10 Things to Know About Elvisa Alikadić

As Chair of BAPA’s Membership Committee (and a proud member of the Scholarship Committee), I believe leadership works best when you show up as your full, unfiltered self. So, here I am… No corporate bio, just real life.

1. I’m a mom before anything else. I have three amazing boys: Medin, Amel, and Armin… Well, technically four: my husband, Damir, sometimes qualifies as one of my children! They are my why, my motivation, and the reason rest is more of a concept than a reality.

2. My life story reads like a passport stamp collection. Born in Bosanska Gradiška. Escaped the Bosnian War in 1992. Lived in Croatia, then was separated from my family for over two years and lived in Vienna, Austria, before reuniting in Germany. Landed in the U.S. in 1998, and Utica, New York, became home. Resilience required. 

3. I’ve been working with the City of Utica since I was a teenager. I’ve always been a workaholic. My family and I run the City of Utica Community Wellness Program, an idea my son came up with at 14. Yes, he out-planned me! 

4. I founded the first and only Bosnian Community Center of Central New York in 2025. It still feels surreal. A real, physical home for our community in Utica with programs and resources for the entire community, built with love, my life’s savings, and a lot of late nights.

5. I loved learning in college… but only went to school as a child to hang out with friends. I’ve studied psychology, social work, public policy, criminal justice, and business management. I’m not sure what’s next… but something is, because I don’t just want to help people; I want to fix the systems that make things harder than they need to be. I do that from above, so I do a lot of macro work. 

6. I’m a professional sports mom with zero sports knowledge. Karate, basketball, soccer, and football. I don’t know the rules or what just happened, but I will be the loudest cheerleader.

7. I have “that” house—my parties have always been legendary! All kids are welcome. No one will ever be hungry since food is always available (and a lot of it, because we’re Bosnian, and portions aren’t a thing). Always fun. Always chaotic (but healthy chaos, the safe kind). My kids don’t need permission to have friends over; I just ask how many I’m feeding and if anyone has allergies. I was never allowed to have sleepovers growing up (šta je to?). Now, I feed random children breakfast in my house. It’s cool, though.

8. Music is everything, and dance is non-negotiable. I’ll rap like I’m Tupac, and I can enjoy the opera. I will dance bachata, and when kolo comes on, it’s like a Bosnian defibrillator restarted my heart, my body following. No exceptions, because your disabled aunt will be up and dancing, too. 

9. I love animals while being deeply, irrationally terrified of them. Like, heart-stopping fear. Still, I would absolutely sacrifice myself to save one, and my pets are known to be ridiculously spoiled. I’ve had birds, cats, dogs, peacocks, a deer (don’t ask), and the “farm animals” I was told “ran away” before a big family dinner. I’m sure you can guess what happened… Current household: a Bengal cat named Simba (inspired by The Lion King, of course) and my pomsky, Maki (Makavelli).

10. I’m incredibly proud to be part of BAPA and everything we’re building. But what makes me happiest is watching our Bosnian community grow and support one another. That’s the real success story.