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.
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.
Alexander Chavarria - Resident Senior Director of NDI in Kosovo
Alexander Chavarría is the resident senior 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.
Mimoza Kusari – Lila - Mayor of Municipality of Gjakova
Mimoza Kusari-Lila holds a Master of Business Administration in the United States of America. During this time, she continued studies at the Institute of Economics, University of Colorado and Duquesne University in Pittsburg, where she finished masters in E-Business. Mimoza Kusari-Lila holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Pristina. During her time at Duquesne University as the MBA student, Ms. Kusari – Lila was the founder and the first President of the Duquesne University Business Woman Association. Upon her return to Kosovo in July 2001, Mimoza Kusari-Lila worked for the World Bank and USAID project to support Kosovo businesses. She also worked as project manager at the American University in Kosovo Foundation education plan for Kosovo, as well as in the establishment of the institution.
Mimoza Kusari-Lila became part of public service in 2003 when she has been offered the position of spokeswomen and Adviser to Prime Minister of Kosovo, Bajram Rexhepi. In this position Ms. Kusari – Lila served until December 2004. Mimoza Kusari-Lila served as executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo (AmCham), from 2006 to 2009. During her time as the Executive Director of AmCham, the organization was officially accredited by the American Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC and the European Council of American Chambers in Europe (ECCAC). Mimoza Kusari-Lila became active member of Kosovo politics in the elections of 2009, running for the major of Gjakova municipality and nearly won. In February 2010 Mimoza Kusari – Lila was elected as the VP of New Kosovo Alliance Party. In general elections held in December of 2010, Mimoza Kusari – Lila was the most voted female in the Republic of Kosovo. After New Kosovo Alliance joined the Government coalition, Ms. Kusari – Lila was nominated and approved as the Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Trade and Industry, a position which she holds since February 2011. Ms. Kusari – Lila is married to Arben Lila and mother of two sons, Adri 7 and Edon 1
Adrijana Hodzic
Adriana Hodzic was born in 1975 in Mitrovica. Valuable experience in running the affairs of public importance acquired immediately after the war in 1999 when as a regional manager in the NGO sector managed projects in all Serbian areas in northern Kosovo, including enclaves on the south. First, through humanitarian action and then through a series of economic development projects, creates a direct communication with the local communities, monitoring their progress and development.
Being elected as head of the Administrative Office in North Mitrovica , Adriana at work showed how to manage infrastructure projects in order to improve the daily lives of all citizens . Her humanity, patience and the ability to understand the needs of local communities, singled out as a skilled strategist and mediator who is floating in the clouds, but steadily walk the earth and always comes up with a logical , realistic and acceptable solution.
Leading a range of projects, from renovations of residential facades through equipping schools and daycares to support charities and non-governmental sectors , Adriana has made it clear that the Mitrovica ready for accountable local government that their results point out the actions and not the speeches. The challenge that lies ahead after local elections will be a culmination Adrijana past efforts and result in a solid foundation for the creation of institutions that will serve the citizens, cooperate with them , respect their will and thus enable the citizens who are the ones who make decisions.
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