A former U.S. citizen by naturalization and an economic consultant by profession, she quit her job in 1992 to become Macedonia's unofficial liaison in Washington, D.C. and relinquished U.S. citizenship in 1995 to take up her new officially-accredited role as the first Macedonian Ambassador to the United States.
[2] Acevska emigrated from Yugoslavia to the United States with her parents and brother in 1966; her father and uncle worked at the restaurant owned by her grandfather.
[1][5] After Macedonia became an independent country in late 1991 with the breakup of Yugoslavia, Acevska, on her visits to the land of her birth, would often urge government officials there to send a representative to Washington.
[5] Rather than being accredited as an ambassador and appearing on the State Department's Diplomatic List, she instead registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
[5][6] With a budget of only $40,000 per year from the Macedonian government, she took on both diplomatic tasks such as debt negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and dealing with complaints from the State Department about Macedonia's adherence to voluntary export restraints or alleged violations of sanctions against Serbia, and consular tasks such as travel advice to Macedonians holding expired Yugoslav passports.
"[8] People would call the embassy and, upon hearing a woman's voice, assume they were speaking to a secretary and ask to be connected to the ambassador.
[4] Others looked askance at the luxurious accoutrements she had acquired during her former life as an international economic consultant; during her time in office, she "tamed" her wardrobe somewhat.
[11][12] Acevska received the Alumni Medalist Award from her alma mater Ohio State University in 1996 for "international distinction in service to humanity".