Ada Shima has a long experience in leading large, complex and multi-donor funded development projects in the field of employment and skills development policy reforms in Albania and Kosovo. Her main professional interests have revolved around the Social Protection Systems, with a particular focus on the Active Labour Market Programmes, as well as modernisation processes of the Public Employment Services and Labour Market Information Systems. She holds a Masters degree in Social Policy and Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science University.

Is an expert in civil society and civic tech. Through her work she contributes to furthering democracy in Kosovo by empowering women, youth and civil society to participate in policy and decision-making processes. In the past, she designed the concept and led the implementation the online Digital Platform for Public Participation in Kosovo (platformadigjitale.com, digitalnaplatforma.com). This innovative solution responds to an increased demand for improving transparency of government operations through a communication platform connecting residents and the Kosovo local government. Additionally, she ideated and led the implementation of the Kosovo Funding Portal (kosovofunding.org). Currently she is the Country Coordinator for Kosovo of the Technical Assistance to Civil Society (TACSO) Project. The project is implemented in Western Balkans and Turkey and works to enable CSOs to actively take part in the democratic processes and to stimulate an enabling environment for civil society and pluralistic media development and includes the cooperation with the Government. She is a Stanford University Certified Advanced Project Manager and holds a Master’s Degree in Strategic Project Management from the Erasmus Mundus Programme. She remains is an active alumnus and volunteer in various programmes of professional interest.

Artan has over 14 years of experience in development aid, public policy, anti-corruption, legal aid, civil society, public sector (central and local level) and donor organizations. He managed multiple projects in Kosovo, such as capacity building for parliament, civil society, procurement, audit, and local governance.
He serves as a Component Leader in the USAID Transparent, Effective and Accountable Municipalities activity in Kosova, implemented by DAI Global. He leads a unit in charge of strengthening civil society organizations to track and expose corruption in procurement in Kosova’s municipalities. Previously, he worked as program manager for transparency and anti-corruption at Kosova Democratic Institute, the Transparency International Chapter for Kosova. Artan was the lead researcher for the National Integrity System assessment and oversaw the establishment of the Advocacy and Legal Advice Center at TI Kosova. There, he advocated for more accountability and transparency, clean political financing and improvement of the role of whistleblowers in Kosova. For over three years he worked as a Political Officer at the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosova - EULEX. During 2007 – 2009 he worked for the OSCE’s Central Assembly and Political Parties Section. There he was involved in coordinating international donors supporting the Assembly of Kosovo, managing programs for capacity building in the Assembly, liaison with NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and providing support to political parties.
With a vast experience with project management cycle, citizen advocacy, policy making and civil society activism, with a multitude of organizations – local and international – Artan has good understanding of socio-political context in Kosovo and has a sound theory of change, with citizens’ emancipation and empowerment as the cornerstone of this theory. He also has expertise on the various strengths of civil society organizations in Kosovo that could serve as a catalyst for this change. His native language is Albanian, and he is proficient in English.

Besim has more than 20 years’ of experience in management of international development programs, media & journalistic rights advocacy and shelter and residential programs in South Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Besim has vast experience in managing and supporting field offices, good knowledge of international development actors and policies in Western Balkans. He has strong project cycle management and result based program-management experience with development programs supported by foreign donor agencies. He has managed multi-annual multi-country USAID and EU programs and has consulted for USAID, SDC, EU, UN and other large international organizations His understanding of the role of the civil society in the democratization process in the region is complemented by in-depth knowledge of the socio-political context in Kosovo. Having been involved in the civil society, both professionally as a trainer, coach and manager, as well as individually as an activist, Besim has good grasp of and experience with civic activism, participatory policy making, constituency building, gender equality and support to minority communities and vulnerable groups. Having started as an NGO small grant administrator back in the 90ies, he has over 20 years of international experience with evaluation of grant proposals, external evaluations and impact assessments of large civil society development programs. His native language is Albanian and he is proficient in English. Macedonian and Serbian.

Donjeta is an experienced professional in the field of education and social inclusion with a deep understanding of economic, social and political landscape in Kosovo. With over 18 years of experience in local and international development organisations, with specific expertise in non-formal education, prevention of school dropout of marginalized groups, in social inclusion and also trainings for teacher. She has extensive work experience in all stages of project cycle management, applying planning and monitoring tools. Her working experience is closely associated with civil society, as a co-founder of a local non-governmental organization, for 14 years she has contributed to the capacity building of this NGO. Working in an extremely delicate, complex, multiethnic society she succeeded in managing a perfect coordination with, donor community, local and international partners. She teaches Sociology in a Gymnasium and this experience further enriches her knowledge of the educational system in Kosovo. Her native language is Albanian, and she’s proficient in Italian, English and Serbo-Croatian.

Edis has more than 15 years’ of experience in management of international development programs, in the areas such as human rights, governance, public finance management, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering. Edis has managed multi-annual EU financial assistance in major sectors like good governance and rule of law, including programs targeting civil society organization’s in Kosovo. In addition, she has managed and participated in large programs of other donors as well (US and UN). She has vast experience in project cycle management as well as good knowledge of international development actors and policies in Kosovo and in Western Balkans. Edis has in depth knowledge of the civil society structure, capacities and overall developments in Kosovo as she has managed multi-annual and large programs that supported civil society organisations. She has over 10 years’ experience in designing grant schemes, evaluating applications/proposals, monitoring and evaluation of the grant implementation. Managing large programs in different areas, including human rights, media, good governance and rule of law, enabled Edis to gain vast knowledge on overall socio-economic and political developments in Kosovo. Her native language is Albanian and she is proficient in English, Serbian, Macedonian and Turkish.

Ertan has over 15 years of experience in the area of democratisation and good governance. His special interests are inter-ethnic relations, political economy and systemic approaches. He has got vast experience with development programmes with various international organisations. He worked with the Action Against Hunger, the European Agency for Reconstruction and the EU office in Kosovo, UNDP, GIZ, etc. He also worked for the Association of Kosovo Municipalities. He implemented and/or managed projects related to public administration reform, local governance, civil society and European integration. He is currently working with Helvetas as the Manager of the Decentralization and municipal support project. Throughout his professional carrier, he was involved in project development, contract management and evaluation of project proposals and bids. Having worked for a long time with development aid, he has strong experience with project cycle management, result frameworks and monitoring systems. He also has experience in academic research and teaching. He is a (co)author of a number of strategic and research papers. For four years he also lectured courses related to European integration in Universum, a private college in Kosovo. He is proficient in Albanian, English, Serbian and Bosnian languages.

Teaches Sociology at the University of Prishtina. He specializes in the legitimacy of political authority, and has studied sociology, philosophy, international relations, and political theory in Prishtina, London, Budapest, and Tetovo. Gëzim is a member of Central and East European International Studies Association (CEEISA), and member of ISA (International Sociological Association).
His main research interests include the problems of political sociology, politics and power in society from interdisciplinary perspective, legitimation of authority, ideology, statebuilding, dynamics of collective identity, political activism, and social movements.
Gëzim has published in serveral international and local journals, and participated in research projects for international and Kosovo local organizations and institutions. He is the author of Legjitimiteti politik në Kosovë: rasti i administratës së përkohshme ndërkombëtare [Political Legitimacy in Kosovo: The Case of International Transitional Administration] (2020), Republika në udhëkryq: Kosova në dekadën e parë të pavarësisë [Republic at the Crossroads: Kosovo in the first decade of its independence] (2017) and editor of Leximi kritik i Tekstit: hermeneutikë moderne e arsyes islame [Critical Reading of the Text: The Modern Hermeneutics of Islamic Reason] (2019).
He is also a freelance translator and has translated non-fiction literature from English to Albanian published in Prishtina, Tirana, and Skopje. Gëzim contributes to Sbunker blog with comments and opinions on political and social developments, and to the thematic blogs: “Vita Contemplativa” presenting theoretical viewpoints on society, politics and culture from the tradition of social sciences and humanities, and “Ç’ka qënë, e ç’do të bëhetë?” presenting and discussing the Albanian political and cultural thought.

Dr. Linda Hoxha is lecturer at the Department of Psychology, University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina” Dr. Hoxha holds a PhD from Ludwig Maximilians University in Psychology with thesis “Conceptions of Kosovar employees on Creative Leadership: An exploratory design with mixed methods” and MA from Ludwig Maximilians University, in Psychology of Excellence in Business and Education and BA in Psychology from Department of Psychology, University of Prishtina.
Her research work and interests include leadership, creativity, personality traits, motivational factors, parenting styles and academic stress. Dr. Hoxha used to work for Save the Children International and Kosovar Civil Society Foundation in the field of Monitoring and Evaluation and Project Management. Dr. Hoxha is author and co-author of numerous scientific articles, books and reports.

Ruzhdi is a PhD in Public Administration in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Ljubljana and obtained an LLM Degree in EU and International Law in the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands. The strategic planning and development, monitoring and evaluation, institutional organization expert in Kosovo and other countries with 20 years of professional experience as a freelance expert with civil society organizations and international organizations, senior civil service manager and adviser including on planning, monitoring, and evaluation, human resource management, etc. in the central and local level of the government. Established the strategic planning system in Kosovo including the Prime Minister's Office and line ministries, drafted several strategies and their monitoring and evaluation systems for the government and independent institutions. Mr. Halili continuously provides training for the officials of public administration and other categories of employees in Kosovo at the central and local levels of the government on the strategic planning, Project Cycle Management, Monitoring, and Evaluation, etc. Mr. Halili has an extended work experience and academic knowledge on the use of administrative simplification tools and methodologies to improve the administrative service delivery systems. He worked in several international projects in Kosovo in conducting needs assessments, research analysis, and policy development, contributed, and wrote several OECD/SIGMA monitoring and assessment reports for Kosovo as well as many internal government reports and policy papers related to the public administration. He has been among the first staff of the EU integration structures in Kosovo and has managed the development of the first European Partnership Action Plan in Kosovo in 2006 and its monitoring and implementation structures.

Shqipe is a gender specialist, a feminist activist and an independent journalist. She has eight years of experience in the civil society sector and the media. She has worked for several projects in the local NGOs as a researcher and project manager, namely on anti-corruption, election processes, and human rights. Gender issues are the focal point of her work; gender perspetive in the election and political processes, mainstreaming gender in policies and working places, women’s reproductive rights, gender representation in the media, LGBTQ+, and other related issues that cover the politics of gender and sexuality. She is a regular contributor to Prishtina Insight where she writes on politics and society from the gender and human rights perspective. Her articles have also been published in Kosovo2.0, sbunker, and Reuters. She is a master graduate in Cultural Studies from the College University of Hedmark in Norway and a bachelor in English Language and Literature from the University of Prishtina. She was a fellow at Balkan Fellowship for Journalistic Excellence (2017); a K2.0 Human Rights Journalism Fellowship program fellow (2019); a participant in the IVLP: Women Leaders – Promoting Peace and Security by the U.S. Department of State. Having been involved in the civil society, both professionally as a researcher and trainer, as well as individually as an activist, Shqipe has good grasp of and experience with civic activism, participatory policy making, constituency building, gender equality and support to minority communities and vulnerable groups. Her native language is Albanian and she is fluent in written and spoken English.

Violeta is media and communication expert with 19 years of professional experience in this field. She has worked with complex organizations such as Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), the International Civilian Office (ICO), and various international donor projects (EU, SIDA, GIZ and others), as well as with mainstream national and international media. Violeta has been strongly involved in further improving the approach of the Government of Kosovo regarding communication of the policies and legislation, and public consultation. She has extensive experience with communications projects and strategies for public diplomacy and stakeholder management; hence she possesses good knowledge of the project management cycle. Having been worked as journalist for more than a decade – mainly as BBC correspondent from Kosovo – Violeta reported on current affairs, whereas she has profound knowledge on socio-political context in Kosovo and democratization process in general. She was also active in the civil society, providing professional support including capacity building trainings, mentoring and evaluation of grant proposals. Violeta is a trustworthy, enthusiastic and optimistic professional, being able to keep team spirits high up during stressful times. She is a native speaker of Albanian, and proficient in English and Serbian.

He has more than 18 years’ of experience in leading Human Capacity Development Initiatives, managing various donor funded programs and projects, and working with philanthropists to support educational causes in Kosovo. He is a full-fledged believer in the socio-economic transformation of Kosovo through augmented local initiatives of civil society that address equality and help marginalized people to understand the social, political and economic factors affecting their lives, and to increase awareness of their power and build capacity to control their lives.
His passion for human capacity development, commitment towards social development and expertise and certification as Project Management Professional (PMP)® have steered him towards leading large scale multi-year projects for Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, USAID, SDC, Norwegian Embassy, GIZ and other donors. He managed the “TechECDL Project” that trained more than 13,000 Kosovo pre-university teachers in computer literacy and usage, USAID TLP IPSC project to prepare 1150 Kosovars for matriculation at US universities and 1000 public servants in public policy development and leadership, initiated the “Female in IT- FIT” Project that trained 70 young girls to join the IT labor force and oversights many other project delivered at Training and Development Institute at RIT Kosovo (A.U.K). He has vast experience in grant proposal, monitoring and evaluation and impact assessment of civic activism. His native language is Albanian and he is proficient in English and Serbian.