Atifete Jahjaga, President of the Republic of Kosovo

President Atifete Jahjaga was born on the 20th of April 1975 in Rashkoc – Gjakova Mrs. Jahjaga was Deputy General Director of the Police of Kosovo from february 2009 until her election as President of the Republic of Kosovo, on April 7, 2011. Since the establishment of the Kosovo Police in early 2000, initially she served as a policeman, progressing at a regional level and that of the General Headquarters. Atifete Jahjaga is the first woman President of the Republic of Kosovo, elected by the Parliament of Kosovo on April 7, 2011. President Jahjaga is the youngest female world leader to be elected, born on 20 April 1975, in Rashkoc – Gjakova. She is also the first female head of state in modern Balkans. Since March 2012 President Jahjaga is member of the Council of Women World Leaders (CWWL).

Mrs. Jahjaga had been the Deputy General Director of the Police of Kosovo from February 2009. She had served as a police officer since the establishment of the Kosovo Police in early 2000, progressing to responsibilities at a regional level and then to General Headquarters. Early in her career, President Jahjaga served in different positions in the implementation of law and order, among others in the professional standards unit, human resources department, personnel and training department, administration of the Kosovo Police and border police. She completed her studies at the Faculty of Law of the University of Prishtina, in 2000. In 2006-2007, she attended a postgraduate certification program in Police Management and Penal Law at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, Postgraduate Certification in Crime Science at the University of Virginia in the United States in 2007. President Jahjaga has also attended professional and research programs at the European Centre for Security Studies “George C. Marshall” Germany, at the National Academy of the FBI in the USA and at the Department of Justice in the USA.  

In addition to her native Albanian, President Jahjaga also speaks Serbian and English. She is married to Mr. Astrit Kuçi and lives in Prishtina.

Tracey Ann Jacobson - Ambassador, U.S. Embassy Pristina, Kosovo

A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Ambassador Jacobson previously served as the Deputy Director of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) from July 2010 to July 2012, as well as the Dean of the School of Professional and Area Studies at FSI from ( 2009 – 2010). She served as the U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan (2006-2009) and Turkmenistan (2003-2006). She also served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Riga (2000-2003). Prior to that, she was the Deputy Executive Secretary at the National Security Council at the White House. Her other overseas assignments include Seoul, South Korea; Nassau, Bahamas; and Moscow, Russia. Her domestic assignments included the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, and the Office of the Under Secretary for Management.

Ambassador Jacobson received her Bachelor of Arts from Johns Hopkins University, and her Master of Arts from the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. She received several State Department Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards, as well as a Presidential Meritorious Service Award. She studied Albanian, Serbian, French, Russian, Spanish, Korean, and Tajiki. She is married to David Baugh, a member of the British Diplomatic Service. 

Teuta Sahatqija - Chair, Women’s Parliamentary Caucus, Kosovo

Teuta Sahatçiu is an engineer by profession and she graduated at the top of her class. Throughout her career, Teuta has demonstrated leadership qualities, initially as an engineer and manager, as a director and founder of a telecommunication company and recently as a leader in politics. Additionally Teuta is a founder of Regional Women’s Lobby and founder of KUSA (Kosovo-United States Alumni). She has addressed and participated in a variety of international conferences on different issues including the economy, empowerment of women, international relations, security, safety, reconciliation, and democratization. She has addressed the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the Rose Roth Seminar, an Economic Forum in Krynice, Rome, international conferences organized by the IDEA Institute in Accra-Ghana, various UNDP conferences in Istanbul and Prishtina, among other places, as well OSCE conference Budva and Prishtina, the International Leaders Forum in Charlotte, North Carolina, FES in Budva, CIG, PER, International conference for women rights in Erbil-Iraq, I-Know politics conference in Amman-Jordan, RWL and UNWOMEN conferences in Prishtina, Skopje, Vienna, Zagreb and many others.

Mrs. Teuta Sahatçiu, originally from Prizren, is married and the mother of four. She is currently President of the Women Cross Party Caucus and Deputy President of Lidhja Demokratike e Kosoves (LDK). 

Alexander Chavarria - Resident Director of NDI in Kosovo

Alexander Chavarría is the resident director for NDI in Kosovo. He previously served as the resident director in Liberia and the director for the citizen participation program of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador. He has served as an international consultant on issues of democracy and governance for the IADB, International Budget Program, Parliamentarians for Habitat Group and OAS.

Mr. Chavarría co-founded, assisted and later served as an advisor for the Legislative Development Program (PRODEL) for the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica. He has also served as international consultant in legislative modernization programs in Guatemala and as legislative advisor for the House of Representatives of the Texas Legislature. Mr. Chavarría has also been an international observer for the OAS during the 2004 El Salvador presidential elections.

A Costa Rica native, Mr. Chavarría holds a master’s degree in business administration from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, a master’s in political science from Texas State University, and is a graduate of the “licenciatura” program of University of Costa Rica, Political Science School.