Ajla Karajko '14
Ajla Karajko’s journey to one of the top women’s colleges in the United States was anything but conventional. Growing up in Bosnia, her first taste of education beyond borders came when she attended a United World College high school in Italy. Composed of 200 students from 89 countries, Ajla’s high school experience not only granted her access to a wider array of extracurriculars than she had access to at home but also equipped her with a global perspective.
Having never visited the United States, Barnard was not initially on Ajla’s radar. However, the second she heard about it from a peer, she decided to apply. “I wasn't obviously sure whether I'd get in or not, but New York City and then this focus on women, and then on the values that Barnard promotes…that’s what pushed me to apply.”
For Ajla, the appeal of Barnard wasn’t just its prestige but also its unique duality: the ability to experience both a women-centered environment and a coeducational one through its affiliation with Columbia University. “You could choose, basically on an hourly basis, whether you wanted to be in an all-women’s college or in a mixed-gender school,” she said. This flexibility helped her navigate a world she had always straddled, as someone who felt equally comfortable in male-dominated spaces and among women.
While she often gravitated toward mixed-gender activities and friendships—having spent much of her life in male-dominated sports like skiing and karate—Ajla appreciated Barnard’s exclusive opportunities for women. “I always chose to live in the all-women residences because they were nice, clean, and quiet,” she shared, laughing. She also made full use of the Athena Leadership Center, where she earned certificates and attended women-focused events and conferences. “We got everything Columbia had, but they didn’t get everything we had,” she quips. This dynamic allowed her to tap into the best of both worlds.
At Barnard, Ajla majored in economics and graduated from the 4+1 program with SIPA, but her extracurriculars gave her practical experiences in numerous fields. “By the time I got to college, I was more about real jobs and building my CV,” she explains. Working within the restrictions of her international student visa, Ajla held a campus job with Barnard’s audio-visual team, managing event logistics while finishing her coursework during downtime. She also landed prestigious internships at Amnesty International and the United Nations and helped create a JP Morgan internship program.
Despite these successes, Ajla faced challenges upon graduating, especially in a time when employers favored specialists over generalists. “I went to a few banks on Wall Street, but they didn’t hire me because they saw me as someone who didn’t know what she wanted,” she says. Undeterred, Ajla leveraged her versatility, interning at startups and eventually co-founding one in San Francisco. However, her biggest turning point came during a trip back to Bosnia in 2015.
While visiting home, Ajla met a visionary businessman who was eager to create a “small San Francisco in the Balkans.” Seeing her wealth of international experience, he made her an offer: to build a startup ecosystem in Bosnia. “I called him the next day and said, ‘I’m staying [in Bosnia], and I want to be director of this company,’” she recounts. Over the next three years, Ajla became a pioneer in the region’s nascent startup community, organizing incubators and accelerators, and introducing the very concept of startups to the Balkans. The work was challenging, particularly when dealing with government officials unfamiliar with the startup model. “I’d spend 40 minutes explaining startups to 60-year-old men who didn’t even understand the definition.”
After her time building the startup ecosystem, Ajla transitioned to the IT industry, spending five years at one of Eastern Europe’s largest tech companies. Two years ago, Ajla took the leap to entrepreneurship by founding her own consulting firm. Her business model is as comprehensive as it is innovative: clients come to her with a vision, and she handles everything from business analysis to branding, marketing, and team building. Projects can range from designing mobile apps to opening hotels, but regardless of the focus, Ajla’s firm delivers solutions. “By the time I leave, you have a functioning company with a team I’ve hired for you,” she explained.
Her client base spans the globe, from the United States to the United Arab Emirates, and includes diverse industries such as hospitality and tech. For Ajla, the variety is the best part. “I get to work with all kinds of industries and use all my skills,” she says. It’s a career that reflects her multifaceted personality and skillset.
As a single mother, Ajla raises her children alone while running her business and traveling the world for her clients. “This is the whole women empowerment thing,” she said. “We’re often taught how we are disadvantaged, but it’s so important to use the advantages that women have.”
Pioneering startups in the Balkans while navigating global markets and raising her children independently, Ajla embodies the empowerment she champions.