UMD Brazil CHAIR

Elisabeth Nikolofski is a first generation Brazilian of Macedonian descent from her father, who hails from Bitola. Her mother is Brazilian. Elizabeth and her husband, Fabio Bechert, live in Curitiba, a large city in southern Brazil. They have twin children, Elena and Rafael, who are 10 years old.

Elisabeth studied as an undergraduate at Santa Cruz University. She then earned a Masters in Business Administration at Federal University. Both institutions are in Brazil. Upon completing her education, she became associated with Banco do Brazil. Currently, she is employed as an Executive Director at Sicredi Credenoreg, the largest credit union in Brazil.

Elisabeth recently participated in the global Credit Union Congress held in Ireland. She was a guest speaker at the gathering. While there, she met the chairman of a credit union headquartered in Macedonia. In a subsequent visit to the Republic, she connected with the chairman and received an insight into the operations of Macedonian credit unions. Since childhood, Elisabeth has had a passion for volleyball. As an adult, she is master player and has won numerous trophies in the sport.

Elisabeth always had a fervent connection to her Macedonian roots and travels to the Republic as often as she can. She has paternal relatives in Toronto and tries to visit with them frequently.  Elisabeth is so committed to her Macedonian heritage; she has applied for Macedonian citizenship.

She firmly believes there should be more and stronger connections between Latin American Macedonians and other Macedonians in our Diaspora. As such, she is constantly looking to connect with our kinsmen anywhere on the planet.