Zuzana Zimová

Special educational needs educator and expert in attachment theory with a wealth of experience in the foster care system. 

The BUDDY program is led by a team of coordinators (psychologists) who oversee the safety and quality of relationships between children and their BUDDY volunteers. With her deep knowledge of the impact of childhood experiences on adulthood, Zuzka supervises the program team so that the main focus of the volunteers in their BUDDY relationships with children are always understanding, acceptance, respect, support, reliability and predictability. Her absolute priority is to prevent children in the program from experiencing further relational harm. Zuzka also advises and oversees the organization's relations with the Centers for children and families and their employees, who are our key partners. Their trust in our work is an important prerequisite for collaboration and our ability to support the children and young people in their care. 

Zuzka also cooperates with the civic association Návrat and  Coachingplus. Her work in the civic association Návrat brought her closer to foster families and their concerns. She worked as a methodologist at the Center for Labor, Social Affairs and Family for four years, where she was trying to improve the quality of the care system in residential foster care homes. She also collaborated with the Rodinka.sk portal, wrote articles for the Raabe publishing house and was the editor of the “Social relations and problems in schools” publication. She contributed an interview about child rearing in the book "How to be happy?”. She provides counseling, therapy, education and supervision in Bratislava.