Ulpiana Forum

Albin Kurti is the the President of the biggest political party in the country, Lëvizja VETËVENDOSJE! (LVV), as well as the fourth and now the sixth Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosova since the country’s declaration of independence. He was born on March 24th, 1975 in Prishtina.

Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz was born in Skopje on 16 October 1971. When she was eight, her dissident father fled to Germany in the face of severe persecution by Yugoslavia’s communist regime. Gërvalla- Schwarz, her two siblings, and her mother soon followed.

In 2008, Bujar Osmani was appointed Minister of Health, remaining in office until 2011, and in June 2017, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Affairs.

Ms. Gashi is an executive leader, innovator, and policy analyst with experience in migration and diasporas, public and digital diplomacy, civic engagement, and advocacy.
She is the founder and former executive director of GERMIN, a leading regional nonprofit specializing in engaging diaspora communities in advancing the development and democratization of their home countries.

Ms. Artemis Malo was born in the city of Gjirokastra on May 19, 1981. She holds the title of Doctorate in Comparative Linguistics, Expert in Linguistics, completed his postgraduate studies, Master in Linguistic Translation, was awarded the title of Docent in the academic field, Graduated in English Philology and Civilization, specializing in the profile of foreign languages, and then Graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Tirana, specialized in public law.

Kingsley Aikins is the founder and CEO of The Networking Institute based in Dublin. He has worked with over 30 countries in the areas of Diaspora Engagement and Diaspora Diplomacy.

Almaz Negash, a prominent figure in Silicon Valley, has been recognized as one of the 12 inaugural members of the President Biden’s Advisory Council on African Diaspora Engagement in the United States.

Zdenko Lucić, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs has more than 15 years of experience in attracting and facilitating domestic and foreign investments, regional and local development, as well as business processes. He has extensive knowledge and experience in Croatian public and private sectors.

Raj Kishor Yadav is the Chairperson of the International Relations and Tourism Committee Member of Parliament, Government of Nepal. He is a Former Minister of Information and Communication and Former Minister of Industry, Government of Nepal. He serves as a central Committee Member of Janata Samajwadi Party of Nepal (People's Socialist Party).

Martin completed his PhD, Diaspora Strategies and Conflict Transformation, at the UCD Clinton Institute where his research focused on the role of the Irish diaspora in the Northern Ireland Peace Process. His research focused on the areas of diaspora media, diaspora philanthropy, and diaspora politics in terms of their impact on U.S. foreign policy in Northern Ireland.

Calvin has over 25 years of experience across countries in several industries including financial services, telecommunications, and telemedicine. He led one of the largest digital social media operations and one of the largest Telemedicine operations in North America. Previously was the COO at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Financial Wellness division.

Member of Parliament
The representative of the Albanian,
Bosniak, Montenegrin, Macedonian and
Slovenian national minorities in the
Croatian Parliament
Born on 15 th July 1971 in Prizren, the
Republic of Kosovo
Married

I was born in San Marino on 22 September 1955, where I still live. I am a San Marino citizen by origin since both my parents are from San Marino, but my mother was born in France during the period of emigration of her parents and spoke fluent French.

Dora is a dynamic and experienced communication professional with a passion for feminist issues in Africa. With over 6years of experience in corporate communications and public affairs in Ghana, and over 5 years of experience in journalism and media relations, she has honed her leadership, communication, interpersonal, and presentation skills.

Elian Carsenat, a computer scientist trained at ENSIIE/INRIA, started his career at JP Morgan in Paris in 1997. He later worked as consultant and managed business & IT projects in London, Paris, Moscow and Shanghai.

Kushtrim Xhakli is an entrepreneur with a track record of success in establishing and leading cutting-edge tech companies. Currently, he is the Director of Connected Inventions, a Finnish company pioneering energy-efficient IoT solutions. Additionally, he holds the position of Board Member at IPKO Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in Kosovo.

Fridah is an active participant in diaspora engagement Matters on entrepreneurship and investments in Europe and Green SMEs development in Africa. Fridah is the Founder of Zidicircle that developed the first diaspora entrepreneurs and Investors training programmes out of the Netherlands and Founded Zidicircle Coop investment platform through which SME investments are pooled and invested by diaspora Angel investors. Through her management the Zidicircle coop is investing in Diaspora startups in Europe and Green SME’s in Africa.

Peter Kwok is Founding Chair of Global Diaspora Confederation (GDC), umbrella-led organisation that connects and empowers diaspora organizations across the world. In the UK, Peter chairs a number of diaspora organisations, advises on regional advisory groups supporting communities, and was nominated Charity Chair of the Year before awarded on the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Honour list.

Larisa Lara is the Global Diaspora Expert at IOM HQ, with a decade of expertise in Migration and Development. She collaborates with governments, international organizations, diasporas, and policymakers, specializing in diaspora engagement programming and policy.

Jehona Gjurgjeala is founder of TOKA, an organization that aims to improve Kosovar society by investing in the education of its youth. She has extensive experience in organizational development, management and execution in both profit and non-profit enterprises. She worked and studied for 15 years in the UK and Denmark, and returned in 2015 to establish TOKA.

Egzon Gashi is the founder and executive director of Teach For Kosova, a non-governmental organization that aims to improve the education system in Kosova.

Eiman Kheir is Public Policy Manager on Diaspora Engagement at Facebook. She previously served as Head of the Diaspora Division working for the citizens and Diaspora Directorate (CIDO) of the African Union Commission (AUC), responsible for engaging the African diaspora in the region of the Middle East, Asia and Oceania.

Jason is a senior development economist and head of unit with the OECD Development Centre. He heads its work on migration and development, producing empirically-based policy reports, coordinating its Policy Dialogue on Migration and Development and chairing diverse working groups – including on diaspora engagement for development. He has worked at the OECD since 2007 and holds a PhD in economics from the Paris School of Economics (PSE).

Anila Hyka Smørgrav, a technology and green innovation enthusiast, is a seasoned digital transformation expert with over 25 years of global experience.

I am Lefteris Papapgiannakis Director of the Greek Council for Refugees and former Vice Mayor for Migrants and Refugees of the City of Athens. I advocate for the role of cities and I am a human rights defender and a social cohesion promoter

Indira Kartallozi - is the director at Kaleidoscope Futures and founder of Sustainability Leadership Kosova. Indira’s expertise ranges from sustainability, social enterprise, human rights and transformative leadership. Her work in sustainability has taken her to various countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Latin America.

Albesa Aliu is a community connector who has worked with not-for-profit organizations in Kosovo, Greece and currently in Canada, where she resides.

Ekanath is a development professional with an international profile and more than 22 years of experience both in Africa and Asia.

Johanna Pitman is the CEO of Advance, the Global Australian Network. She is a recognised authority on talent and the changing workforce. She spent the formative years of her career studying and working outside Australia, and became a member of Advance when it was launched as Australia's diaspora organisation in New York in 2002

Florian Krins is head of the component of regular migration and diaspora cooperation within the global programme “shaping development-oriented migration (MEG)” on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Paul has 20 years’ experience in managing community development and public health projects, as well as conducting research in Africa, MENA, Europe, and the UK. From 2011 to 2018 he helped build ADEPT, a network of African diaspora organisations based in 30 European countries active in African development and humanitarian response.

Shkendije Himaj is an executive-level financing and banking expert with 20 years of experience leading economic and financial initiatives in Kosova. She currently serves as Diversified Finance Lead at USAID Investment Promotion and Access to Finance Activity.

Taulant Hoxha has been a civil society activist for over two decades and currently serves as the Executive Director of the KCSF. His main areas of expertise are related to civil society development, in particular non-profit law, CSO participation in policy making and civil society-government cooperation, civil society funding, and philanthropy.

Anna Rostocka is the Chief of the IOM mission in Kosova. She joined IOM in 2002. Prior to her current assignment, she headed the IOM Country Office in Poland. She has extensive experience and knowledge in migration issues and IOM policies, programmes and operations.

Lirim Krasniqi holds a master’s / specialization in Comparative Politics and Political Economy from the Central European University (CEU) in Vienna, Austria.

Einstein Ntim leads the Programming, Engagement, and Innovation arm at the Diaspora Affairs, Office of the President of the Republic of Ghana. He sits as Chair of the Global Startup Ecosystem (GSE) which educates startups, governments, and corporations on innovation, culminating as the fastest growing community of tech moguls, politicians and business leaders for upskilling talent. He is also Partner of the Africa Future Fund investing in initiatives by Africans and Diaspora that leverage advanced technologies to “leap frog” Africa’s future acceleration.

Sonia Plaza is a Senior Economist in the Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation Global Practice of the World Bank. She is also the co-chair of the Diaspora Thematic working group of KNOMAD (Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development).

Dániel Gazsó, PhD, was born in Budapest (Hungary). He completed his studies in social and cultural anthropology at the University of Granada (Spain). Since 2015, he has been a research fellow responsible for diaspora studies at the Research Institute for Hungarian Communities Abroad. Since 2018, he has been a lecturer at the Faculty of Public Governance and International Studies of the University of Public Service in Budapest. He is also co-editor of the scientific journal entitled Hungarian Journal of Minority Studies. His research topics are concerned with diaspora studies, migration, national minorities, kin-state policies, interethnic relationships and nationalisms.

Dr Jen Dickinson is an academic with over 20 years of experience researching diaspora mobilisation

Sunil KC is the Founder of the Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs (AIDIA), one of the most influential think tanks of Nepal. Under his leadership and guidance, the organization has been able to contribute to Nepal's foreign policy and diplomacy strategically as well as economically.

Deepali is an economist and lawyer with over 15 years of work experience in trade, finance and labour migration. Deepali is currently lead consultant with the UN Capital Development Fund on the issue of remittances, the Africa Free Trade Agreement Secretariat on financial services and has just completed an assignment with IOM on Migration and Trade.

Mr. Alexander Albertine is an economist, diplomat, and career member of the United States Foreign Service. For the past fifteen years, Mr. Albertine has led multidisciplinary teams around the world in building strategic partnerships with government, private sector, and civil society to tackle some of the most pressing economic development challenges of the day.

Sara is an accomplished young professional with over five years of experience in research, project management, and policy development, adept at working with diverse teams across Europe. Her role at the Municipality of Tirana as a Senior Specialist of Free Economic Zones, Foreign Investments, and Diaspora sees her leading impactful projects like the URBACT Partnerships and the acclaimed Tirana Digital Nomad Festival.

Sytrime Dervisholli is a seasoned professional with more than 15 years of experience in both the public and private sector. She played a pivotal role in shaping policies for domestic and international trade, fostering private sector growth.

I am an experienced editor with a demonstrated history of working for the English print media. I am experienced and skilled in editorial, analysis, commentary and current affairs’ writings. A recommended writer and communication professional with a post graduate degree from the London School of Journalism coupled with 15 plus years of journalistic experience.

Erblin Hoxha serves as a Policy Advisor/Consultant at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora of the Republic of Kosova. In this pivotal role, he contributes strategic insights, policy analysis, and expertise in public diplomacy, playing a crucial part in advancing peace and state-building agendas.