Opening remarks
IOM
Moderator
Emira Ajeti
Ms. Ajeti is a dynamic leader with over ten years of experience in project management, private sector development, as well as policy and strategy development. She has interacted intensively with the private sector, national and local government in Kosovo, Balkan diaspora networks, international donors, including European Commission (EC), and IFIs – especially throughout her work at the MEF, where she successfully concluded Kosovo’s membership to the IMF and World Bank in June 2009.
She holds an MBA and has developed and managed over 18 projects of different sizes, including donor funded projects. Some of the projects demonstrating her strong management background are: a $1.1 million LEAP in Kosovo, financed by Sida, a EUR 129,800 Feasibility Study for e-governance and IT investments financed by the World Bank, a EUR 300,000 Economic Development project financed by the European Commission. She has also developed and managed a great deal of projects and increased the client base by 50 % in her role as a Director of Consulting Practice at Novus.
Currently, she serves as the markets and export manager at the $ 13.9 million USAID EMPOWER Private Sector project in Kosovo, where she identifies sales agents for export products and connects Kosovo businesses with new markets. The project has thus far created 4480 jobs for Kosovars.
Apart from English, she speaks both Albanian and Bosnian, her native languages, and most of the Slavic Languages, as well as Turkish and Spanish.
Speakers
Naana Otoo-Oyortey
Naana Otoo-Oyortey MBE is the Executive Director of FORWARD, the leading African diaspora women’s rights organisation in the UK working on female genital mutilation (FGM). For over 30 years Naana has championed gender equality and sexual and reproductive health and rights of African women and girls. She pioneered work on child marriage at the international level. Her interest areas are in young women’s leadership development, participatory research and training.
Naana has an MPhil in Development Studies from Sussex University and received her MBE in 2009. She is a board member of the Gender and Development Network and co-founder of the End FGM European Network.
Dr. Sandra Pralong
Sandra Pralong, Ph.D., is, since September 2015, a State Advisor and member of the Cabinet of the President of Romania, responsible for relations with Romanians abroad (a 4,5 million-strong Diaspora). She held a similar position in a previous Administration when, between 1998 and 2000, she opened up the Romanian state’s relations with its citizens who had fled during Communism and with the then much smaller Diaspora. As a former UN executive (UNDP, UNFPA), international foundation executive (Open Society Foundation) and international media executive (Director of Promotion for Newsweek in New York), Sandra shared her expertise as a professor at the University of Bucharest and the University of Niamey (Niger, West Africa). She is the author of several books, countless academic research papers and essays, a public speaker, a trainer and a coach.
With established credentials in public policies for diaspora engagement, values-based leadership and strategic communications, human rights advocacy, civil society development and overseas development assistance (ODA), Sandra has a Ph.D. in Political Science (‘Magna cum Laude’ from the Institut d'Études Politiques in Paris, France), an MA in Business Management (from HEC, Lausanne, Switzerland), an MA in International Relations (from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Boston, USA), an M.Phil. in Political Philosophy (from Columbia University, NY, USA) and a Master’s Degree in Cognitive Sciences (from the University of Bucharest, Romania).
Fridah Ntarangwi
Fridah is the Founding & Managing Partner at Zidicircle, an inclusive entrepreneurship and Financing ecosystem supporting Diaspora entrepreneurs and SME’s in Africa to build impactful ventures both abroad and in their countries of origin. As a startup ecosystem builder, she has supported startups across the EMEA region. Some of her initiatives include the Semi-annual Diaspora Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, The Kenyan tech International Entrepreneurship Programme, Ghana’s Green diaspora match making programme, The diaspora startups-East Africa SME Engage Forum and the Diaspora venture backers programme. She was awarded by the EMEN project of the European Union (EU) for promoting inclusive entrepreneurship in the EU and was bestowed the Duisenberg title 'Woman in Finance'. She holds a business degree and a masters in finance and law. She is passionate about building an inclusive entrepreneurship and Financing ecosystem for the migrants, developing economies and women entrepreneurs.
Closing remarks
Dr Amba Pande
Dr Amba Pande is associated with School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. Dr Pande received her PhD from Centre for Southeast Asia and South West Pacific Studies, School of International Studies, JNU, New Delhi. Her research interests include Indian Diaspora, International migration and Indo-Pacific. She has also been a visiting faculty/scholar at University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands), University of South Pacific (Fiji), and Otego University (New Zealand). She has done major projects on Indian diaspora with University Grants Commission (UGC) and Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). Dr Pande is a prolific writer and has many publications to her credit in national and international journals. She has been invited to give independent lectures, present papers, be discussant and Chair in a number of national and international seminars and conferences. She is currently working on a book manuscript on Fiji Indians and Diasporic Identities.