Goran Miletić Founder
Goran Miletić has dedicated over three decades of his life to advancing human rights across the Western Balkans, Europe and Eurasia. He began his advocacy journey in the early 1990s, joining Arkadija, Serbia’s first LGBT organization, and aligning with anti-war and anti–Milošević movements, demonstrating early on that true change must come from grassroots courage and conviction .
In 2000, Goran joined the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) in Belgrade, where he served as a lawyer, media analyst, and later regional coordinator of investigation of human rights violation. During this time, he tackled a wide range of issues, from torture and minority rights (Roma, Albanian, Bosniak) to advocacy and documentation of violations. He spearheaded shadow reports under UN and Council of Europe frameworks and represented victims before courts across Serbia and Montenegro.
Since 2004, Goran has held leading roles at Civil Rights Defenders, rising from Programme Officer to Programme Director for the Western Balkans (2010–2016) and then to Director for Europe and MENA, as well as Deputy Global Director (2017–2024) and completed his work at CRD as a Senior Advisor to the Executive Director.
His work spans capacity-building for regional human rights organizations, designing inclusive anti-discrimination legislation, and delivering hundreds of training sessions on human rights, torture prohibition, prison monitoring, advocacy, and lobbying.
Goran also contributes to key regional and international bodies, including the European Commission on Sexual Orientation Law, the Expert Council on NGO Law at the Council of Europe, and the Board of the Heartefact Foundation. Since 2009, he has been instrumental in organizing Belgrade Pride and led the coordination of EuroPride 2022, showing his leadership in both movement-building and institutional reform.
Goran’s journey – from frontline activism to strategic leadership – embodies the core of Balkans Forward Foundation’s approach. He knows firsthand that lasting transformation arises when those living injustice are rooted in solutions. His track record in teaching, advocacy, legal reform, and activism equips him to shepherd a foundation that builds practical leadership, formulates grounded solutions, and carves out safe spaces where change can start and thrive.