & Business Strategy
Product Management & Operations Excellence
Energy, Infrastructure & Advanced Manufacturing
Start-ups and Digital Platforms
Professionals in the room represented or had experience with organisations such as Microsoft, McKinsey & Company, Texas Instruments, and a range of fast-growing technology and consulting firms. While their careers span the globe, their roots trace back to cities and towns across Bosnia & Herzegovina, including Banja Luka, Zvornik, Tuzla, Sarajevo, Šamac, Zenica, and Srebrenica, among many others, an especially powerful reminder of the breadth of our shared heritage.
We were also delighted by a surprise guest appearance from Lejla Kajevic, who flew in from Mexico City specifically to attend the Dallas meetup, a gesture that perfectly captured the spirit of commitment and connection that defines the BHFF community.
The Dallas meetup reinforced why these gatherings matter: they build trust, spark collaboration, and remind us that, no matter how far we travel, community is something we build together. We look forward to seeing this group continue to grow and to welcoming even more faces at our next Dallas event.
Thank you GIS People and & Gruntify
Finally, we would like to sincerely thank our event partners and sponsors, Igor Stjepanović and GIS People / Gruntify, for their support. Igor Stjepanvovic and his wife Marija Stjepanovic have been long time supporters of our foundation and they continue to do so. GIS People is an Australian social enterprise specialising in geospatial (GIS) solutions, workforce development, and digital transformation, with a strong focus on social impact and inclusion. Gruntify, a platform within the GIS People ecosystem, helps organisations streamline field operations by digitising workflows, inspections, and data capture.
