Danijela Dolenec is the Deputy Mayor of the City of Zagreb, elected as the candidate of the Možemo! – SDP coalition in the elections held on 1 June 2025. She was first elected Deputy Mayor on 30 May 2021 as a candidate of the Možemo! – Zagreb je naš! – Nova ljevica – Zelena alternativa ORaH – Za grad coalition.
As Deputy Mayor, she is involved in the development and implementation of all key strategies and policies of the City of Zagreb. Her focus includes labour relations, social welfare, education at all levels, inclusion, gender equality, and the reorganization and improvement of the City Administration’s operations. She leads several working groups within the City of Zagreb, represents the city in national projects and initiatives, and plays a leading role in communication with trade unions and workers’ representatives in collective bargaining. She is an Associate Professor of Comparative Politics at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb. She has extensive academic and civil sector experience in both research and practice.
Danijela Dolenec completed her graduate studies in English Language and Literature and Comparative Literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb in 2001. She earned a master’s degree in public policy and administration at the London School of Economics in 2005 and a second master’s in European Studies at the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb in 2007. She earned her PhD in Political Science from ETH Zurich in 2012. During her doctoral studies, she spent a year at Harvard University as a Fulbright Scholar. Her research and publications focus on democratization and the political economy of post-socialist countries, the European party system, contemporary social movements, political ecology, and higher education policy. She has received numerous scholarships and awards for her academic work. Her book Democratic Institutions and Authoritarian Rule in Southeast Europe (2013) received the Croatian State Science Award.
