Hobson Leavy is delighted to announce Drazenka Dordevich has been appointed to Southern Cross Travel Insurance as Chief Operating Officer.
With a significant leadership career in insurance, Drazenka joins Southern Cross Travel after a varied 20+ years in senior roles with IAG New Zealand.
Drazenka immigrated from former Yugoslavia during the Civil War, moving to New Zealand with her husband and young son in the late 90s with a hope for a better life. She initially secured a volunteer position with New Zealand Insurance (NZI), today owned by IAG, and from here, she never looked back.
Drazenka was continuously looking for new opportunities to grow and develop within IAG, working across the business in a range of functions – spanning accounting, claims and underwriting – quickly learning the NZ insurance landscape. She secured her first management position as NZI Auckland Branch Team Leader, and was soon promoted to Branch Manager. Here, Drazenka continued to broaden her leadership experience. She spent a period reporting to the NZ CFO, managing the product, portfolio and pricing strategies across IAG New Zealand. Her final roles with IAG saw her lead the 700+ person sales and service team, before being asked to lead the organisation’s community response unit, following Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.
Drazenka has strong experience transforming operations and partnering strategically across a business to drive results. She brings a depth of stakeholder management skills, with a strong focus on leveraging partnerships to drive business growth.
After 11 months of travel, Drazenka is excited to explore new opportunities for personal and professional growth, meet new people, share expertise, and pursue her passion for business that delivers positive social impact for more people in New Zealand.
Please join us in congratulating Drazenka on her appointment.
