Every year KUSA seeks to recognize and award a KUSA alumna/alumnus for their outstanding results in sharing their accomplishments and experience with the Kosovar community. This award aims to celebrate exemplary alumni who have been driving forces of change in their communities for the last years.
The Alumni of the Year Award recognizes and celebrates the many achievements of KUSA members, both professionally and personally for outstanding contributions to their profession, community and the advancement of society.
Stories are submitted by KUSA members for alumni who have made an important contribution to the local and national community by sharing their accomplishments and experience gained during their studies in the United States with the Kosovar community.
Now that you are back in Kosovo, after finishing one of the U.S State Department funded programs, you can become a member of KUSA and benefit from this association.
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The deadline for story submission is open between January – November each year. Announcement of award recipient takes place in December, and the award ceremony is held in mid-December during the KUSA End of Year Networking Event.
This event gives KUSA a unique opportunity to honor, highlight and profile accomplished alumni while increasing outreach and development.
If you need inspiration for successful activities and projects, here you can find what KUSA members shared with you.
Emerging Leader Award
Antigona serves as an executive director for KCDE (Meso Online). She holds a master’s degree in Public
Policy from Central European University. She started engaging in the field of online and blended learning
in 2015. In the meanwhile, she has also a) co-founded Teach for Kosovo.
Antigona Uka was elected Emerging Leader Award Recipient for her contribution to different KUSA
initiatives, and for demonstrating leadership potential as a younger alumna.
Alumni of the Year Award – Junior Geeks
Junior Geeks 2.0 builds upon the success of the original AEIF project, which successfully established innovation-driven clubs for talented students. Its major goal relies on the potential for extending the development of a platform for youth to learn, innovate and share skills and ideas from STEM, utilizing the brainpower and mentorship of US programs alumni in Kosovo. Junior Geeks 2.0 program proposes to create an inclusive school-based and an online platform for high school students, called “Junior Geeks” in nine (9) major municipalities in Kosovo. These clubs and the online platform will serve as a unique educative resource that will help young students and their peers, develop intellectually and become more familiar with STEM subjects, and related career paths, and ultimately learn to contribute to innovation and other modern solutions. Some of the topics that the program will cover are the basics of computing and programming, robotics, AI and machine learning, multimedia, cybersecurity, game development, scientific research, and data analysis and project management. Information on these subjects is clearly lacking in the current education system and the alumni will strive to further cooperate with institutions such as the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology in Kosovo, during its course.
Emerging Leader Award
One of the notable alumni that have used their educational exchange experiences for the betterment of their
communities is Erëza Gjikolli, a YES and KAEF alumni.
Erëza is a graduate of Bentley University (Class of 2021) with a degree MS in Accounting Analytics and a
graduate certificate in Business Analytics; working on how to utilize big data and analytics to translate the
global language of business (accounting).
Erëza is a graduate of Bentley University (Class of 2021) with a degree MS in Accounting Analytics and a
graduate certificate in Business Analytics; working on how to utilize big data and analytics to translate the
global language of business (accounting).
She is currently working as the Program Development Supervisor at TEB Kosovo. In her role, she collaborates
with the banking ecosystem to develop programs that provide disadvantaged businesses with easier access to
financing and non-financial services. Erëza acquired a strong feeling of commitment to the community,
particularly youth development, through her work with many nonprofit organizations in Prishtina. She has
been involved with numerous mentoring gigs in topics such as volunteering, social entrepreneurship, advocacy,
research, data analysis, and more. This experience gave her a deep appreciation for how organizations seek to
better our community.
Ms. Gjikolli was chosen for being an initiator of different activities, and for her active participation in KUSA
related activities whenever it was. requested by her.
Alumni of the Year Award
Shkendije Himaj is the Coordinator for General Functions at the Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo
(CBK) in charge of overseeing the departments of Financial Stability and Economic Analysis, Risk
Management, Finance, Legal and External Relation. On behalf of the CBK, she chairs the Management
Board of the Deposit Insurance Fund of Kosovo and the Macroprudential Committee. Ms. Himaj has
engaged academically as a Lecturer in the Field of Finance, Management, and Leadership and contributes
with her writing to a wide range of academic publications. She holds a Master of Economic Science –
Finance and Accounting and a BA in Economics from the University of Western Ontario and is a Ph.D.
candidate at the Faculty of Economics-University of Ljubljana. As IVLP alumni, she has been actively
involved in implementing community-based projects on a voluntary basis designed for youth and women
empowerment. She was elected KUSA Board member in 2015.
Shkendije Himaj – KUSA Alumni of the Year 2020. Ms. Himaj was chosen for her active participation in
KUSA activities, such as #rriNshpi campaign, 4th of July Video, and KUSA Networking Campaign. She was
also elected as one of KUSA’s board members in the latest elections, and until now she has an excellent
participation rate. She has also ideated projects, and activities KUSA can implement in the following months.
The Special COVID-19 Alumni Award
Izet Sadiku – Special COVID-19 Alumni Response Award. Mr Sadiku was given this special award for his
active participation in COVID-19 awareness campaigns. Additionally, he was part of the X COVID-19 Project,
which was unfortunately not approved for funding. His participation in this issue made him the most suitable
alumni for this award.
Mr. Izet Sadiku, is International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) alumni who was part of the SCP “Young
Kosovar Politicians” program.
Recently, he was appointed the director of the Health Directorate in the municipality of Prishtina
Executive Director at Debate Center
Hoxha holds an MA Degree in International Political Economy from The University of Texas at Dallas and a BA degree in Political Science from the University of Pristina. He has been working with CSO projects for the past 8 years with organizations such as Levizja FOL, BIRN, Debate Center, CDF, Venture UP, Save the Children, etc.
He is experienced in project design and project implementation, strategic planning focusing on education as well as capacity development training and workshops in the area of soft skills, youth leadership, and activism. He currently is the Executive Director of Debate Center – a CSO specialized in critical thinking and public speaking curricula and as a project management consultant at Levizja FOL.
During this year, Mr. Hoxha has been one of the most active members of KUSA, serving as a communication trainer on the debate clubs of different primary schools in Kosovo. As the Executive Director of the Debate Center, Erblin, through an MoU with KUSA, offered free of charge training sessions for effective communications and helped KUSA on creating the debate club curricula, which was distributed to all the primary schools of the Municipality of Prishtina. Debate Center is set to offer training sessions for staff and students of Municipality of Pristina middle schools as part of the Prishtina School Clubs project.
Alumni of the Year Award
Nora Latifi Jashari is Executive Director at GAP Institute. She joined the GAP Institute in December 2007, and before taking up the position of Executive Director, she served as Director of Finance and then as Program Manager. She has completed her Master’s Degree in Economics from Northern Illinois University in the USA, part of the Fulbright Scholarship Program. She also finished a Bachelor’s degree in Management & Entrepreneurship and Public Policy from the Rochester Institute of Technology and the American University of Kosovo. In addition to her academic experience, Nora was also an intern at the Ministry of Finance and Economy and worked as a business loan officer at ProCredit Bank Kosovo. Nora has also participated in many seminars dealing with various economic and social issues and has been involved in much professional training. Nora Latifi is an Alumni Small Grant receiver for her project: “Inspiring Tomorrow’s engineers and scientists: tackling girls’ academic self-perception at an early age.” During the implementation of this project, a technology club was created, and the pupils had the opportunity to meet once a week and have special speakers from different technology and science profiles. The triumphant story of her project inspired many during the BarCamp Gjilan, where Ms. Latifi talked about the importance of extracurricular activities that projects like hers give to young children.
Chief Technology Officer at BONEVET Prishtina
Rine Fetahu studied in the United States during 2013/2014 through the Youth Exchange Program. Upon her return to Kosovo, Ms. Fetahu promptly began the journey of her studies in the field of Engineer Studies in University of Prishtina. Throughout this time, Ms. Fetahu engaged constantly in numerous activities and various academic endeavors such as working at the American Councils for International Education as the YES Alumni Coordinator. This gave her the opportunity to work with many YES Alumni from organizing YES events to thorough involvement in several projects. In July of 2018, Ms. Fetahu started another successful journey at BONEVET Prishtina as the Chief Technology Officer.
Ms. Fetahu shared her exciting venture in the U.S. accompanied by various challenges and exciting experiences with the middle school students in Prishtina through the “Alumni Engagement Through Extracurricular School Activities” project. In addition, Ms. Fetahu volunteered to become coordinator of the Debate Club, in which she contributed in the elaboration of the syllabus, as well as participation in different club activities by giving lectures to students. This led her to becoming the winner of the KUSA Emerging Leader Award 2018.
Assistant Professor in the Economics Department at the Faculty of Economics in the University of Prishtina
Mjellma Carabegu Vokshi is currently an assistant professor in the Economics Department at the Faculty of Economics in the University of Prishtina. Ms. Vokshi lectures economic courses such as Macroeconomics, Development Economics, Personnel Economics, Economics of Public Sector, Economics of Knowledge and so forth. Ms. Vokshi pursued her studies in the United States during 2017 through the Open World Leadership Program. Her experience and academic development in the US has been transmitted in Kosovo in the form of numerous contributions through constant engagement with Kosovo United States Alumni (KUSA).
Upon her contributions, one that is highly worth of noting, is the organization of the Conference “Education for the Future,” which is also the motive for awarding Ms. Vokshi as the Alumni of the Year Award 2018. The “Education for the Future” Conference represents one of the largest conferences organized and held in Kosovo during 2018. The conference focused on the lack of discussion, debate and agreement on various social, political and economic issues between higher education institutions (HEI) and the government with regards to the needs, challenges and opportunities that the higher education system is facing in Kosovo. This conference has challenged the contemporary landscape of higher education in Kosovo through influencing and bringing forward several ideas regarding professional development and addressing key issues of higher education in Kosovo.
General Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government Administration
Rozafa Ukimeraj is one of KUSA’s most active members, she is the leader of the Alumni Focus Group – Rule of Law, through which several projects have been initiated, and one of them is the “Mentorship Program” coordinated by her. This project was implemented in cooperation with the University of Prishtina, NGO’s, businesses and the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo. This group developed a mentorship project which was dedicated to young women (female students as mentees) and was implemented by KUSA female members as mentors. The Mentoring program intended to assist young women to learn from their mentors through an ongoing skill-building and problem-solving process, with a capacity-building approach which prepared these young women for their future professional career. Rozafa has attended two exchange programs offered by the U.S Embassy in Kosovo; The Hope Fellowship Program in 2009 and the Transformation Leadership Certification Program in 2015. Furthermore, changing the behavior of public officials; mentoring young women in becoming future leaders; transferring the positive energy and the professionalism gained through the exchange experience in the U.S., opens the opportunity for a public official to be committed to fight for high standards of integrity.
Only if you have been part of any of there programs supported by U.S. Department: IVLP, OWLP, Fulbright, Humphrey Fellowship, Ben Franklin, TLP, Access, YES, KYEP, UGRAD, Ron Brown, Marshall C. Marshall, Hope Fellow, SEEYLI, KAEF, STEM, WYP, YTILI, Women2Women, JFDP, UPENN, and Tourism Program.
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Kosovo United States Alumni is a nonprofit association, established in 2007 with the help of the U.S. Embassy in Kosovo and its founding board.
